Today I got around to learning how to surf after talking about it for the last 10 years. Wow, how did that happen?! Time sure does go by fast. Luckily, there are still plenty of years left for me to continue to try surfing. As for this first try, I joined two other girls for a group lesson in the morning. Panda stayed in shore to watch and take pictures for me.

It was extremely busy at Waikiki Beach, but Erik our instructor showed us the “sidewalk” that you paddle up, which is sort of a safe zone to the right of most of the surfing action. If you head up that channel, it’s pretty safe. Once you get far enough in (there were visual cues for us to line up to make sure we were positioned correctly), you’d wait in the “parking lot,” staying aware of your surroundings so you don’t run into anyone who may be coming in on a swell. When the coast was clear, we’d paddle towards Erik and he’d send us off on a wave.

We had practiced how to get up on the board back in the shop, ensuring we could keep a strong stance and maintain our balance. While the sensation of this force pushing you from underneath and behind was strange, it was relatively easy to get up and not flail around.

My first wave was a short ride and as I tried to get back on my hands and knees for greater stability, I fell over into the water. The second attempt wasn’t much better – my timing was a bit off. But by the third try, I was able to catch a wave almost all the way back to shore! On my way back I had one mishap where I wasn’t straight enough heading into a wave so I got turned around right next to a guy surfing. Thankfully, he was an instructor, so he was incredibly skilled at keeping us from colliding. Other than that, I was pretty proud of how well I was able to avoid any accidents, even getting out of the way of a fast-moving outrigger canoe (if you never had one charging at you before, it can be intimidating).

For some reason, my breastbone feels bruised from the experience. At first I thought that it was due to my bathing suit, but I just had a soft string there, no knots or pieces of plastic to dig into the flesh. Long after I got out, it was still hurting too. I thought I’d be more sore since I was feeling it getting out of the water, but I feel good so far. My triceps hadn’t gotten that kind of workout in awhile! I’d expected paddling to be easier than it was since I’m a good swimmer, but boy did I feel weak and inefficient.

Ultimately I’m so glad I finally took a surfing lesson and I can’t wait to try in the California coast sometime. Hopefully next time, Panda will be confident enough to join me.