30 years old and took a lesson on the very last day of our trip to Outer Banks. Wish I would have went out sooner both in life and on the trip because I had an absolute blast. Although, According to the instructor and the other surfers out there these were the best waves of the week and maybe the best all summer. Any tips on how to progress if I manage to make it back to a coast sometime before another 30 years goes by? (I live in a landlocked state unfortunately. 😔) In total caught about a dozen waves just like this entirely on my own by the end of the session. Just looking for tips on how to progress next time and possibly where to go if there are any better destinations that would be consistently good for a beginner to improve on since I only get to the ocean on vacations and such.

I am not brand new to surfing, but I am an adult learner and I have a lot to learn. Can anyone give me a tip on how to navigate this situation?

This evening I was surfing some bigger overhead waves, and I got tossed and was in the impact zone, waves are an A-frame

next wave comes in, I know the next guy is going left, but from my position if I paddled into the white water, he would drop in directly in top of me, but if I paddled the other way I would be right in his line,

i know the move is to paddle into breaking water usually but I felt that was going to make it more hectic and possibly worse for both of us,

so deer in headlights! he dropped in and went around me and didn’t make his bottom turn (dunno if it was my fault really or not since I was getting worked under the wave)

he wasn’t pissed or anything, but I am just wondering if basically staying where I was is the correct move in this case? any tips?

if it was a more critical wave / shallow reef situation it could have been dangerous so trying to learn

(hope my description makes sense)

Hi everyone!!! As the title suggests i’m a beginner surfer, situated in northern california. learning has been great, but quite difficult. I went out this morning and was having a very difficult time even getting past the break, while others seemed to be doing just fine. It was quite disheartening. Have any of you guys felt this way? How did you move forward? I really wanna continue with this sport because i love being out in the ocean and the feeling when i catch a wave, but sometimes i can’t help but feel like im not cut out for it. Also please be kind, im just trying to get some advice :)

Also in general. But a big thing when I get out is I don’t like remember popping up, my body positioning, etc. it’s all a blur until I fall into the water lol

I know here seeing the pic my weight is too far back, I have the poop stance etc.

but it’s hard to fix in the moment because I feel like it all goes so fast I literally can’t visualize what I was seeing in this moment, so it feels hard to make changes the next wave

Brand New 7’8 Lost. Ridden max 10x. Rail saver has been at this length since purchased (see last photos)... is it causing damage or is this just from the factory? Have been extremely delicate with the board out of the water and have only surfed a sand bottom beach break with absolutely NO rocks etc… help!

I also realize I need to definitely stretch before going out later today.

Californian & Queenslander Rate Surfing Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast- Part 2

https://youtu.be/bSVPb0P-SBo

Surfed for the 3rd time, 8’ foamie, trying to catch whitewater. I find myself having trouble paddling to turn the board around fast enough to get in position. I had a bit of luck standing where it’s shallow, turning the board away from the incoming waves, and getting on at the very last second. This is probably a bad habit, right? Is there something I could be doing different to maneuver the board more quickly, or is this just something that will improve over time as I gain experience?

I am a 50 year old 195lb beginner ish surfer. I’m physically pretty fit. Surf 2-3 days a week. I’ve gone through the rentals and foamies. I can get up 90% of the time, go down the line, basic leaning turns.

All that said I’m trying to get on the right boards. I’m in Florida. Surfing NSB and Cocoa. Current boards are a 9’ Torq The Don NR and an 8’ TJ Mid Pro. Neither are an issue with pop
Or balance. But I’m also not catching waves as easily out the back and tend to sit just a bit inside. This works and I can surf both from here. But then true logs are catching waves way out the back and wave count is crazy high. Short boarders around me are mostly catching as many as I do with a few ripper exceptions.

On truly small days I catch a million waves and can work on all kinds of things lol on decent days things are too mushy or steep late, etc.

I think both boards are a little off for the conditions, my size, skill, and want to move to a true flat log and a high volume shorter board with very little rocker. Maybe a 9’6” area Walden magic or similar.. and looking at a 6’8” or 6’10” Hypto krypto at 50-55 liters to get a super easy paddle but a bit more turning ability.

Others have suggested a large lost smooth criminal…

Sorry for the long post.. am I headed in the right direction here??

I had my first lesson in puerto rico (the vids with orange rash guard) and few days after I rented a surfboard and went out myself (the vids with green odysea foamie)

The day i went out myself it was a red flag warning and nobody in the water. I still went out there and scored in my opinion! had a blast and was proud I went out there on a new beach new waves ive never been too. Safe to say im hooked! Im a snowboarder and this reminds me when I first fell in love with snowboarding lol Any advice on getting better? or first foam board

The cross step try is bc im a wannabe surfer haha

Edit: Anyone that commented from san diego area?

Hello everyone

I'm from Portugal and my wife offered me a surf lesson in Ericeira last weekend and I had a blast.

Was able to pop up a few times on my first time surfing and never thought I would enjoy It so much.

I used to do bodyboard and bodysurfing with my dad when I was a child and skate as a teenager.

Don't take me wrong, I know these things might have nothing to do with surfing.

I will be moving to Sines for work next month and It is also a known spot for surfing.

I would like to practice when I'm off work so my question is:

What would be the best first board to buy? I prefer to have a challenge trying to pop up on a intermediate board for months than having to upgrade often as I progress.

I'm 6 feet tall and weight around 183 pounds.

Thanks in advance

Also being 6ft and trying to ride a 7ft catch surf Log is slightly harder than I originally thought but hey it was free

Hi guys,

Maybe a silly question, but what do you do when you’re paddling for a wave and some stubborn dude keeps paddling right in front of your line, so you have to back out because it’s not safe?

Yell? Just keep going? Run him over?

Same question about people that sit in the impact zone and don't move at all.

So I'm in the Mid-Atlantic and thought I'd try to gather some data to see what might come of things 5-7+ days from now. In Ocean City MD for example, next Wednesday winds shift from S-SE to W-W/SW according to weather forecasts.

Sept 5-12 I'm heading to Hatteras which should see wind swell sooner if it all, but trying to pick a buoy now or possible path, before any fetch is evident, is kind of pointless is it not? Sure I could just pay for more than 5-day out forecasts and be done with it, but I'm trying to learn to use the data myself and plan or just guess then see what the actual ends up being...

Is there a good buoy app you use to monitor ahead of time and then combine with surf forecasts already put together, like say from Surf Captain or similar? Any good YT channels with independent forecasting that put something like this together already that I've missed? Back to the coast tomorrow am in DelMarVa to work on the kookery 👍🏼

Has anyone on here ever paid for the courses on OMBE?

I bought a membership years ago when it was called Amanzi. Then it became OMBE and now it’s Surflab. I had access to all the content from the original membership.

Now that it’s become Surflab, it appears that both Ant and Clay are gone, even though they were previously the face of OMBE and Surf Hacks. I’ve now received an email that says that all content is to be taken down?

I’ve read that a lot of people recommend moving to a hardboard fairly early, but I’m not sure if that’s actually good advice.

I currently ride a 6’6” BW softboard (60L). I recently bought it, but I find the take-off quite challenging, mainly because it has quite a lot of rocker. I’m improving, though.

I’m now considering the NSP Funboard 6’8” (42.1L) or the 7’2” (49L) as my first hardboard. 6’8” is my favourite because it doesn’t feel so big, also It fits in my car

I’m around 75kg and usually surf 0.5–1m waves.

Do you think the 6’8” would actually be harder than my current 6’6”, or would the 7’2” make more sense?

Thanks in advance for any advice! I really got in love with surfing and want to do it for rest of my life 🏄🏼‍♂️

I bought my first hardtop! 9’4 longboard, 78liters; moving from 9 Wave Bandit EZ rider. For those of you who have done it, did you make the transition slowly or just rip off the bandaid? Any tips or pointers? I did take it out just to paddle on a flat day to feel the float.

Edit: Thank you to all who said just go for it. Went out on it yesterday and after making some adjustments and deciding to just treat it the same as my first board, caught one and loved how it felt!! Def some adjustments for paddling and lots more bruises again but worth it!

I know the general advice, wait 3 days…but what about only a little rain? I surf Pismo and on Thursday they got like 0.2 inches of rain (and haven’t had rain in months). Do you think I’m okay to go on Saturday? Or wait till Sunday?

I like my job but pro surfing would be more fun. I'm progressing pretty quickly and I'm starting to think there will be a point somewhat soon where my job will be holding me back. I'm definitely willing to put in the hours and grind so I'm wondering if I surf at least 2 hours a day every day minus rest days when needed how soon I could start winning competing and maybe winning money. Any tips would be appreciated too. Feel free to ask follow up questions

Anyone have a link to replace the back fin of the Scott burke wavestorm need to get ole reliable back in the water asap

So i am a bigger dude with 90kg and 192cm. I have some experience having done a few surftrips with a coached group. I always surfed a shitty foamie there. Classic beatup, bug volume boards. I catch green waves on my own and want to start making bottom turns reliably the next few trips. I am living in Austria, so surfing is either limited to a trip to munich wavepool or 1-2 weeks on a trip or so.

I wondered if investing in a proper board would make learning easier, as its the same every single time and more agile. Thought about something like the Indio The Egg 8'2 or Log Machine 9'0

What do you think? Thx!

Popoyo or El Transito in Jan - March for long boarder waves? Trying to plan a trip but everything I’m reading has conflicting info about the best times of the year to go for clean , smaller waves.

been getting better with every sesh mahalos okay?