As it enters its third year, the Bear Grylls Survival Academy at Greece’s Sani Resort is now free for families and teens, who can learn how to build fires, make spears and forage for wild food.
The Bear Grylls Survival Academy is the first of its kind in a European resort, and invites outdoor enthusiasts and young adventurers to join a range of nature-based adventures, created by adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls.
Active families can hone their wilderness survival skills across Sani Resort’s 1,000-acre ecological reserve, complete with pine-fringed beaches, woodlands and wetlands. Activities include shelter and fire-building, navigation, signalling for help, and astro-navigation on a night time trek through the resort’s woodland. The course also includes an exclusive extraction experience by boat, with views over Cape Sani.
Guests can opt for the family or teen course. The family option is aimed at those with children aged six and above “to cultivate a strong bond while learning valuable survival skills”. Guests receive an introduction to the priorities of survival at base camp, and a lesson on concealment to enhance skills for blending into the environment. A journey through the Sani forests expands participants’ survival knowledge and concludes with the challenge of setting up camp, constructing their own shelter and building a campfire.
In the six-day teen course, youngsters learn navigation, spear making, stalking, tracking, raft building, and foraging for wild food, aimed at fostering essential survival skills, teamwork, problem-solving, and leadership.
See the course in action and hear from Grylls in this video:
Bear Grylls said: “Our academy is unique, because it encourages kids to get away from digital devices, away from screens and embrace the natural world - it gives children the opportunity to be present in the here and now, and try something they have likely never experienced before. I have always believed that the currency of life is all about resilience: having that dogged, never-give-up spirit; learning how to deal with failure; learning how to build teams, how to be a leader and how to communicate well. The academy at Sani does just that, away from academics, in the incredible natural setting of Sani Resort.”
Sani Resort’s sporting academies include the Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre and Chelsea FC Football Academy, which are suitable for children and adults. The resort also offers scuba diving certified by Padi, biking with KTM Bike Club, sailing, water sports, yoga, aerial yoga, archery and Sparta Gym.