Learning to Surf in Bryon Bay

Byron Bay is the backpacker town par excellence. Laid back and turned toward alternative lifestyles, Byron is also a good surf spot.

I signed up for a four hours lesson with Mojosurf. Starting early we were dropped off a beach near town. Luckily we were a small group so the instructor had more time for each of us. The lesson starts on the beach with some basic knowledge about waves and learning how to stand up on the board. We practiced a few times on the sand, did a short jogging and some warming up and it was finally time to face the waves.

Luckily again, the weather was absolutely perfect and the waves, although we were fearing there would be none when we arrived, turned out to be quite nice and the best kind to learn.

The first few tries were obviously big failures, mostly due to me going to fast while standing up and not being focused enough on the movement. I got my first wave standing up after 20 minutes in the water and got a few more before the break.

At the break, we practiced more on the sand. It was easier to understand the movement this time and this second practice helped me a lot to realize what I was doing wrong in the water. We went back for half an hour and I managed to take more waves, trying to surf “bigger” ones (relative term, they were still small…).

In the end, this was a fantastic experience. Our instructor was very good, being really patient, encouraging and explaining everything well. I really enjoyed it and plan to try again on my own very soon!

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