I’m not the best surfer in the world and never will be, but I have fun in the ocean and always maximise the time I spend surfing. How? Well let me give you my guide to safe surfing.
Safety when you’re surfing is everything. I really mean that, it doesn’t matter if you are having the surf of your life, it’s not worth it if you end up in A&E , put someone else in the hospital or even worse.
Let’s face it, for all its romanticism and “cool” factor, surfing is dangerous. When you boil it down to its brass tacks, you’re in the ocean – an unpredictable and powerful entity – on a board.
Your safety in the water comes down to these factors:
- Knowing the surfing etiquette
- Your skill level
- The environment
- Your equipment
Lets look at each of these in turn.
The surfing etiquette
The etiquette isn’t just there so everyone has a fair crack at the waves, thats part of it, but safety is also a big part of it. I won’t list all the etiquette rules now, you can read them here, but I’ll take one part of it as an example. I believe the biggest sin you can commit in the water is Dropping in. Basically dropping in is when you take off on a wave someone else has already caught and is riding. You may be thinking “what does that matter? It’s a big ocean!” but you would be wrong. For that moment in time, the ocean is very small – at least the part that relates to you anyway. The best case scenario if someone drops in on you is that you’re ride is ruined, frustrating and very very annoying, but if that’s the worst that happens, frankly count yourself lucky!
Worst case scenario, someone gets the pointy end of a surfboard traveling at speed in the head, on dry land a injury like that is bad enough, but when you factor in the ocean and the waves, its not pretty. I don’t want to sound alarmist here or overly dramatic, but lives could be lost.
Please, please, please learn the etiquette.
Your skill level/ The environment
This is another big issue as far as I’m concerned. Please be realistic about what conditions you can safely surf in. I agree that the only way to improve is to push yourself, but don’t get in the water if you’ve only had say one lesson and can just about pop up if its pumping out 6ft heavy waves or smaller waves but you’re really unsure about the sea state and its hazards.
If you’re a newbie and you’re at a new break, ask yourself these questions:
- Are the locals surfing? If its a decent break, but no-one else is out, there’s usually a very good reason for that. You can’t beat local knowledge in this situation.
- Where are the Hazards and what is the sea bed like? Hazards come in a variety of forms, rip tides, submerged rocks, other surfers, swimmers, boats, fishermen…. Please be on the lookout for these things and if you can’t spot them a quick chat with a life guard, or five minutes in a local surf shop (do the guy a favour and if it’s your first time in that shop, buy some wax or something). You may be massively stoked to get in the water, but those few minutes could save you a lot of grief.
Your Equipment
Now, don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying you have to buy a £400 surf board, but get the best kit you can afford. Splashing around on the beach on a hired board in the middle of summer is one thing, but it’s a completely different kettle of fish with a heavy session in the middle of January.
When you first start out, it’s very tempting to spend loads of money on T-shirts and things, but you would be far better off saving that money and spending it on some decent equipment. A good wetsuit is a must. In the summer (In the UK anyway) I’d say a 3/2 mm wetsuit is a minimum. Personally I wear that in the summer with a rash vest and board shorts underneath the suit as well. I’m comfy and warm enough to surf until I have to stop from exhaustion. In winter, I wear a 5mm suit, thermal rash vest, board shorts, boots, full face hat and gloves. Not exactly glamorous, but hey recovering from hypothermia isn’t glamorous either!
Boards vary in price, but my advice on this one is just to shop around. Look on on-line auction sites, talk to folk. There are bargains to be had, my current 7ft 2 mini-mal only set me back £60. Yeah it’s scruffy, but it floats and it suits me down to the ground.
So there you have it, follow these simple pieces of advice and you’ll be as safe as you can be, have more fun when surfing and you’ll improve quicker.
