l am a good skateboarder, wakeboarder, and snowboarder.l do not wanna surf 2-3 foot waves on a longboard.l will only have a day or two on a week vacation to learn. Do l need lessons?Do l need resurvations? am l better renting a surfboard at some random beach and going for it?Any suggestions??

n shore HI

If you are just beginning you need to try the smaller waves on the east coast

Surfing is an ocean sport, to do it right, u have to be at home in the ocean, with its currents, rips, undertows & sometimes big waves. l do not just mean being good at swimming in a pool, the ocean can be very unforgiving. l have seen lots of really good pool swimmers have to get rescued. You have to learn surf etiquette (so the experienced surfers in the line up do not want to drown you), how to paddle & take off on a wave, & how to ride a wave. You can not do that in a week!

That is what worries me when l read some of these questions. Lots of folks just do not know what they r getting into. The more times inexperienced people screw up, & have to get rescued, the stricter anti surfing ordinances get past, & it makes it tough on the rest of us.

Lessons r usually the best way to start, unless u r an adolescent or young adult with lots of pals who surf who can teach you. Go to a real surf shop. The folks there can hook u up with lessons, & even rent u a board to learn on. However, if they think u r just a 'kook' tourist out to rent a board, u wo not necessarily get the best attention. make sure they know u want lessons.

Some folks have said that skateboarding may help. Well, any balance improving activity can be helpful to improve ur surfing. That could be skate, snow, wake or skim boarding, working out on a Indo board, or doing the balance beam. HOWEVER, surfing is nothing like skateboarding. You have to paddle & catch a wave. First, & most important, u have to be at home in the ocean. You need to learn the mechanics of surfing, paddling out, catching a wave & standing up on the surfboard. It is after u have gotten all that down, that ur balance becomes important, & if u have good balance (because, perhaps, u skateboard), that will only help u ride better.

If u only have one week, get lessons, have fun, & be able to accept the fact that u have not even scratched the surface. l started at 14. l was already an accomplished swimmer, & it took me most of the summer to get 'decent' & certainly not 'good'. And l was in the water every day! l have been surfing for 42 years, & l have never seen anybody progress that fast.

Surfing cannot be taught. You've already got a few lessons from carving snowboards & turning skateboards. (You say u r good, so l assume u can drop into a halfpipe.)

Pick the spot that will have waves when u r there. Look at several places, consider their seasons & if possible get a weather forecast for the dates. Surfers often wait till the last minute to get their airfare to confirm there will be surf. You do not want to spend a lot of time & money just to get skunked.

Mainland Mexico, just do not get bitten

Sunny Southern California!

Two local surf camps l know of:
Islands Surf Camp (owned by my surf coach is son)
Malibu Makos (Zuma Beach)

Get lessons & be prepared to learn on a longboard. Nobody is going to rent u a short board, & most instructors wo not teach u on anything but a longboard softtop.


Check out San Diego. They have a bunch of different breaks, of various styles & they r relatively forgiving of newbies out there (depending upon the break). l learned from a guy named rusty & thought he was great. l recommend him to anyone l know is going to SD & looking to learn to surf.

There r a lot of other surf schools in San Diego too. Some r better than others. l have no affiliation with Rusty other than taking a lesson with him & having my daughter take two lessons with him. As far as l know he has the best reputation in the area.

Do not get lessons, they're a total waste. All u need to do is get a good size long board (if you're under 6' tall then a 9' board would be good, & if you're taller than 6' u might want to get a board that is maybe 9'6'' & pretty wide, this will make it a lot easier to stand up & catch a wave). All u have to do is practice paddling. When you've got the board under control, line yourself up with the wave & paddle as hard as u can & once u feel the wave starting to push you, stand up. You will fall the first 10 or 20 times, but after that u should be able to stand & ride the wave straight all the way until it dies. Waikiki in Hawaii has really good waves to learn how to surf on. They r not that strong & the wave lasts a pretty long time.