Always Wanting to Learn to Surf
Surfing is a sport I have always been curious about. Growing up watching Wide World of Sports, Hawaii Five-0, and of course the famous Brady Bunch in Hawaii episode perked my interest in this adventure activity. I finally had a chance to try it out while visiting Costa Rica.
My friend Paul and I, were staying at the Poseidon Hotel, which was only feet from Jaco Beach. When we first arrived, we took a walk down the beach and there were several surfers riding the medium sized waves that were coming in as the sun began to set.
We asked our hotel concierge if he had any recommendations for nearby Jaco surf lessons. He made a phone call and made a reservation for us with Jaco Laguna Resort Surf school for the next day at 2 p.m. It cost $45.00 per person for two hours. Mauricio picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the southern end of Jaco Beach.
Jaco Surf Lessons Adventure
The surf school is attached to the Laguna Beach Resort. We passed a beautiful pool between the hotel property and the beach. There was also a thatched hut bar. I had a feeling there would be a drink or two here after the lesson (they call this literary technique foreshadowing).
Unfortunately, Mauricio had an injured leg, so he introduced us to our hands-on instructor Alex. We started with basic instruction on how to lay on the board and how to stand up in order to catch a wave. Alex showed us the proper technique. We tried to follow suite and imitate his moves while he watched and provided constructive criticism.
Surfers are well known for being the most chilled out people in the world. Alex and Mauricio definitely fit the stereotype. There were no stern words, raised voices, or even rolled eyes from this laid back tandem. Now that we got some instruction in and some practice, it was time to test out our new knowledge on the waves. Alex mentioned how it perplexed him that people would do everything right while on land and then do everything wrong once out in the surf.
Copyright © 2015 by Traveling Ted. This article was written by Ted Nelson and originally published on travelingted.com.
