Surfing

Let me share with you about our surfing experience. Tyler and I (but mostly Tyler) decided that while we are in Costa Rica we might as well learn how to surf. So we went to another friend this past Saturday. Side note – the friend’s name is Juanfer…short for Juan Fernando, but still funny. Nicest guy ever – Juanfer - if you read this, don’t feel bad.

We went to the closest beach to San Jose which is about two hours away. The beach is called Jaco. As a side note, just a few days after our first surf lesson, I read that this beach is contaminated. Great. The beach is dirty, I should have known better…

When we arrived, we looked out at the waves and were not intimidated by their size but rather the fact that there were manta rays jumping out of the water – not like a few “can you spot one?” but absolutely hundreds all over the place. My Wikipedia research informs me that this is practically the same as a sting ray. (Many of you may be familiar with the story about Tyler’s first surfing experience…when he caught one wave, jumped off the board onto a sting ray, and had to be carried to shore by his best friend.) Fantastic.

Anyway, by the time we had received all of our instruction and jumped on and off the board on the sand and faked surfing poses on an old beat up surfboard sitting on the sand with no ocean or waves, the manta rays had disappeared and I guess we were ready to give it a try. We all got assigned boards and went into the water with two instructors. It actually wasn’t terribly difficult to stand up – for about 5 seconds…but what was REALLY HARD was getting back out into the water. The waves were not teeny and the boards are big. So, we did this routine – spend 15 minutes getting out to the wave and then catch it, stand up for 5 seconds (or about 8 if you’re Tyler), fall off, and trudge back out again – for about an hour and a half. Needless to say, I was knackered after that. We had a little break with a snack, and then I was told we have another hour of surfing left. Yeah! Not yeah!

So I walked, dragging my feet back to my surfboard and was dreading fighting the waves again. Instead of guiding my board, I decided I would just attach it by the strap to my ankle and pull it into the water. I fully recognized that this was a bad and very unsafe idea (if you don’t know why, you’ll read in a second). I was about waist deep when I saw a big wave coming. I knew that not having a grip on my board at that time was a very bad idea, but I couldn’t get to it fast enough. The board got yanked by the wave and slammed back at me. Thankfully, it was slammed back into my thighs (where I have a little padding) and not into my face. I have a few bruises but nothing major.

So, I sulk back to the beach, having given up for the day on this new hobby of mine. The instructor comes and sits next to me and I ask him if he has another smaller, lighter board. He tells me that he gave me the smallest, lightest board he had. He also points out another girl in our class who has a board that’s (according to him) “much heavier, and much bigger.” As I look at her, I see that she is actually surfing. Good job her. Bad job woosy me. Then, to make me feel more woosy (although I know he is being nice), he asks if I want him to walk the surfboard out for me and then I can surf back in. Although tempted, I do not take up his offer to look like the woosiest person on the planet (or at least at Jaco Beach that day).