BJJ on the beach in Pärnu, Estonia

From 2022 to 2025 we spent one week every July in Pärnu, a beach town on the west coast of Estonia. Four Beach Camps in all. The last one was in the summer of 2025, so this is a look back at what the camp was and why we kept going back.

Estonia’s summer capital

Pärnu is not a place many people think of when they plan a holiday in Europe, and most had never heard of it before they came. Estonians know it well. It has been a beach and spa resort since the 19th century and is called the country’s summer capital. In July the town fills up with visitors from Tallinn and the rest of the region.

The beach is a 15-minute walk from the centre. The water is shallow and warms up quickly in the sun, which also makes it good for windsurfing, kitesurfing and paddleboarding. Along the promenade there are bars and restaurants that stay open late, and on a clear evening most of the camp ended up there to watch the sun go down over the sea. Away from the beach there are parks, spas, cafés with too many pastries, and an all-night karaoke bar that became part of the camp schedule whether we planned it or not.

If you had a free afternoon, there was more to see outside town. Soomaa National Park, east of Pärnu, is known for its rivers and flooded bogs, and you can hike or canoe through it. Kihnu Island, a boat ride away, is known for its handicrafts and for the women who still wear traditional Estonian clothing every day. Most people stuck with the beach and an electric scooter, which is enough to get anywhere in Pärnu.

The sports hall

The training was in Spordihall Pärnu, a modern sports hall from 2009, a few minutes from the centre and the beach. The first year we had about 650 m² of it, which was plenty for a first camp. From the second year we booked the whole building.

The days followed the usual format for our camps: gi and no-gi classes from 9 in the morning until the evening, with a range of instructors who often bring in ideas from wrestling, judo or luta livre, open mats between and after the classes, and yoga in the mornings. The first session was on Monday afternoon and the last on Saturday afternoon, followed by the final party. In 2023 more than twenty black belts were on the instructor list. Open mats came with an 80s soundtrack.

Four summers

The first Beach Camp, in July 2022, was the start of a busy month. It was followed by the Summer Camp in Germany and then the first Faroe Islands Camp, more than 700 people on the mats in four weeks across three countries. More than 230 came to Pärnu that first year, and it was clear on the first evening that we would be back.

In 2023 we came back with the whole sports hall and 325 participants on about 1,400 m² of mats. At the time it was the biggest camp we had ever run, and it was strange to look out over that many people rolling at once. Besides the training there were dinners, beer and wine tastings, walking tours, karaoke and parties.

We went back in 2024 and again in 2025, which we had decided would be the last one. I am happy we ended it on a high. It was a week of beach, Jiu Jitsu and friends, and I could not have asked for more from it.

Estonia after Pärnu

We still go to Estonia every year. The Spring Camp in Tallinn has been running since 2019, and Tallinn is a good base if you want to train in the Baltics on your own. If you want to see Pärnu on your own, there are direct buses from both Tallinn and Riga.

Adapted from our newsletters 2022 to 2025.