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What is the best time for surfing for beginners?

What are some of the best "surfing 101" resources for beginners?

  • I live in Bali right now and I'm finding it hard to meet surf schools or knowledgeable surfers interested in sharing some wisdom with a beginner. Can you recommend some possibly less ideal, but more reliable, resources such as books, websites, videos, clubs, or people, with useful information for indoctrinating a beginner, such as: -Surfing safety and etiquette -Surfing techniques in print and pictures -How to get the most information from reading a beach, wave, or tide chart -Understanding a board and what board features are good for what conditions, localities, experience levels (lengths, materials, fins, rocker, etc) -Briefs on famous surf spots etc. Thank you!

  • Answer:

    For surfing etiquette and a quick 1-2-3, go to http://surfline.com and check out "Bill of Rights and Lefts" (http://www.surfline.com/surfology/surfology_borl_index.cfm). You'll find a ton of info on surf line about predicting surf, but I think you'll soon discover that the best way to predict it is to go to the beach. The best way to understand boards is rent a bunch of different ones. There's nothing more disappointing than buying a board too aggressive for your skills -- equally, if you're well on the way, it's really a bummer to be saddled with an old log that just isn't getting the job done for you. That's why you rent. See what floats you, what you can paddle, and whether you can catch waves. I think you're going to need a ton of water time to understand surfboard construction as it relates to a particular shape wave / size and or age surfer. My best advice: Watch surf movies, rent boards, surf until you feel you have a comfort level with a given board type and size and then jump right in. You can look at the Web all day long and it won't do you as much good as a paddle out. I know this because I try to overanalyze things -- research them until I've pounded them into fine kernels. But surfing defies this. Everything my research tells me about what and where I should surf feels wrong when I surf it and many things I would never predict seem to fit just right. So, trial and error.

Steve Ross at Quora Visit the source

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It helps that you live in a place with lots of good surf that translates into a gentler learning curve. Having said that - there's no short cuts - spend as much time in the water as you possibly can, the beauty of being a beginner is that you can learn from every situation, once you get a little better you'll be less inclined to go in less ideal condiditons.

Oleg Hansen

There are a few surfing based Q&A sites out there with decent communities that will answer your questions. Try http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/3023 or http://www.surfask.com/

Blair Dods

I've found that the "Big Whiteboard Wednesdays" posts here have been a terrific learning tool. http://www.youtube.com/user/innocentsurfschool

Darian Schramm

The best way to learn is to spend time on a board in the water.  Don't expect too much of yourself at first - everyone goes through the same learning curve, some faster than others, but everyone falls a lot.  Even the best surfers fall - they just more often choose where and when to get off the board.  Take a lesson if you can the first time - it will show you that you can indeed catch a wave and stand on the board.  But in the end, you learn by doing.

Richard Cox

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