Learning to surf - best place to start ?

[Adjani]

Hi everyone !

I am new to this forum and well i have some questions . Heres the thing : i'm a 19 year old french canadian girl who just graduated from a 2 years college course in travel and tourism . Ive had this life long dream of surfing , an actually had the opportunity to try it while I was travelling in the US . I loved it . I hardly could stand on the board, the fiberglass board hit my head 2 times , i got stung by alot of jelly fish ( and i know this is NOTHING compared to alot of stuff that can happen when surfing ) , but i still got out of the water with a sens of happiness and a mind of daze , since ive been dreaming about it for so long ( and its hard to do some surfing in canada , nearest place is Tofino and its quite far away from home ) . Anyways , it just made me want to learn even more badly . I am plannin on leaving for a year , movig around november or december to give me a little bit of time to raise money to help for the rent at first and so i wont die of hunger , but im plannin on getting a job in the city im going to live in . Heres the thing ; i cant decide where to go . Ive been thinking about the US because its closer to home so i save on airfare. Im looking for a nice city or town , with strong surfing culture , where i could find a clean little unexpensive living place ( i dint mind having roomates or wtv , as long as I have a bed and a shower ) , get a job whatever it is ( im not doing it for the career , altough i think maybe my diploma in tourism can help and me being french too , but it have to be a place where someone under 21 could work ) , being near the beach since i do not own a car or even a drivers liscence ( i am not really interested in owning a car , i like to spend my money on travelling instead ) , and well somewhere i could start as a begginer and maybe get a bit of help with surf lessons . My point of all this is to learn slowly and patiently , taking time to enjoy, working hard , surfing almost everyday and by no mean id want to piss of the locals ; i dont want to be in their way or anything , id just like to learn . I know its pretty specif, , but if you guys have any suggestions/ideas of a city ,or even resspurces of how to find a job/living space , it would be so much appreciated !!!! Thank you for taking the time to read all of this .

[billie_morini]

Salute Adjani,
Congratulations on completing your Uni degree and having the surfing stoke. And, yes, Tofino, BC is a long way from any location in Quebec.

The largest problem you will face in finding employment in the US is finding an employer that will sponsor your working Visa. The majority of employers in the US will not do this for entry level professional positions. This is because sponsoring a work Visa takes time for documentation and money for fees from the employer. There is often the possibility to work in unprofessional jobs, like waitress for example, informally. In American English and, probably Canadian, too, it is called working "under the table" (sous la table). This type of arrangement is more frequently found in tourist areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles, the beach in New Jersey, and New York City.

All that said, you'd like a city that offers surfing and public transportation. San Francisco is a good option because the public transportation is very good. Santa Cruz, California, is a good option because it is small enough that you can cover a lot of it with a bicycle and buses. Portions of San Diego also have good public transportation. Los Angeles has surfing, but the public transportation is SLOW.

Easy ways to look for legal employment:
1. use the Craigslist website for major cities
2. look in on-line newspapers for the cities that interest you
3. specifically for Santa Cruz, do the above and subscribe to http://www.santacruzjobs.com/ to receive weekly job announcements
4. review on-line offerings from temporary employment agencies in the cities that interest you. The names of larger temporary agencies are: Kelly Services, Apple One Temporary Agency, and Manpower,

There is no way to find under the table jobs from long-distance. You have to meet people face to face.

As much as we'd enjoy having you here in the US, you may find it easier to find employment in Canada. There reportedly are 60 surf breaks on the west coast and 56 surf breaks on the east coast. Sounds like a lot of selection to me.

[kitesurfer]

Learning to surf - best place to start ?

The sea.

KS

[still-learning]

Learning to surf - best place to start ?

The sea.

KS

[Patryk_M]

maybe you could consider going to europe you can find a job in a surf camp.
try : http://www.helpx.net/ - there is a lot of jobs in surf citys. Most of them do no pay, they just provide food and bed, but at least you can surf.

[jaffa1949]

As you are interested in surfing, you should make your career in this field. You can teach others how to surf. With this, you will be able to enjoy your life and will get a job as well.

[stuartgpalmer]

Come to Europe! These guys offer surf coaching in France, Portugal and Morocco. Once you can surf, there are actually quite a lot of surf related jobs to be had as long as you don't want to be rich. I'm hoping to do my ISA level 1 surf coach next year.

http://www.surfcoachinternational.com

PS. I loved Tofino and the crazy BC hippies.

[petersumpters]

Excitement, fear, relaxation, meditation, being one with nature, pure fun are all part of the addiction to surfing.