First Surfing Lesson

  Kalaeloa, Hawaii, United States
Monday, September 1, 2008

This was the best thing I did Labor Day weekend, and well since I got here (maybe not as good as the Volcano tour I took, but I digress.. get to that entry another time.) So I wanted to get a lesson that they were very patient, as I didn't want to repeat my experiences with learning to dance (because I didn't want to learn to hate surfing before I even got any good at it.. :)

Learning on the beach, safter...

So I asked around my neighborhood what they'd recommend and at least 2 people and one place online recommended the Hawaiian Fire surf school. http://www.hawaiianfire.com/  They only had the early morning class open, so I had to drag myself out to the beach by 8:00 which sucked a little, but the experience well made up for it. It was awesome! I have a new sport I love and want to do more of.

The whole key.. getting up quick and balanced

  The instructors took the time to explain safety first, of course, then they got down to basics and what you'd need to know. Surprisingly that was very little.. but then you gotta learn to crawl before you can walk or even run I guess. I wish I'd signed up for two classes, as now I have not wheels so getting another lesson again will be awhile. I even looked into buying a board but they start at like $600 for a decent one (unless you want to get one from Costco .. they sell them at the one here. :) So think I'll just rent one a few times and see if my love for it continues.

Dig! Dig! Dig! beach training

So after showing you teh basics of getting over and catching waves, they made you do them on the beach on these foam boards in this beautifully secluded  Kalaeloa Beach (so you don't have people running into you all the time, which they said can happen with other schools in Waikiki.) Then after that, the instructors went out a bit and waited for people to come out to them. Then when you got out there, they'd line you up with a wave, tell you to "Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!" and shove you out to catch a wave. Seems like cheating, but the cool side is that you don't spend most of the day missing waves, but getting the hang of what to do when you do catch one. For some it was just hard enough to get up without falling.

Getting up that first time is a thrill

The guy that sent me out was impressed... got up on the first try and rode aways. He asked me if I'd ever surfed before and was surprised when I told him no. I did tell him I'd body surfed, water skiied/boogie boarded, and snowboarded, and strangely it was most like snowboarding(which I picked rather quickly as well. Maybe because both have alot to do with balance, and got alot of training in that from martial arts). Everyone else was taking breaks, hanging out after a bit, or going in and beaching after a bit. I was kind of surprised I was the only one that just kept going out constantly, looking for someone to shove me onto a wave. Fell half the time, but usually becuase I was tying to do something to quickly/impatiently or trying to be cool and do something I'd seen the instructors or people on TV do... and promptly falling of course.

Great encouraging instructors

After awhile one of the guys asked me if I worked out all the time. I was surprised by teh question, and told him I liked swimming, but wouldn't say alot. He said "Huh, usually everyone is tired by now.. must be the swimming." (HA! Take that terrible-date-girl and your "doesn't look like it" comment! Wish I had a recording of that so I could e-mail or text that to your ass with a "so doesn't look like I work out eh?") They were very encouraging towards everyone with the cheering and such when people got up as well. One of them told me I should keep it up, and don't do like the tourists and just do it once a year; you can't get good that way.

Perfect spot as shallow so can stand, small w

Funny thing was, I was flicking channels looking or a movie to watch one night, and came across (the travel channel maybe?) that was doing a "like a millionare for a day" in Hawaii. I had to laugh when they went on what looked like exactly the same surfing class I took.. but htey paid like $1000 ea. Guess they gouge the millionares, because even the private lessons aren't that much. :) 


http://www.hawaiianfire.com/video/movie3.mov

(and I didn't have my camera or phone handy ofr the lesson, and wasn't going to pay the $$$ they wanted for the picture afterwards, so I have shamelessly stolen the images from Google image search. none of these are my own and I don't think anyone, Hawaian Fire least of all, wants to sue me over them. )