Basic Surfing Maneuvers

The first movement in surfing is the “take-off”, the process of successfully catching a wave by paddling into it and jumping to your feet.  For obvious reasons, no other maneuver can be attempted until the take-off can be performed routinely.

Once the surfer is up and riding with confidence, the next challenge is to keep the ride going for as long as possible.  To accomplish this, the first maneuver most surfers learn is the “bottom turn”, a turn executed at the bottom of a wave after dropping down its face.  This delivers the surfer back up the face of the wave for more energy and a longer ride.

When the surfer performs a series of rapidly executed bottom turns up, resulting in a rapid ride up and down the face of the wave for the purpose of gaining speed, it’s called “pumping”. 

A turn executed on the shoulder of the wave that delivers the surfer back towards the breaking part of the wave is called a “cut-back” and is the maneuver most surfers learn next.
When the ride is over and the surfer turns out of the wave to slow down and stop, it’s called “kicking out”.

Advanced Surfing Maneuvers

Once the surfer can sustain a ride by these maneuvers the next challenge is to learn higher grade maneuvers like “turning off the lip” where the board is turned at the very peak of the wave.

The “rail grab” is another advanced trick in which the surfboard’s rail is grabbed with the back hand while riding.

“Cross-stepping” is when the surfer steps forward or back on the board.  Once the surfer can move around on a  long board while riding, he can attempt to “hang five”, placing one foot or five toes on the very nose of the board.

Once a surfer can hang five, the next logical step is to “hang ten”, placing both feet or ten toes on the nose of the board, also called “nose riding”.

The “helicopter” is an advanced long boarding maneuver in which the board is spun around from the nose and the surfer is briefly riding backwards on the board.

Shredding

A surfer who has mastered all of these maneuvers is ready to begin “shredding”.  Shredding is the performance of high-grade maneuvers and is the stock-in-trade of world class surfers.  Many of these maneuvers involve aerials in which the surfer launches off the crest of a wave, performs some trick in the air, and then lands to continue the ride.

A “front air reverse” is a leap off of a wave, a twist in the air, and then landing nose first into the wave.   An “aerial barrel roll” is a 360 degree twist in the air.  A “rodeo clown” is a flip while holding onto the rails of the board.

The art of surfing is really just the stringing together of a series of maneuvers.  Your progress as a surfer can be charted by your mastery of these maneuvers.  By taking them one at a time, mastering each in turn, you can climb the ladder to being an expert surfer.

1. The Endless Summer

It’s 1966 and the Southern California surf culture is on the move, leaving the beaches around LA and heading out into the world on a mission to spread the gospel of surfing and find the world’s best waves.  Universally considered to be the best full length movie about surfing ever made.  Gorgeously shot and iconic.

Running time: 90 minutes

2.  Riding Giants

A comprehensive look at the history and culture of surfing combining interviews and archival footage with jaw-dropping cinematography. The personalities of the sport come to life as noted director Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and the Z Boys) delves into the meaning of surf culture to those who live it.

Running time: 101 minutes

3.  A Brokedown Melody

A surfing documentary focused on surfing.  Avoiding the usual extras (girls in bikinis, fast cars, clowning around the campfire), this film concentrates on the experience of surfing from joining the line up, to catching the wave, to shooting the curl.  Terrific locations.  Beautiful cinematography.  Great underwater footage.

Running time:  55 minutes

4.  Point Break

The best and only surfing/crime thriller.  Combining great action sequences with the story of an FBI agent first infiltrating, and then becoming seduced by adrenalin-junkie surf culture, Point Break careens along at top speed, carrying the viewer along with it.  A thrill ride both in and out of the water.

Running time: 117 minutes

5.  Castles in the Sky

A candy box of tasty surf spots from around the world.  Filmed in five countries over three years, this film examines awesome locations that most of us can only dream of.  Some of the world’s best surfers ride jaw dropping waves in hard to get to, out of the way places.  If this doesn’t get you pumped to hit the surf, nothing will.

Running time: 54 minutes

6.  Step into Liquid

Director Dana Brown gathers up top surfers like Laird Hamilton and Dan Malloy and heads off to beaches from Ireland to Vietnam to showcase their awesome skills and examine what makes them tick.  Great interview footage and dazzling images of top-notch surfers will inspire you to greater feats on the waves.

Running time: 88 minutes

7.  Big Wednesday

Unreleased to theaters when it came out in the 1970’s, Big Wednesday gained a cult following in the 80’s when it was aired on cable TV.  The story of three surf brahs from SoCal whose endless summer is brought to an abrupt halt when they are drafted into the Vietnam War.  Great surfing footage and a compelling storyline.

Running time: 120 minutes

8.  Gidget

Oh so cute and innocent, Gidget was the film that introduced much of the world to the surfing back in 1959.  A vintage gem, it tells the story of a sweet tomboy of a girl who finds love and happiness with a bunch of likeable surf bums on a beach in Southern California.  You will be tempted to sneer, but ultimately you will be charmed.

Running time: 95 minutes

9. Thicker Than Water

An exhilarating combination of music and motion, surfer/musician Jack Johnson takes up the camera and heads out with primo shredders like Kelly Slater and Shane Dorian to awesome surfing spots around the world.  Johnson’s laidback music plays under delicious images of great surfers in cool locations.

Running time: 45 minutes

10.  Blue Crush

Three lovely girls in bikinis can’t get enough of surfing the coastline of Hawaii until life and love get in the way.  Blue Crush will never win any awards for writing or acting, but this franchise represents the last, and most recent time that the sport got the full Hollywood treatment and is still worth watching.

Running time: 105 minutes

The thrill of surfing creates dopamine in your brain. But the dopamine stops flowing at different times for different people. For many surfers it just keeps going and going.

Recently, at my urging, an American friend of mine came to Uvita to try surfing.  When he was done, he said he wouldn’t be trying it again.  I asked him why not and he told me it was too scary.  I said, “Well, of course. That’s what makes it so thrilling.”  He looked at me like I was crazy.

At first I thought there was something wrong with him.  After all, it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy sports.  But then I realized it might be me who’s a little crazy.

Surfing Your Brains Out

Surfing isn’t for everyone.  If it was, the beaches would be too crowded and the line ups would be unbearable.  Only certain types of people love the thrill of catching a wave, adventurous sorts who enjoy a certain degree of risk taking – and that’s what makes us different.

Recent advancements in psychology have found a connection between the amount of dopamine inhibitors in the brain and the risk seeking behavior of certain individuals, including those who enjoy surfing.  Dopamine is the brain chemical that makes us feel good when we fall in love or when our favorite teams wins a game.  It’s also what gives us a rush when we’re surfing.  The inhibitors are what cut down on the amount of dopamine and level us off emotionally.

Thrill seekers appear to have fewer inhibitors, meaning they get a bigger charge out of risk seeking behavior, and one that lasts longer.  Enough, it appears, to override fear.

My friend wasn’t crazy.  He just has more dopamine inhibitors than I do.  And that’s too bad for him.  I may be willing to take dangerous risks, especially when a big pounder of a wave is about to crash down on me, but I know a thrill undiluted by worry, the awesome thrill of catching a wave and surfing it for a long way.

Basically, they’re using their knowledge of such things as wind direction, the profile of the seabed underneath, and the nature of the swells on that particular beach to make their decisions.

How Wind Affects Waves

An offshore wind can make a wave stand up, giving you a beautiful wall to slide down.

If the wind is blowing offshore, it means the wind is blowing from the land to the sea.  When there is a direct offshorewind, the waves will stand up a little higher before spilling over because the wind is literally shouldering into the wave, holding it up for a moment.  This results in waves that break closer to the shore in shallower water and with greater intensity.

An onshore wind blows from the sea to the land and will push the waves over, making them break further out.

The contour of the sea bottom will also affect where waves break.  In the ocean, moving water does not travel as one. Instead, the top layer of water moves faster than the bottom layer. As water approaches a beach and the sea bottom rises closer to the surface, the top layer slides up over the bottom layer, forming a swell.

How the Sea Bottom Affects Waves

Anomalies on the sea bottom such as sand bars can affect where a wave will break.

A swell becomes a wave and breaks when the slower moving bottom can no longer support the faster moving top.  Anomalies on the sea bottom such as sand bars can affect where a wave breaks by hindering the slower moving bottom, causing the top layer to overtop it earlier.  If a succession of waves appears to be breaking in the same area, further out than the rest of the waves, this is a sign that a sand bar may have developed in that area.  Experienced surfers may head to that area to take advantage of the consistency of the breaks there until the sea bottom shifts again.

In addition, surfers who surf a particular beach may know the profile of the sea bottom and use this information to position themselves.  This is especially the case if there are reefs in the area.  If they won’t share their knowledge, you can observe what they do and follow suit.

How to Return to Where the Waves Are

Finally, be aware that it is difficult for anyone to determine their precise position on the water when they are lying close to the surface.  Even if you know more or less where you want to be, it can be difficult to be sure you are in the right place unless you align yourself with landmarks on the land.  Once you find a good spot, pick out a tree or a point of land to align yourself with so you can return to that spot again.

By observing the direction of the wind and looking for anomalies that cause waves to break in clusters, you can locate a good spot where waves break more favorably. By aligning yourself with a landmark, you can return to that spot repeatedly.  Experienced surfers do this intuitively, but you can do it to, by learning to read the waves.

Image Credits:

Beautiful wave, David Baron; Sliding down a wall, Fathzer; Curling break, Daniel D’Auria

Whale on the road to Uvita Surf School. (Click any picture to enlarge.)

When you come to Uvita Surf School, your first challenge will be to find us.  Costa Rican’s do not share the same love of signage that North Americans do. So to get here you may need some guidance.

The first part is relatively easy. From the San Jose airport, follow the signs to the town of Escazu. Take route 1 from the airport to route 39 and then to route 27. All of this unfolds in about 6 miles (10 km).

Once you are on route 27 and have

See the indoor soccer field on your right? Keep going.

passed the exits for Escazu, follow the signs to stay on route 27 in the direction of Orotina. This road becomes a toll road that runs for roughly 40 miles (60 km) heading west. You will pass through four toll booths and pay about $5 (2500 colones). Exit on Hwy 34 near the town of Orotina and head toward the towns of Tarcoles & Jaco.

Hwy 34 is the coast road and is the longest part of the trip.

Two concrete A's. Keep going.

You will be on this road for roughly 2½ hours, traveling south the whole way. Relax and enjoy the drive. You will pass through the towns of Jaco, Parrita and Quepos.

South of Quepos you will travel another 50 km (30 miles) before arriving at the police control booth near the Baru River. You needn’t stop at this booth unless signaled to do so. Keep heading south.

You will pass over the Baru River and see the entrance to the town

Turn left at the T-Intersection.

of Dominical immediately on your right. Keep going.

Uvita is 20 km (12 miles) south of Dominical. You will know you are getting close when you see a gas station on your right. Shortly after the gas station, you will see a Supermercado on your left. Then you will cross a bridge. Here’s where you have to keep your eyes peeled.

On your right, you will see a bus stop that has the words Cabinas

Street for Uvita Surf School.

Gato on the side. There is a road just in front of it. Turn right on this road.

Carry on for about 100 yards and you will see the statue of a whale on your left. See the whale? You are on the right track. Keep going.

A little further on, you will see an indoor soccer field on your right. It looks like a colorfully painted field house. Keep going.

In another 40 yards you will come

Uvita Surf School and Los Almendros

to a small triangular park formed by the merging of an intersecting road on your right. In the park is a pair of blue concrete letters A&A. Keep going.

After 200 hundreds yards, you will come to a T intersection. Turn left.

Now you are on the same street as Uvita Surf School. Go about 100 yards and Uvita Surf School is on your right adjoining a restaurant/bar called Los Almendros. If you don’t see the surf school, ask at the bar. Both businesses are owned by the same family.

It may take a few twists and turns to get here, but you will be amply rewarded once you arrive. Surfing with Uvita Surf School can be the adventure of a lifetime.

Today’s lesson will be devoted to learning to speak like a surfer.  If you don’t want to be called out as a poser, you’ll have to do more than just shred.  You’ll have to master the meaning of such key terms as stick (a surfboard), bone yard (the area where the waves break), and Quasimodo (riding forward in a hunched-over position).

Now when a surfer starts out, he or she is considered a mere hodad (a non-surfer, one who just hangs around at the beach).  If you are a youngster and just learning to surf, you will labeled a gremlin or a grommet, and you will be expected to earn your stripes by drinking a few Neptune cocktails, which is to say you will be expected to take a few bellies full of seawater as a result of bitchin’ wipeouts.  If you get some sand facials into the mix, this can only accrue to your advantage.

Intermediate Surfer Talk

Later, as you become more accepted in the surfing community, you may find others referring to you as bro or bra, a sure sign that you have arrived.  Feel free to be stoked.

It will be important now that you do not back down or give up on pounders (hard breaking waves) and return in shame to riding ankle busters (small waves) or riding out in the soup (the foamy part of a broken wave).  And once you are a bra you must never be seen sponging (bodysurfing).

Advanced Surfer Talk

As your skills improve, you will be expected to carve and shred, climb and drop, always angling for a primo ride.  You will want to show that you can shoot the curl making yourself comfortable in the green room (the space inside the tube).

Fer sure, you will occasionally take the gas (wipe out) and you may even sell the Buick (vomit seawater after a wipeout), but you will almost certainly win the admiration of your bras and you may even catch the eye of a bitchin’ beach bunny who will be amped just to yak with you.

At the end of the day you can relax in your baggies (oversized boxer-type swim trunks) and enjoy some gnarlatious refreshments with your bras and their honeys as you reminisce about the day’s activities and get stoked for tomorrow’s off the richter tubes.  It’s all so totally rad.

Congratulations, you are now a surfer and can speak the language too.

Duke Kahanamoku popularized surfing in the United States in the 1920's.

Imagine you are an archeologist and you are excavating an ancient site when you stumble on a piece of pottery 3000 years old and there on the side is a picture of a man surfing.  Cowabunga, dude!

Surfing goes way back, back before written language, back to the very beginning.  If you think about it, it’s one of the most obvious of sports.  What is body surfing but plunging ahead into a wave and letting it carry you?  Hey, that’s even easier than swimming.  It’s not much of a leap to think of putting a board between you and the wave for purposes of riding.  And then standing up on the board?  Hello?

Enter the Duke

Maybe it was because immersing yourself in the cold waters of the North Sea was an unpleasant idea at any level, but the Europeans came late to the whole concept.  It wasn’t until 1769 that Europeans mariners first witnessed happy natives shredding the curl in the Hawaiian Islands and sent word back to the motherland that something rad was going on.

The Hawaiians were all about surfing.  They even incorporated it into their religion.  Priests helped build the surf boards and then prayed to the gods to bring them tasty waves.  I know a few dudes who would gladly sign up for that Sunday school.

In 1912 a US Olympic swimmer by the name of Duke Kahanamoku, a Hawaiian, began to expose the world to surfing.  Up until that time it had remained mostly confined to Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands, so when the Duke started demonstrating it in the United States and Australia, people gasped.

Gidget and the Beach Boys

It’s no surprise that someone so cool should end up in Hollywood.  Yep, Duke ended up in the movies, working as a character actor and taking small roles.  While he was in Southern California in the 1920’s his followers gave birth to a small, fledgling surf culture.  He eventually moved back to Waikiki, but the surf culture remained, taking root along the coast from Malibu to Huntington Beach.
In the early 1960’s the hit movie Gidget awakened thousands of restless teenagers to the idea of riding the waves.  The new craze got a boost from the emergence of surf music which saw its greatest exemplars in the Beach Boys who sent hit after hit rocketing up the charts.  Before long surfing was everywhere, from the rocky coasts of Great Britain to the far flung reaches of South Africa.

Costa Rica Rising

In the 1990’s veterans surfers weary of the crowded conditions on the beaches of Southern California discovered pristine waters, epic waves and uncrowded beaches on the western coast of Costa Rica.  Small, often primitive surf camps began popping up from Dominical to Uvita and all along the Pacific coast.

Today those surf camps are the villages and towns that form a necklace of surf communities along the west coast of Costa Rica.  And while plenty of other attractions bring visitors to the area today, surfing remains one of its main draws.

And to think that it all started 3000 years ago!  Surfing is deep, man.  It’s primo!

Pura vida!

1.  Don’t paddle out directly behind another surfer.

If a large wave breaks unexpectedly and you are lined up behind another surfer, he can get spilled over on top of you. You can get clonked in the head by his board, which would cause him to be sorry and you to retire to the beach with a throbbing skull. Instead, paddle beside the other surfer, keeping about 30 feet between you.

2.  Don’t let go of your board when a big wave bears down on you.

A sure sign of a beginner is the timidity displayed when a surfer jumps off his board in the face of a big crashing wave. If you are not in a position to ride it, do a turtle roll by turning upside-down and propelling the through the wave, holding on to the rails of the board at all times. Letting go of the board can be dangerous to yourself and others, even if you are wearing a leash.

Paddling over the shoulder can put you in the path of another surfer. The ensuing collision could be ugly.

3.  Don’t paddle over the shoulder of a wave when another surfer is about to ride.

The shoulder of the wave is the part near the peak that has not yet spilled over. Since surfers often catch a wave near the peak, paddling over the shoulder could put you directly in the path of another surfer who is just popping up. The resulting collision could be ugly. Instead, take a wide berth around breaking waves when paddling out.

4.  Don’t paddle through the lineup.

The lineup is the area where surfers sit on their boards, waiting for the waves to break. There is a loose etiquette to the lineup, basically first come first served, although sometimes the lead surfer might let another surfer go ahead of him. For this reason, avoid paddling through the lineup as you may be cutting off a surfer who is paddling to catch a wave.

Respect the lineup. Don't cut in front of other surfers.

5.  Don’t jockey for position in the lineup.

Unless the surfers ahead of you in the lineup give you a clear signal that they are not going to take a wave, sit tight and wait your turn. It may look like the other surfers are passing up opportunities at premium waves, but give them the benefit of the doubt and don’t try to move up on them. If they think you are horning in you could make enemies, resulting in an unpleasant day of surfing for everyone.

6.  Don’t “drop in” on another surfer.

One rule you should try never to break when surfing is “dropping in” on another surfer, which simply means you are cutting in front of him, trying to catch the wave he is paddling for. Not only is dropping in rude, it’s also dangerous. The act of paddling around another surfer to beat him to a breaking wave is called “snaking” and is particularly frowned upon. Don’t do it.

Do commit to your wave. Don't just bail and slide back over the shoulder. Other surfers are waiting.

7.  Do commit to your wave.

Once you’ve committed to a wave, stay committed. Don’t give up on it and slide back over the shoulder to wait for another turn. Remember, there are other surfers waiting to go. A surfer who can’t commit to a wave is either too selfish or too inexperienced to judge a wave properly. You don’t want to be labeled as either.

8.  Do get out of the way when you are called off by another surfer.

Sometimes it happens that, without any ill intent, two surfers start paddling for the same wave. Usually the more experienced of the two will make some kind of signal to call the other surfer off. If you hear someone trying to call you off, back down and get out of the way. Failure to do so is both dangerous and rude.

9.  Do defer to more skilled surfers when there is a conflict.

One of the unwritten rules of surfing is that the more experienced surfers always have the right of way. Refusing to defer to more skilled surfers when there is a conflict can lead to a dangerous game of one-upmanship that you can only lose. If you honor this tradition you will earn the respect of other surfers and be welcome among them, allowing you a better chance to become an experienced surfer yourself.

10.  Do apologize if you ruin someone’s wave.

Even the most well intentioned surfer may occasionally make a mistake and ruin another surfer’s wave. If this happens, be sure to apologize. A simple acknowledgment that you were in the wrong can go a long way toward smoothing ruffled feathers and defusing conflict. Surfers who respect others can usually expect to be treated the same, leading to more pleasurable surfing for all.

Image credits:

Don’t let go, Bengt Nyman; Paddling over the shoulder, Stan Shebs; Respect the lineup, Public Domain; Commit to your wave, Jonathan Billinger

Surfing on the beaches of southwest Costa Rica can be considered especially green given that it sustains an environment richer than most.

The Amazing Natural Environment of Costa Rica

The waters near Uvita, Costa Rica are home to the largest coral reef on the Pacific coast of Central America.  There are mangrove swamps here teeming with wildlife.  Iguanas and hawksbill turtles frequent the beaches.  The area is a mating ground for humpback whales.  Frigate birds, ibises and pelicans soar overhead.  The area is a virtual paradise.

Of all the sports performed in and around Uvita, surfing has probably the lowest impact on the environment.  Unlike scuba diving and snorkeling, surfers seldom impinge directly on delicate ecosystems.  Wildlife is left to go about its business.  Even excursion boats motoring passively along watching wildlife have a greater potential impact on the environment than surfing.

Green Surfing in Costa Rica

Surfing, when performed in a protected natural environment like Ballena National Park adjacent to Uvita, is even more green than surfing on a nearby public beach.  That’s because park rangers monitor activity within the park to insure a safe and sustainable environment.  You will see little in the way of refuse or other human impact when you surf Ballena National Park.

Surfing in Costa Rica can be green in another way too.  Sustainability often extends beyond wildlife to local people and cultures.  When you do business with a native Costa Rican you help to sustain local businesses and the economy, buttressing their traditional way of life.

Uvita Surf Camp is a locally owned surf school in Uvita, Costa Rica.  It is run by Tito, a native of the area.  He and his staff conduct classes on Colonia Beach within Ballena National Park.  They are diligent about keeping the environment clean and undisturbed.  It is their home.

Surfing is green.  This is true in general.  But surfing in Costa Rica can be even greener.  If you are looking for a sustainable green sport, surfing in Costa Rica may just be the greenest of the green.

How to Choose a Surfboard by Skill Level

Generally, surfboards are of two types: long boards and short boards.  Long boards are better for beginners.  The longer wider surface makes the board more stable.  Long boards also tend to be thicker than short boards, providing greater floatability and making it easier for beginners to paddle into a wave.

Long boards are usually about 2 feet longer than the height of the rider.  Most long boards have pin tails (a tail contoured to a soft point) which allows for greater control in the water.  Beginners usually prefer control over maneuverability.  They like to cruise down the surface of a wave rather than cut back and sweep.  The single fin on long boards allows for more stable cruising.

More experienced surfers often choose short boards.  Short boards require skill to balance and maneuver, but they allow for sharp cut backs and crisp release off the tops of waves.  Short boards may have a variety of different tail contours.  Rounded tails provide a loose, turnable board.  Squash tails (where the tail is squared off) make for greater speed but less launch.

How to Choose a Surfboard by Age and Strength

Older surfers may aspire to sweep and soar like twenty-somethings, but this is often impractical.  Knowing your own strength is the key to enjoying the surfing experience.  Because so much of surfing is paddling, older surfers may prefer a board that permits them to paddle more easily.

Epoxy boards provide greater floatability than more traditional fiberglass boards.  Increased floatability makes it easier to paddle because the board experiences less drag in the water.  Another factor that contributes to floatability is thickness.  An epoxy board that is long and thick requires less strength and endurance than a shorter, thinner fiberglass board.

How to Choose a Surfboard by Preferred Style of Surfing

Broadly speaking, there are two types of surfers: cruisers and shredders.  Cruisers like to cruise down the surface of a wave, enjoying a nice long ride.  Shredders like to sweep and cut, performing adept maneuvers.

Long boards with their greater stability are usually preferred for cruising.  Short boards with their more responsive design are favored by shredders.

Long boards usually have one fin, making for increased stability when holding a straight line.  Short boards are available with different fin configurations ranging from two to four fins.  An arrangement of three fins is referred to as a “thruster”.  For the shredder who seeks speed, launch and maneuverability, the thruster is often preferred.

You will have many choices when it comes to choosing a surfboard.

Whether you are a beginner or an expert, old or young, a cruiser or a shredder, there is a surfboard that is right for you.  When you know how to choose the right surfboard and you choose wisely, your surfing experience can be everything you imagined it could be.