I was so excited when I added surf lessons to my 30 before 30 list. Both because I am fascinated by the ocean but also because I have always thought surfing was incredibly cool. When I see surfers in movies or at the beach and they seem to have a swagger and laid back confidence that I love.
After talking Kyle into the lessons I signed us up for a group lesson with the Royal Hawaiian Surfing Academy which was just down the beach from us near Lahaina. Taylor was our instructor and it was a group of three for our lesson which was a very good thing since none of us had tried surfing before. After we were suited up in rash guard shirts and swim shoes we had a quick lesson on the form and then we hit the water.
My knack for picking up dance choreography helped me because I was able to remember the steps to stand up without thinking. Taylor signaled me to start paddling for my first wave and then my muscle memory took over and before I knew it I was standing up on a surf board. It was a small wave but I felt like I was on top of the world. Once you find your balance you can just enjoy the breeze and the feeling of skimming across the water. I found out very quickly that your body goes where your eyes go so DON’T LOOK DOWN. On my first wave I was in disbelief that I actually did it and once I got close to the beach I looked down at my feet to figure out how I was going to get down and the act of looking down answered that question for me. My dismount was not graceful but I was addicted already!
I managed to stand on my board for every wave but one and had an incredible time. The hour and a half flew by! Once we got out of the water I noticed that muscles were hurting that I wasn’t even aware that I had prior to my surfing adventure. On my last wave I jumped off my board and hit a coral rock on the way down. I got a small cut on my knee and sadly I was kind of excited to have a battle wound. I felt a little differently once the bone bruise set in the next day but I honestly loved every second of the surf lesson! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the lesson.
I managed to stand on my board for every wave but one and had an incredible time. The hour and a half flew by! Once we got out of the water I noticed that muscles were hurting that I wasn’t even aware that I had prior to my surfing adventure. On my last wave I jumped off my board and hit a coral rock on the way down. I got a small cut on my knee and sadly I was kind of excited to have a battle wound. I felt a little differently once the bone bruise set in the next day but I honestly loved every second of the surf lesson! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the lesson.
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