Who wouldn't love to hang ten like a Kiwi? Well, maybe an Aussie. In any event, there's a five-day trip that will teach you how.
New Zealand Surf `n' Snow Tours coaches beginners and experts alike on their work-week long surfing safari. Equipment is provided and instructors are well-versed in identifying the best waves for a rider's ability.
Small groups lessons, beautiful scenery and gnarly waves are a guarantee. And so are good times with an itinerary like this:
Day 1 - Kia Ora, Welcome. The search begins departing Auckland & heading for the far north. Tonight (Monday) we stay at Shipwreck Bay.
Day 2 - The majority of today's driving is on the beach taking you to secluded surf locations. Shipwreck Bay accommodation.
Day 3 - Start the day with a surf and breakfast. Then the search begins again. Shipwreck Bay accommodation.
Day 4 - More of day 2 and 3, by evening our surf pilgrimage will bring us home to our shipwreckbay accomadation.
Day 5 - Back to Auckland chasing waves on either coast. We arrive in Auckland late Friday afternoon.
Bonuses: Sunsets, dolphins, whales, wild horses and dune boarding just to name a few.
Registration fees include lessons, accommodations, three square meals, transportation and equipment.
A bit off the well worn Endless Summer surf track, Ikumi Beach at the southern tip of Japan's Kochi Prefecture nonetheless offers plenty of the aloha spirit and decent breaks for all levels of ability. Wild breaks at Ikumi have hosted international competition while five minutes down the coast offers milder waves more inviting to amateurs looking to get upright on a wave for the first time. Above all, its a welcome respite from the breakneck pace of modern Japan available at countryside prices.
Ikumi blends the rural charms of Japan's least developed island with a local scene filled with metropolitan refugees. Denizens of Shikoku are well-deserving of their reputation for friendliness and laid back hospitality, greeting road weary travelers with a warm smile and a bottle of Kirin be they beach bums or the streams of Buddhist pilgrims that walk through town on the famed 88 Temples Pilgrimage.
The best deal in town is at the Ikumi Guesthouse, offering air conditioned rooms and breakfast for under $40 American. Your host there, lifelong surf enthusiast Ten, can set you up with discount rentals and lessons, introductions to the locals and all the amenities of a home away from home.
The best surf comes with the typhoons and tourists between June and November but the off-season has its charms (and extra elbow room). Be warned though: like many beach towns, most restaurants close up when the crowds go home and lunch may be a choice between a 3 mile walk and whatever can be gleaned from the local konbini (convenience mart).
When people talk surfing they usually mean Hawaii, California, or maybe even Miami. But these days newbies can ride the waves in the City of Brotherly Love, too. (Or at least just across the bridge.)
Instructors at Signature Days, a unique travel agency serving several major cities, have been teaching virgin riders to surf for more than a decade. A $110 pass buys two students an hour-long tutorial, from June through early October, in this east coast town about 90 minutes outside Philly.
Surfers may not catch the big kahuna off the shores of Waretown, New Jersey, but hey there is a lot less shame bailing on a wave in Philly then somewhere on the Pacific coast.
Built within MallSport, a mall designed for sporting enthusiasts, Wave House is the first artificial wave in South America--a place where surfers and surf wannabes can try their hand at riding 10 foot swell.
The pool pumps water and forces it into the pool, via high powered nozzles, to simulate large waves. There is only one ride per session, which means expect the queue to be massive, but the pool should have a low grommet count.
Looking for a non-boring summer vacation spot? We aim to please:
MTV's newest Hawaii based show is Living Lahaina, a psuedo surf reality show.
The show tries to use a Dukes of Hazard style narration, at least they did in the premiere episode, to tell the story of a half dozen Maui surf instructors. The first show featured a surf dude named "Gator" getting drunk, then angry at his girlfriend, then paddling Auau Channel, all in a night's work. Of course, Gator's early morning channel paddle blossomed into a full blown Cost Guard search for the lost reality surfer.
In any event, while the hot-bodied reality show may or may not hold your interest, it appears that the Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy, the show's backdrop, is a good place to learn to surf, if you find yourself on Maui.
I stood up the first time i got in the water.. my teacher was the big kahuna! after my first time i went 3 more times it was a blast!! and i got some sweet shots of myself surfing! Oh and all the boys are good looking too!
Oddly, we couldn't find an official website for the surf academy, but if you want to bother Gator for a surf lesson, and have plenty of cell minutes, call 808.662.4664.
It's no secret that Down Under has great waves and a great surf culture. To get in on another part of the south-of-the-equator action, head to the west side of New Zealand's North Island and the town of Raglan. The laid-back town was featured in The Endless Summer, and it offers plenty of hiking, kayaking and bars full of shredders boasting about tackling huge breaks.
For the best Hang 10 experience here, sign up for the Raglan Surfing School. For you green thumbs (toes?) out there, beginner lessons start at $60 US and include board rental, transportation and a post-surf sauna (!). The Surf Adventure packages will get you into North Shore territory: you'll be thinking surfing 24/7 while crashing at the Karioi Lodge with your fellow waveriders. (There's a definite hippie vibe at the lodge, but don't sweat it, bro, it's part of the fun.) A five-day surf-and-stay package will set you back only $206 US. Did we mention it's almost summer in the Southern Hemisphere right now?
Kate Hudson looks like she is doing just fine thank you. Spotted this past weekend taking surfing lessons in Maui, Kate takes a page out of Denise Richard's playbook and shows off her post pregnancy body on vacation, in this case while learning to surf. Oh, and there wasn't a Black Crow in sight.
Maui offers plenty of private surf lessons. Nancy Emerson's School of Surf offers to give clients private lessons at uncrowded surf spots. But can Nancy guarantee the long lense of the paparazzi will be no where in site? Then again if you look like Kate you probably don't care much if you are caught frolicking while learning to surf.
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by jnaw
