Why we only use whitewater
Most people who quit surfing quit in the first two sessions, and almost always for the same reason: they were taken out past the break too early. Out the back you spend your energy on paddling, duck diving and waiting, and you get maybe four attempts in an hour.
In the whitewater — the reformed foam between the break and the beach — you get thirty. That is the entire argument. Thirty repetitions in a morning is how a movement becomes automatic. Four is how you get discouraged.
What the two mornings look like
Day one is spent almost entirely on your feet not being on the board. We work the pop-up on the sand until it stops being a sequence you think about. It looks tedious and it is the reason day two works.
Day two we move to the water for the whole session. The instructor pushes you into the foam, you pop up, you fall, you paddle back, repeat. Somewhere in the middle of that morning it clicks. We have watched it happen a few thousand times and it still looks the same every time.
What you actually need to bring
- Swimwear to wear under the wetsuit. Board shorts with hard seams are uncomfortable — a swimsuit or rash guard is better.
- A towel and a change of warm clothes. Northern California water is cold even in August.
- Reef-safe sunscreen. The fog burns you more than you expect.
- Something to eat afterwards. You will be far hungrier than you think.
About the cold
The water here sits between 10 and 14°C year round. We provide a 4/3 wetsuit with boots, and after ten minutes you stop noticing. The first ten minutes are honest work though, and we would rather tell you now.
Can you swim?
You need to be comfortable in water over your head and able to swim about 25 metres without panicking. That is genuinely the whole requirement. You do not need to be fit, young, or coordinated — our oldest first-timer this year was 68 and stood up on the second morning.
After the course
Most people either book a private session to work on paddling out, or join a weekend camp. Some just come back and rent a board from us. There is no pressure to continue with a package — we would rather you came back in a year than signed up for something you did not need.
