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I live nowhere near the ocean but I'll be in the Outer Banks for a week in late May. Not to go full Johnny Utah but I've always wanted to surf. Is a week a long enough amount of time to actually figure it out (no lessons, just trial and error)?
I can get a wetsuit and a shitty board from Costco for like $200 all-in so I'm heavily tempted to try and live the dream.
if you're a strong swimmer and an experienced skater you can probably figure out the basics in a week, especially if you watch some youtube videos beforehand. just don't underestimate the upper body strength required. i have seen more than one skate friend get super discouraged because they werent physically prepared for how much energy theyd need to put in paddling. one of them also got motion sickness from the water after 30min or so, which was kinda funny to me but i guess makes sense if you don't spend a ton of time in the water. i'm still not very good but i'm totally self taught so it's definitely possible. if you aren't already a big upper body strength person, you could start training by swimming laps or hitting some extra shoulder workouts.
My first time surfing was 16 years old, having a surf instructor push me onto a wave on a huge longboard as it went past. Not much problem standing up, but couldn’t catch a wave on my own after that.
Had a couple more tries at it as an adult in marginal conditions, thinking it would be a breeze from all my skating and snowboarding. Fact is, unlike snowboarding and skating where you are almost always on the board, actual board riding is 5% of the surfing experience. Couldn’t get it and spent most of my time wearing my arms out and getting a bad sunburn.
Finally, went to my sister’s wedding in Hawaii about 8 years ago for 1 week, and my brother and I agreed to rent boards and go every day. So I was a lot less cocky this time and little buy little I learned the basics.
1- sit on the beach and see where the breaks are, and where to go to line up for them.
2- learning to get out past the breaks. I couldn’t duck dive with the 7-footer I had, but could turtle.
3- lining up and watching for your turn, learning the etiquette.
4- watching how to catch the wave. I would paddle like made for a wave and still somehow missed them. Finally by the end of the trip I was watching the other guys catch a wave in 4 smooth strokes, and I learned to do it in 6.
5- once caught and up, learning speed. A kind local in the line-up gave me the crucial info that forward on the board is go, in the rear is slow down.
After putting that all together on my last wave of the trip I caught a nice 20-second wave into shore
It’s been a while, and since I live in the mountains, I try to get out powder surfing on bindingless snowboards as much as I can.