Just back from 2 days on the beach at Woolacoombe and seems I have caught the surfing bug. After 2 days I can catch most waves and just about stand up before a comedy bail.

My question to the hive is am I going to become obsessed with this like I am cycling? I am already planning another trip, workingout where else is good to go etc.

Any other surfers out there with good advice for a newbie?

I did the same. You get over it quick enough though. It’s not exactly convenient (unless you live on the coast).

alwillis – Member

…I can catch most waves…

have you considered going pro’?

Going pro did cross my mind but the jetlag on the commute to the Pacific would be a killer 🙄

EDIT: What I meant was I didn’t fall into the category of some beginners who seem to flail around and go nowhere- I understood how it worked and got to experience the good bits (like getting fit enough to ride uphill on the MTB allows you to ride down again).

Don’t go out and buy brand new stuff, buy 2nd hand. If it turns out to be a fad you can sell your kit on without the huge loss.
I did similar when working in Oz. Spent 6 months working near Manly so bought all the kit 2nd hand and then sold it on when I left…brought my bike back with me tho 😉

Surfing is conditions dependant, you can travel some pretty long distances to the coast to find there are no waves and none imminent, which is a waste of time and energy.
I’d recommend you use a decent weather/conditions website like MagicSeaweed who have been logging conditions for well over 8 years and use a decent set of weather data and swell forecasts from Channel Bouys to give some pretty decent condition assessments.
Of course it’s different if you live on/near the coast.
As for obsession, well why not? You could try SUP’ing if you can’t find decent waves as SUP will catch anything from 6 inches (it’s what we use down on the South Coast)

Have fun

my advice would be treat it like skiing or snowboarding and go on holiday to do it somewhere the conditions are reliable. by the time you’ve squandered quids on looking for non-existent surf in this country it’ll have paid for itself and you’ll be a much better surfer.

Alot depends on where you are based.

As said previously use Magic Seaweed on a regular basis, which is an invaluable resource living up here. Nearest break is a 2/3 hour drive away so always cautious when planning a trip.

I too have just come back from a few days in Woolacombe Sunday – Wednesday. The only surfing I witnessed was a few on Wednesday morning. The rest of the time the surfers just sat on their boards chatting. Seems easy to me ;0)

Unlike bikes, beginers surfing kit barely evolves so 2nd hand prices are pretty static. You could buy something then sell it next year if you don’t get to use it enough.

I bough this because I’m a tubby and therefore needed all the length/bouyance I could get!

http://www.boardshop.co.uk/bic-surfboards-magnum-2013-package-8ft-4-mini-mal-red/s8015-re-pack/

And £50 would get you a summer wetsuit, no point spending silly money on a summer wetsuit IMO, just get something basic that fits from a propper surf shop, not Tesco or motorway service station crap.

Other ‘must have’ stuff, several blocks of wax, get some hard/tropical wax to make a durable base, then some softer/cold water waxes for the top coat. Wax comb for roughing up old wax, ‘pickle’ and bottle of meths removing and cleaning off really old wax.

If the bug really bites then boots, hood, a winter wesuit, gloves etc.

I’ve been surfing for a couple of decades now. Love it but as mentioned you have to be able to put it away for extended periods if you’re not close to the coast.

I did get a couple of custom boards which are still going strong however the products that Bic do are brilliant and I would go that route should I ever have to replace a board.

A great hobby. Just watch the water quality as its pretty shocking still

Its a bug and sorry sounds like you may have caught it.

I go to Woolacombe once every 6 weeks or so then for a month in the Summer just returned from Portugal from a week surfing.

Spend all my time thinking about surfing and miss it when i can’t like this week surf has been great I am stuck at work.

BUT its not like cycling, as has been said above buy the kit it doesn’t really change so you don’t spend your time hankering after the latest new gadget or innovation cos there aren’t really any. If you really get into it you need winter wetsuits and gear but for summer surfing a summer suit can be got for less than £100, buy a beginner board learn to surf then buy a nice board or two or three.

Oh yes and I live in Birmingham, not much surf there.

Above all its very difficult to do properly but sitting in the sun out back with a couple of mates is great. ENJOY!

Guardian today

Reminds me of I trip I took in 1988 up and down the Californian coast. Remember hiring a rent-a-wreck, driving between beaches, sleeping in the car some nights, cheap motels on others. Good memories.

I moved to NZ, thinking I would be smashing awesome trails, $300 on a 2nd hand mini mal + mates who surf = loads of surfing, hardly any mtbing.

I love it and when the conditions are on, it is the best, but I agree, when its shit, reach for the bike. Or combine your passions

The frustration of English surfing is what got me into mountain biking.

After 5 yrs in Plymouth as a student being able to drop everything when thd conditions were right and justgo, trying to fit that in with working life just didn’t happen. Too much driving, too much waiting, too many wasted sessions. With a bike, it’ll be warmer/cooler/wetter etc but at least the trails are there all the time.

Still get in every month or so. Only live 40minx from bude so pretty easy too, just retired my shortboards and got a magic carpet which has been a revelation. My wave count has tripled and I’m having fun again.

Surfing and mtb do sort of go hand in hand, there’s a bikemonger who lurks on here who I’m sure will tell you the same and when ever I visit him, its always bike talk-surf talk-skate talk-bike talk etc etc
I moved to Malvern a couple of years ago and that’s one of the better spots to get the best of both worlds, 2hrs from South Welsh breaks and North Devon, 2min from great trails. now I live in Dorset, its 30min to the surf and 1hr to perbecks or 2hrs to Wales, cant have it all but its not half bad down here,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

you could always consider windsurfing – has the benefit of more locations and is suitable when its so windy you might be off biking

I’ve been hooked on all 3(surfing, windsurfing, mtb), mtb is still going, down to 1 surfboard and 0 windsurfers – it was about time cost vs benefit. Surfing – too far to be practical (but I did have a couple of years of an awful lot of brilliant weekends in Devon, windsurfing – when you get better you want strong winds (lot more chance at coast and more kit to carry/buy), mtbing – can do locally or travel for variety – so it won [*but a 2 week holiday in Devon to come].

Can be brutally addictive if you get the bug properly. I know people who’ve given up work / partners etc to move to the coast to surf regularly.

I took it up in my late 20s and am now lucky enough to live in the SW with any number of breaks within an hour or so drive. I get in pretty regularly but nowhere near as often as I’d like to due to work and family commitments.

I don’t think the skiing analogy mentioned above really works for surfing – to get to a good standard you need to put in a hell of a lot of water time, be prepared to travel – a week or two a year really won’t cut it, and you have to be prepared on occasion to have a lot of really frustrating sessions due to the vagaries of weather, tides and your own ability (or lack of it).

I’d still class myself as an enthusiastic intermediate even after all these years and still spend some sessions foundering in the soup but still love it.

The good sessions you’ll have will really stay with you forever. My best memories include surfing with seals on a solo winter session off Sennen Cove, riding Famara in Lanzarote in beautifully shaped overhead clean waves in January in a shortie, catching an absolute freight train of a wave and riding it for what seemed like ages during a dawn session at Rhosilli after a big storm…biting off more than I could chew off Lacanau… the surreal experience of riding my longboard for a full mile upriver just outside Gloucester on the Severn Bore. All priceless memories which made all the freezing changes in windblown carparks, washing machine hold-downs, ice-cream headaches and crap days in sub 1ft slop worthwhile.

Enjoy, but as the saying goes, be careful…it could change everything 😉

Pezzers – Member

Oh yes and I live in Birmingham, not much surf there.

no, but you’re not far from south/North Wales…

I’ve been surfing for many years too. It does get under your skin, me and girlfriend ran away for a 6month surf trip in my van when we turned 40.

But, it can be an exercise in frustration if you don’t have easy access to a break. I’m about 1 1/4 from front door to water now and it’s a pain as I can’t go after work if the surf is on. You can really end up with little water time.

The surfing on the East coast is pretty good if that is easier. Less swell, but prevailing winds offshore – and more importantly less crowded if you pick the right break.

BTW any other East Coast surfers on here, in particular anyone who wants to share a lift in my van for the odd trip. I’m coming from Leeds, can pick up on the way.

+1 for it not being like skiing Firstly, no such thing as a reliable spot, simply can’t expect surf just because you’ve booked a holiday – been there in Lanzarote, that’s why I always make sure there’s a biking option.

But more importantly the amount of time actually surfing in any one session is really small compared to skiing – even if you are pretty competent. Most time sat out back waiting for a set or paddling back into position.

As a beginner, it’s getting hammered in the white water, with little actual riding – which is lots harder. I actually advise people to get out of white water and into catching unbroken waves asap, once you can read the surf it really is much easier and a billion times more fun.

BTW the first time you score a quality green face you are lost to it forever, it is a sense of euphoria you will get from nothing else, and you will flog youself to get more!!

Don’t let any of this put you off, I didn’t, but do be realistic.

The first time i went surfing was on the east coast on a hot summer day (Cayton bay).

The waves were excellent. I ended up buying the full kit from the lovely lady who ran the local surf shop naively assuming that the surf conditions that day were the norm. Turns out it was a rare good day.

I spent far too many wasted journeys (160 mile round trip) to be faced with crap sloppy surf in cold weather. Recent increases in petrol prices and family commitments finally made me quit.

My brother got the bug. Drove away every other weekend whenever he could, ended up moving to the coast.

BTW the first time you score a quality green face you are lost to it forever, it is a sense of euphoria you will get from nothing else, and you will flog youself to get more!!

First barrel is about 1000 times this…

Shame Surfmatt isnt about as he would give you chapter and verse 😉 (to be fair to the wee fellah he is a good surfer)
One of the most maddeningly frustrating things you can do, Used to drive to Porthcawl, Oggy, Sker at least 4 times a week and 90% of the time only to find slop or windblown crap. Oh but the days it is good then it is the most rewarding fun thing you can do.

I would never call myself a surfer I am just someone who loves surfing. IMO there is a big difference 😉

It has changed so much in the last 25 years, from working out weather charts and tracking Lows now you just look at web cams, from wearing wet suits that you could hardly move in to spending £350 + on a suit that is thin flexible and will keep you warm. Water is so much cleaner than it was. Choice of boards is brilliant now. Mourn the passing of Wave Graffitti 😥 at least Purton is still shaping.

Huge downside is the crowds and how miserable people are in the water.

and how miserable people are in the water.

Never got why that is. I hooted someone a while back when he made a really late drop and it was like I’d shit on his board…

It seems to have got worse in the last few years…especially in the summer months. One of the reasons I prefer to get up very early to get a break to myself.

Sunrise and sunset are pretty much the only times I surf. Worse place I’ve found for hassle is bantham, rarely go there as I can’t be arsed dealing with the local longboard mafia

Another “newbie” surfer over here too.

mrs xipon and I tried it a few years ago down in Cornwall and loved it. In the process of researching what boards would be most suitable for us.

We’re both utterly hopeless at it, but still enjoy every second of it 🙂

In the process of researching what boards would be most suitable for us.

Hired ones.

Funny, I never get any crap in the water- even at the odd notorious Spanish and Portugese break I’ve surfed. Maybe it’s because I’m pretty easy going and always say hello in the local language, or maybe it’s because I’m 6’3″ hairy arsed old bloke.

If you do buy a wetsuit, don’t go too cheap – make sure it fits and is some sort of hyperflex neoprene, warmer and much less tiring when paddling.

When getting a board, hire until you really have a clue – if you do buy go secomdhand popout and go big, no bigger than that – importantly lots of volume, not the pretty performance mal.

Funny, I never get any crap in the water- even at the odd notorious Spanish and Portugese break I’ve surfed. Maybe it’s because I’m pretty easy going and always say hello in the local language, or maybe it’s because I’m 6’3″ hairy arsed old bloke.

I don’t really get any crap as such – it’s just the unfriendliness of some other surfers. They tend to be the try-hard types who think they’re ‘core but actually struggle to catch a wave. Very few of them are locals.

If I paddle out anywhere I’ll always try to be friendly and respectful of other folk in the water and at least acknowledge them by saying Hi or passing comment about the conditions etc. All too often in the South West you’re met with a stony stare if not ignored completely. North coast is worst for that in my opinion – tends to be a bit more chilled further west in Cornwall and in West Wales.

As Jam Bo says, early morning and evening surfs are the only times I’d consider at busier spots.

Oh and for the OP’s benefit, in case you haven’t already picked it up, the 26er v 29er debate is nothing compared to shortboards v longboards! Personally I’ve got a foot in both camps but some people seem to get themselves really agitated about it.

I started a few years back and only surf on holidays because I live in the Midlands but I love it. As others have said keep a bike handy for when there is no break or if you can’t get in and swim it’ll improve your surfing massively. If you decide to buy a suit i’m selling a Alder Burn 5/4 in Large for a decent price – Feel free to email me.

After 2 days I can catch most waves…

😯

I surf when possible, family lives in Bude and am almost banned from visiting as I’m the antichrist of surf. I just have to think about it and the sea turns to a millpond.

Sunrise and sunset are pretty much the only times I surf.

Agreed. When not surfing at home we’ve normally trawled the coast to find a less occupied spot, or gone in on bigger (as in longer beaches, not bigger waves) beach breaks where there’s more room. None of my surfing group are realistically good enough to mix with locals so ‘local’ breaks tend to be avoided, other than local to where any of us live.

None of us surfed for a few years as things like families took precedence, but having just moved back near the coast I’m getting back in more. And remembering how damn difficult it is…!

BTW the first time you score a quality green face you are lost to it forever, it is a sense of euphoria you will get from nothing else, and you will flog youself to get more!!

Thats about as far as i got. But its along journey from standing up in white water to something that resembles surfing

have fun and try and make sure you do something to keep your surfing muscles fit

In the process of researching what boards would be most suitable for us.

Hired ones.

+1, hiring it’d take a month of daily surfing to pay for even my cheap board! The advantage of owning a board is it’s much lighter and less drag through the water than a fomie, even foam decked mini-mals feel harder work padling.

Oh and for the OP’s benefit, in case you haven’t already picked it up, the 26er v 29er debate is nothing compared to shortboards v longboards! Personally I’ve got a foot in both camps but some people seem to get themselves really agitated about it.

Mal = 29er
mini-mal = 26er
shortboard = BMX
SUP = CX bikes (rubbish if it’s lumpy 😛 )

A lot of people saying it’s a pain to manage to consistently find the right conditions which I admit does sound like a pain an MTB-er can’t relate to (never been to the Quantocks and found them flat that day).

But can’t you get a surf bat with a little sail on? I’ve seen that I’m sure. Then you don’t need waves at all! Be careful though, saw some guy who’s sail seemed to have snapped off, it was about 50 feet in the air on a big lanyard dragging him along at a hell of a rate!

Oh, re: wetsuits, if yer strolling alnog with the zip undone down to your belly to show off yer chest – it’s on back to front.

HTH.

I think the unfriendliness is party a product of folk stressing about how good they are compared with those around them and having read about too many (mainly fictious) locals only hard men incidents. hhmmm trail centre warrior equivalence perhaps. I do what I do on me bike, smile say hello, chat inanely and refuse to compete. Maybe I come across as weird that’s why everyone smiles nervously 😀

I own mals, thrusters and whatever category a firewire dominator comes into – to maximise water time (particularly for us more mature types, a big fat Mal is useful). But then again I’ve 29er, 26er hardtail, full suss, rigid… and not much room in the garage.

On a different tack – couple of good surf related novels I enjoyed- Tapping the Source & Dogs of Winter by Kem Nunn.