I have been living by the water in Marina del Rey for years and I have watched people surf out there at least a thousand times without ever once getting on a board myself. Turning another year older this month finally embarrassed me into actually trying it!!
So where does a total beginner start? Do I book a real lesson or just rent a soft top and flail around in the whitewater until something works? Which beach is forgiving for someone with zero balance, what does a lesson honestly cost, and is the early morning thing real advice or just surfer bragging?
Start in Santa Monica, not Venice. The break down by the pier is way more forgiving and you are not dodging people who actually know what they are doing.
Rent a soft top from ZJ Boarding House on Main Street, like forty bucks for the day. Whitewater only for the first few times, seriously, it is still so fun.
Growing up around the South Bay I would say skip El Porto for now. It gets steep and closes out fast and it will just beat you up, so stay with the mushier Santa Monica stuff while you are learning.
If you ever come down my way, ET Surfboards on Aviation in Hermosa will rent you a proper soft top and talk you out of buying a shortboard you cannot ride yet. That conversation saved me a few hundred dollars.
I did the group lesson at Aqua Surf School on Barnard Way last September and it was the best hundred dollars I spent all year. Board and wetsuit are included and they keep you in the whitewater the whole time, so you actually stand up instead of just swimming.
Book the seven in the morning slot. The wind comes up later and the water is genuinely warmest right now.
Pay for one real lesson before you buy anything. Otherwise you end up with a Craigslist board that does not suit you and no idea why nothing works. Rider Shack on Washington rents by the day, five minutes from you.
I got dragged to Santa Monica Surf School by friends and it turns out being pushed into the wave by someone who knows the timing is the entire trick. I stood up twice and then was sore for three days.
Do the private lesson. I booked one at Learn to Surf LA on Bicknell and paying extra for one on one meant nobody was waiting their turn while the instructor fixed my pop up, which is the only part that matters early.
The thing nobody tells you is that surfing is a paddling sport before it is a standing sport. If your shoulders and back are not used to work you will be finished in twenty minutes and you will blame the waves. Two weeks of rows and push ups before your first lesson changes the entire day.
And go in the morning. Glassy water, no crowd, and you are not fighting the afternoon chop while you learn.
Do the lesson first, then go flail. The lesson teaches you how not to get the leash wrapped around your neck and how to actually stand up instead of looking like a baby deer on ice.
If you’re cheap like me do group lessons ($69 at Fun Surf or similar), then rent a soft-top from the shops on Washington or at Dockweiler. Don’t buy anything until you’ve gone 4–5 times and still like it.
No worries, I did almost the same mistake. That’s why I wrote that.
It’s actually not that difficult to learn. Just go out to the beach after a couple lessons and find other people who have the same hobby. That’s saves you money.
Book one lesson. Not five. I stopped after the first two. Just wasn’t for me.
