10 Tips to Stay Safe While Learning Surfing

Apart from the adrenaline rush, the exhilarating sport of surfing involves plenty of risks. Death can cheat you with sharks abounding in the sea or surfboards getting pierced. When you are learning the trick and techniques, you have to extra careful. However, even with all the difficulties, surfing remains as exciting as ever! To make it even more exciting and safe, here are some valuable surfing tips you need to follow that all starts even before getting into the beach.

Choose a safe spot to learn surfing

Beginners should never pick up a high-profile surfing spot meant for experts. Instead, they should opt for a safe surfing spot for starting the journey.

You should also make sure that you don’t start off in intensely crowded beaches because there is a chance of colliding with other surfers.

Take swimming classes

Knowing how to swim is crucial to any marine sport, especially surfing, scuba diving, and snorkeling. Since it is all about catching the biggest waves and riding on strong and powerful currents, swimming will stand you in good stead.

If you are a weak swimmer, you need to brush up and refine your skills by practicing regularly in local swimming pools.

On the other hand, if you are a strong swimmer you should not be complacent and rest on your laurels. Rather you should remember that the ocean can be far more hazardous and volatile place than a swimming pool. Hence no matter how strong a swimmer you’re, you should always try to hone your skills.

Opt for sun protection

You need proper defense from the harmful UV rays to prevent photo-aging of the skin while surfing. Using a strong sunscreen with higher SPF is vital for your skin and at the same time, it should also conform to the marine environment of the islands. Chemical-free, water-resistant, reef safe and biodegradable sunscreen products are really good for the ocean.

Practice weight training exercises

For getting a beach-like body and a safe and enjoyable surfing experience, weight training workouts are especially beneficial. It includes bench press, pushups, and bicep curls. Practicing them regularly will help you build physical strength and stamina.

Become familiar with different coastal currents

While learning to surf, it is crucial to becoming acquainted with rip currents, undertows, and rip tides. Rip currents are most commonest of the three in most of beaches. As a surfer, you’ve got to learn ways to deal with them successfully from experts. It will help you to assess discrete hazards and act as per the situation.

Check your gear

With all the gear in place, you can cheat death when a tricky situation arises. Make sure your leash or leg rope is properly attached and fins don’t loosen up. Check if the rail saver has started to fray.

Hold your surfboard to your side

Many beginners make the mistake of placing the surfboard in between themselves and the wave. This is a completely wrong way of holding and keeping your surfboard. You should keep your surfboard to your side to avoid it hitting your face.

Learn to deal with rip currents

When you find rip currents in the ocean while surfing, paddle at a perpendicular angle away from it. Don’t make the mistake of paddling directly against it.

Stay away from hurdles

While catching good waves, you may often encounter natural and manmade hindrances and hazards. When good waves break, you can come across exposed rocks, piers, groynes, cliffs, boats and others.

Matters can get complicated with longshore currents that may carry you to a place of danger from where you first paddle out. You need to keep your head cool and surmount them successfully.

Develop yourself into a confident surfer

Before taking the big leap, train yourself to be a good surfer. It’ll all depend on your basic fitness level, awareness, use of proper surfing equipment, willingness to take risks and challenges, ability to be resilient in the face of failures, and following safety surfing tips.

If you are looking for more safety surfing tips, join the surf camp brought to you exclusively by Pata Sudaka. Learn everything that’ll help you grow into a good surfer learning water safety, use of a surfboard, paddling techniques, and others.