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Surfing as an activity pretty much has it all. Sun, sea, sand and an über cool image, provided you’re in the right place in the right gear will always make for some pretty flash travelling pictures.
However, turn those pictures into videos and maybe your tales of surfing excellence in front of your mates will fall into disrepute. As a sport, it is notoriously difficult. People’s expectations are often based upon poorly matched indicators that offer no help when predicting your imminent levels of mastery. Many think back to childhood memories of body boarding, prior skiing holidays, or simply an observation that young children bombing along on 5 foot waves means that surely you can pick it up over a couple of days. This is in all likeliness a false hope, the sheer power of the sea even in relatively calm surfing conditions can throw you and your board into disarray, dashing any chances of bagging an awesome, narly vid to stick on your favourite social network.
So with the above mentioned misplaced confidence I set off on my travels, fully intending to give the whole surfing thing a good stab across two of the great surfing havens worldwide – California and Australia. However, as I quickly found out, surfing is a very hard sport. Some wise words from one of my instructors was that it takes years to learn, so with some realigned expectations here are a few things I learnt. All of the below will help you maximise your early surfing career.
9 Ways to Improve your surfing
Have a lesson
This will teach you all the essential tricks. The Surfing instructor will know the local conditions, whilst teaching you how to read conditions on any beach. Aside from teaching you how to surf, they will show you how to get out past the waves and pick up on the usual bad techniques and habits everyone has. The boards you learn on are usually made out of foam, which minimises any potential for injury and offers extra floatation. This should all make it easier to have some success and create the buzz you will need to power you through any rough patches or dips in confidence you may have.
Have another lesson
Surfing is hard. I think I’ve already made that point. But having more than one surfing lesson is not just a sales line for surfing instructors to make more money. In reality, you will not be as good outside of your lesson as you are in it with your sponge board and the instructor pushing you along. Have lessons in different locations instead of the same as this will help you learn about different beaches and conditions. The extra teacher may also have an additional couple of pointers that may make all the difference for you.
Positioning yourself in the right area
When you approach a beach, have a look to see at which points along the length of the beach the waves break at. Take your time; waves come in swells, so allow enough time to pass to see when the waves break and where. Doing this will show you where the sand banks are and thus where the waves are.
Buy/hire the right board
Buying and selling a second hand surf board is definitely cheaper than hiring one if you are staying longer than a week. This is even despite the tendency of surf shops to rip off backpackers selling their board, just take your time and don’t take the first quote you get. The right board is essential though, and unfortunately this will be big, up to 8 foot for tall guys, so picking the flash small pointed board is not the way to go.
Avoid the pack
Seeing where everyone else is surfing is a tempting way to pick your spot. The crowd mentality can offer reassurance, but if you pick the spot where the seasoned locals are surfing this will often be where the biggest waves are and the hardest to master. As well as this, expert surfers can be reckless, and will not shy away from surfing dangerous locations such as along the foot of a cliff. Sometimes there may be a slightly hostile reception as locals will feel Noobs get in the way.
Other surfing lessons
Beaches are free zones. This means that sitting near a surf lesson when they are having their shore talk will let you learn quickly about local conditions. Also, the surfing instructors will take their class to un-crowded locations with ideal conditions for beginners. As long as you’re not too invasive and use some common sense, there’s no stopping you using the same location or as-near-as. Surfing lessons are usually only 2 hours long, so these areas will be vacated in between lessons and at lunch.
Rinse, Wash, Repeat
Going out day after day means you sample different conditions. This is important because no two waves are the same. Therefore, if you’ve had a bad day it may be in part due to the conditions. Getting out again and enjoying better conditions is important to boosting your confidence.
Using the rip tides
Rip tides can be used to your advantage. Using these areas to get out helps your paddling and also means you won’t be tired out jumping over waves to get out there as the waves do not crash in these zones.
Go in the off season
Surfing is popular. The surfing industry can even thrive in places where the conditions are never that good. Therefore, when visiting places like Australia, the weather is still warm enough in the Off Season, and wet suits can work wonders. Avoiding the summer rush can leave larger areas of the sea free for your novice pleasures.
So if you’re heading off on your travels and are planning to feature in some surfing, then these are some great tips to take with you. It’s a brilliant experience and many people become wildly addicted. You can also meeting fellow travellers during your lessons, and it breaks up the usual city sightseeing or beach dwelling you may have been doing so far.
About the author:
Matthew is a seasoned traveller who made it round the world in 2011. He now avidly blogs about his experiences, and is currently booking his next Flights to Australia to create the next adventure.
