Surfing trip "advance beginner" in January, any tips ?

[mitchmitchelson]

Hi,

I'll have holidays January next year and I would like to surf again.
I'm kind of an "advance beginner", can catch my waves on a 6'' something board but still can't duck dive.

I was thinking about going to Nicaragua or Porto Rico ?
I read the swell there is pretty low at that season and that Porto Rico could be pretty crowded.

Some guys told me that Fuerteventura is better at that season, really ?

What do you think about it ? Or do you have got better tips ?

Thx in advance for any ideas

[mitchmitchelson]

Ok so I made some more search, Lanzarote could be a good deal too.

[jaffa1949]

mitchmitch, Noosa is very kind to beginning beginners unless it is cyclone powered, I'm glad you had fun there .

You are still very much a beginner beginner ( sorry) and guess what it doesn't matter ( we all were once).

In order to surf better waves you need to be able to duck dive and get out into wave catching positions .
If the surf is more powerful than benign inside Noosa you are going to struggle and be frustrated. So look for long benign point breaks with an easy inside section.

I point this out because I wonder whether you are self sufficient in surf safety, when the surf is more powerful.
Outside of Australia and the US there is often little or no lifeguard service.

Read guide books, and look at the travel guide, Lanzarote has mostly board breaking volcanic rock reef breaks and full oceanic waves (read can be like Hawaiian power) as can any of the Canaries.

Southern Spain or Morocco may be worth considering especially as there are some surf schools and camps in both. Both lack lifeguard facilities beyond camp staff.

[drowningbitbybit]

Lanzarote could be a good deal too.

Shallow water and lots of spiky critters

Apart from tourist-trap surf schools on the beaches, Lanzarote is better suited to people that are confident surfing shallow reefs over rocks with many many sea urchins.

[mitchmitchelson]

for sure i'm and i'll always be a beginner. duck dive is one big next things to learn, I'll need ages to learn it

so about the trip,

Morocco could be a really great deal, good idea!
Central america sounds exotic and Lanzarote, yes it's reef, but I went to Bali, which was reefs too and it was still fun

I'll think about it. Thx a lot for the tips

[jaffa1949]

MItch calling you a beginner is not a statement of disrespect, we all were and often the ocean puts even longtime surfers back into the beginner class by a good smack down.
Not injury but a good honest lesson of "so you've been surfing 30 years see how you handle this".
Ego trauma is a regular event for most surfers!

[mitchmitchelson]

No problem at all, I didn't took wrong.

I'm first to recognize I'll be for ever a beginner in front of the sea, just wrote "advance beginner" cos most of the time I could do 1 or 2 things more than the 1st day I tried surf

[henrywing17]

Hi, I spent about 7 weeks in Nicaragua and from my experience it wouldn't be the best place for a beginner. All the beach breaks I surfed were quite fast and hollow (except from Las Penitas), I would also try to avoid reef breaks. The only places in Nica that I went to that would be suitable for beginners would be Jiquilillo but only when its small (if you do go stay in Rancho Esperanza - the best hostel I've ever been to) and Las Penitas. During Jan the swells are smaller in central america but the issue is that Las Penitas and Jiquilillo only work on certain tides when the swell is small so you might have a lot of days when the tides and (the usual) morning offshore winds don't correlate. So the chances of getting small clean waves ideal for learing in is pretty slim.