Curt has talked about trying it out on a number of our trips (Myrtle Beach, Florida and the last time we went to California), but it has never actually happened. I've never really thought much about it, and just assumed Curt would try and I would watch - but I'm so glad I decided to try it with him!
I'll be honest, I was terrified! We tried indoor surfing in Florida back in January, and it was the most painful experience ever. I knew the ocean waves wouldn't hurt as much as the forced pressure of the indoor waves, but I still thought falling would hurt. And, I don't even like going swimming in lakes in the summer because the water is too cold, so I figured I wouldn't make it past my ankles in the ocean in December. But, it wasn't painful at all, and the fact that a wet suit can keep you so warm is amazing!
Surfing was our Wednesday morning activity - we had to go first thing in the morning because that is when the waves are best! So, we met our instructor on the beach in Carlsbad at 9am. We started with some instruction on the board while on the sand, but we were in the water within 20 minutes probably. Although there wasn't a lot of instruction, I would totally recommend paying an instructor (we rented the surfboard and wet suit and got our lesson as a package). The best part of having someone with us is that he knows the waves, we would lie on our boards and wait for the right wave - he would tell us when it was coming, tell us to paddle and then push us into the wave so we would have enough speed to actually catch it and get up. Curt managed to figure this part out by himself, but I was so focused on just standing up, I wouldn't have managed to catch a wave by myself.
I have no idea how many times I had to try, but I did eventually get up on the board!!! I was pretty excited and threw my arms up in celebration, which made me fall :) Curt got up too, a lot sooner then I did, obviously!
Trying to get up...
Up, but looking VERY unsteady!
Looking like I know what I'm doing!
Curt on one of his many times up!
Curt, looking like a pro.
After our surfing - I had a lot of fun, but I was pretty happy to be out of the water at this point, I was getting pretty tired!
And as if surfing itself wasn't cool enough, we also had a pretty close dolphin encounter while we were in the water!
Curt and Justin, our instructor, had a dolphin swim within 10 feet of them!!! I was headed away from them, trying to catch a wave, so when I realized what was happening I was about 50 feet from the dolphin, still pretty exciting! Even Justin was impressed they got so close - he said that doesn't happen often.
We didn't get any pictures because we didn't have our camera in the water with us at that point. It all happened pretty fast anyway, so I don't know that we would have been able to catch it at the time.
But, after we finished surfing, we were driving down the coast and saw some more dolphins so we stopped to take pictures then.
One of the better pictures...you can actually see more then the dolphins fin.
This was, without a doubt, the highlight of our trip! We're already planning on trying it again in March when we're in Florida.
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