Learning to Surf in Pelana, West.

Each morning I cycle down to the surf beach of Pelana West, wind blowing through my hair, bordering  Weligama to the east, a long sandy beach with a wonderful beach break perfect for learning. The morning begins with the beach being prepared by the 3 small resorts and surf schools that line the shoreline in anticipation of the foreigners, they give it a sweep, stack up the rental surfboards in plain view, layout the chairs, umbrella's and loungers and so sunrise begins another day. The learners filter down for their part in the story of  life as a surf beginner at Pelana West.

How to surf

Arriving at Pelana for the first time and wanting to learn how to surf, you will be given a 1 - 2 hour lesson on the basics of surfing with the school of your choice. This will include a briefing on the beach of how to read waves and positioning yourself to catch a wave.
Followed by a briefing on paddling and standing once in the water, this will include some dry practicing on the sand, this is really important as standing fast is the most important part of having fun surfing.


Standing

There are many schools of thought and technics on standing up, each instructor seems to have developed his own stratergy at Pelana. You have the front leg streched first followed by slowly rasing the back leg I like to think of this "T-Rex Attacks" or you get the rear leg bending making space for the front leg to pass under the body or you can get the one knee up, stabilize (stop wobbling) and then rise up onto your feet, which ever way you are taught make sure you can do it on land before entering the water.

The Boards

Learning is easiest on a large buoyant board around 8 - 9 feet long and 2 - 3 feet wide, they are much more stable allowing for a little bit of wobble that you will experience while getting the hang off it. At this size they are very difficult to turn, don't worry too much about this as at first you will be heading directly for the shore in the shortest way possible. As you perfect the stand up which can take up to a week, you can slowly reduce the size of the board and start to cruise down the wave at an angle and become a tanned surfer. 

Tips

Arrive early for your first lesson, book the day before for a 7 or 8am start, when you are fresh and before it gets too hot.

After your first 2 hours take a 1-2 hour break, surfing uses a number of muscles you don't normally use and when you are fatigued standing up becomes a strain.

If you going to spend a full day surfing take regualar breaks and drink loads of water, you can become very dehydrated while surfing. .

Practice your technic on dry land whenever you get a chance, hotel room floors, sandy beaches all make for a good surf board surface and will rapidly increase your take off speed.

Paddle as hard as you can, getting your arms deep into the water will propel you forward faster given you a better chance of catching a wave.

When standing look ahead in the direction you are going and not at your feet, which will destablise you.

Happy Surfing!!