We decided to take surfing lessons from Gone Surfing in Oahu. The beach was looking wonderful. The Diamond Head Mountain on the left side, pure sand beach with a lot of shades of water. Especially the rocks inside the ocean makes an incredible pattern and such a pretty view. But it does feel scary to think about you might fall onto those rocks while surfing. They’re everywhere and also the water doesn’t get deep. Even after swimming half a mile into the ocean the water was still not deep. Hardest part of surfing is constant swimming to the surfing location. Each location has its’ own unique waves. Some big, some small, some lasting longer, some easier to catch. My friend got tired of swimming really fast and gave up. The instructor kept going back and forth to bring him to the surfing point. After trying it twice he gave up and went back to the beach. Even though it made me sad not to be able to do it with my buddy, I enjoyed having the instructor all to myself 🙂 Here is how you surf:
- You lay facing down on the surfing board
- You swim up to the surfing point
- You turn your board to face the beach and have your back facing the waves
- You wait, wait and wait(yes there’s a lot of waving in Waikiki beach because waves are not that tall.)
- When you realize a big wave is coming, you start swimming in the same direction with the wave to catch it.
- If you can come into sync with the wave, it takes you with it when it hits you.
- Fun starts…..
- You put both your hands to the board, pull your knees and stand on your knees and hands
- You put one of your foot(For me it was right) in between your hands
- You slowly pivot around your feet and try to stand up while still holding the board
- When you trust yourself enough, you let go and stand up
- Enjoy the feeling of the wind hitting your face, adrenaline and the feeling of success
- PS: If you ever tried to stand up on a surfing board, you know it feels impossible. Good news is, when the wave hit you, it stabilizes the board and it’s much easier to stand up 😉
I didn’t even realize how our 2 hours passed. My arms were useless after it was done but I’ve enjoyed each second of the surfing. I caught 6 waves and for the last two the instructor pulled me around saying I look exhausted so I should rest 🙂
