Verandah Antigua launches pickleball retreat with Frank Solana clinics

A guest booking The Pickleball Pro Series at The Verandah Antigua will get more than court time. The adults-only all-inclusive resort is turning its four dedicated pickleball courts, which are lit for night play, into a multi-day retreat on Antigua’s northeast coast, with play, coaching and island downtime built into the same stay.

The package runs June 8 through June 17, 2026, and the headline draw is Frank Solana, the 2022 U.S. Open Pickleball Champion and founder of Luna Pickleball Academy. Solana will lead five days of complimentary clinics beginning June 8, with sessions built around serving with depth and spin, return strategies, third-shot decision-making, volley technique, reset shots and court awareness. For players looking for more than a casual hit, that is the useful part of the trip: structured instruction from a proven pro, not just open play on vacation courts.

The sharper skill-building option is Solana’s June 13 and June 14 intensive camp. Priced at $600 per person, it includes 12 hours of instruction plus either a Luna paddle or personalized video analysis. That makes the premium add-on look aimed at players who want a real tune-up, especially anyone working on decision-making and transition play rather than just chasing more reps.

The series is not built around Solana alone. Shea Underwood, a professional player and content creator, is scheduled for a June 17 clinic, and Danea Zeigle, founder of All Things Pickleball, is also expected to appear during the broader event. That mix gives the week a social edge, but the programming still reads like a genuine training trip first and a lounge-by-the-pool getaway second.

The setting matters. Elite Island Resorts says The Verandah Antigua has four pickleball courts with covered seating, and it has already hosted Ben Johns, the world’s No. 1 player, for workshops and match-ups on the resort’s new courts. On Long Bay, the property fits the resort-retreat formula neatly: all-inclusive, adults-only, and positioned in a country that tourism officials market as year-round with direct air access from the U.S., U.K., Canada and elsewhere.

Antigua has been pushing hard to be seen as a real pickleball stop, not just another warm-weather escape. The Verandah’s new series leans into that shift with a simple pitch: bring your game, sharpen it with Solana, then spend the rest of the week playing and recovering in the Caribbean instead of just passing through it.