Some years ago on one of my many trips to Kauai I decided to take a surfing lesson. Originally from California you would think that I would have taken the time there to learn to surf but I lived in an inland community 30 miles from the ocean and it just really never came up as a possibility. After moving to Hawaii I did try to do some surfing but something was obviously very wrong. Where as my friends all could pick it up pretty easily I just never was able to get up and stay up. After about perhaps 15 or 20 attempts to make it happen I just abandoned the project and gravitated to long distance swimming instead. When my son Jake came along I saw to it that he was given surf lessons and he was a natural. He was up and surfing on the very first day which was amazing but even on that outing with him I could not keep my balance.
As I mentioned, I found myself on Kauai one year and there was a new surf company I wanted to try out so I signed up for a private lesson. It seemed that the private lesson for me was the key because I was not only able to ride the waves all the way into the beach but I was able to do it three different times. After that, I was exhausted and came in but felt very proud of myself that I had actually done it. I think that other people may be like me and actually need that specialized attention. Most group surf lessons can have perhaps 6 or 8 other students and for people that need the extra attention it is just not there. So if you are anything like me, don’t just give up, go for the personalized lesson.