Surfing Waves

Hello everyone, I signed up for here to get a Lil bit more info on surfing and what not. I'm pretty well experienced in board sports and did downhill skating for about 6 years and of those 6 did 3 competitivly but being married now my wife wants to be able to do a sport with me without flying down a road going 40+. So decided I should look into surfing for the both of us. Hoping I can get some light shined on somethings.

Yeah the differences between surfing and skateboarding include first, most of the time falling down doesn't hurt as much although a bounce off the reef can be pretty major and in really big waves the force of just the water can break things. Also and important for for you is that it is more difficult than skateboarding and generally when you wipe out skateboarding you don't have to worry about drowning. Surfing is about paddling for a wave that is constantly changing. So you have to use your arms to catch the wave which is changing shape as you try to catch it. There are currents which can sweep you out to sea even if you don't do anything radical. So you need to be able to swim and to understand currents and read the waves. But it's a lot of fun and some guys skateboard to keep some turning or aireal skills up. Often skateboarders want to go straight to a shortboard because they see the surfers doing what they do on skateboards but learning on a shortboard will be more difficult than learning on a longboard because there will be more effort and skill required to catch a wave on a shortboard. If you do want to go that route just know it will be a while before you are actually riding a wave and don't get discouraged. Persistence pays off. I think most of us here would recommend you take some lessons first before buying a board.

The fact you skateboarded is going to help you with balance once you are on your feet. But there are a few sets of skills you will need until you get on your feet. Learning to choose waves, paddling, poping up, even sitting on your board might be a challenge at first.
Not discouraging you, even when you wipe out a lot it will be a fun experience! At least it was for me.

As oldmansurfer said, starting on a shortboard is harder, and might be frustrating at some times. But it's not impossible. The recommended is you start on a longboard or a funboard. Your wife will probably be riding one, so just tag along with her at first and start on them too
If you can rent a board to get the feeling before you commit to buying one.

I read about the whole short board deal and wasn't even considering it. I do have an old shortboard that my father had in his days and passed it on to me but, I wanna keep it up on the rack I have it on and have it as insperation to ride it one day. In the mean time I'm looking at a 7'6 funboard. Not sure on the thickness, but I'll look into it more. By the way ,I'm only 5'8 145
I'm a pretty good swimmer so paddling I'd like to think isn't a huge issue. From my scrub days of downhill skating I use to fall all the time and when I got into freeriding they broken bones, cracked helmets and among other things happened all the time so I have patients for all the spills I'll have and not getting it right the first time.

Great, you have a good mentality about the whole thing!
I've seen the other post about the board, didn't realize it was you asking. I think that funboard is a good start.
Paddling is a little different from swimming because you need to balance the board with your belly while doing it, but the fact you're a good swimmer will pay off. You will get less tired, and will be able to handle yourself better on the sea. Also, with a funboard, balancing will be easier and the paddling will require less effort because of the board higher flotation and less rocker.

You will have lots of fun for sure!

Sweet deal! another thing, I do have the option of riding mushy stuff or go 6 hours out and try ride 5-8 foot waves. I'm in Texas and about the only decent place I know of to find waves is Padre Island. Would it be worth going out to learn down there or stick to what I have?

Get your act together in the mushy stuff for a while then hit the bigger stuff especially if you plan to have your wife surfing too, hitting bigger stuff before you and your wife are ready does not help learning.
A gentler approach without fear and the frustration of being at risk works better.

Cool, just wanted to make sure. Thanks for all the help guys! Hopefully I can find some fellow Texans on here.