I am in California, in the Sacramento area.

the beach would be a good place to start

There are awsome places in Hawaii who have the most experienced surfer instructors in the world. If you end up there on vacation ask the locals.

there is a school in San Diego and in Waikiki that l know are good.

Most local breaks will have a pro that teaches, you just have to ask around.

There should be plenty around Santa Cruz but it is really cold.

You need to take some lessons through a surf shop (fairly inexpensive) or head to a surf camp (those can be expensive).

l checked, & u really do not have any shops in Sacramento that give lessons. You're gonna have to travel closer to the coastline like Frisco.

One of the main reasons u should always go through a local surf shop where u intend to surf is so u can meet some locals & learn when & where to surf.

If u just buy or rent a board & head to a beach u will likely upset a lot of people because surfing is like driving a car & u have to learn the rules of the road. You also want to learn as much as u can about water safety.

Well to start off you need a surfboard if you do not have one. So go to your local surf shop ask the people that work there what kind of surfboard would be good for me they will tell you and ask were can l find someone to teach me. ( l am sere there are teacher in most surfshops) AND PLZ MAKE SERE YOUR HART IS IN IT OR YOU WILL NOT HAVE FUN !!!