I am from germany, but live for the next 6 months in the near of sydney - close to the beach.
I love snowboarding and surfing and so I started before two weeks with surfing. It is a great sport and an amazing lifestyle!
I do a surfcamp on a weekend, surf my first time on a really huge softboard, make good experience and was sure to go on with this sport.
So I buy an own board & wetsuit. The board is a 6'10 Fishboard ( I know, not the best board for a bloddy beginner, but it is rather thick)
Now I am happy about all tips, which you can get me, to make as easy as possible to learn surfing!
I have a problem with the waves: The quite (but still really big waves) breaks down the water, where I can not stand and the advanced surfer are surfing. But in the region where I can stand breaks the Shortbreak waves ( do not know if it is the correct name, I mean the hollow waves, which breaks to the sand)
I am a little bit overchallenge, because I do not know where is the best place (in the sea, concering the waves) to learn surfing... I hope you understand what I mean - Sorry for my bad english - I am still learning - If you have any tips to start surfing, doesn't matter concering which topic, please let me know
cheers
It will make a difference to what I can suggest for you 
It would also help me to explain about the shorebreak there and you might be lucky there could be a forum member nearby. Hopefully the surf camp will give you an understanding of how the beach works.
