Famed Californian surfer Frosty Hesson once said that if you’re having a bad day, you should catch a wave. That sounds easy if you live right next to an ocean. But if you are like me it’s not so easy. And I don’t really need a bad day to make me want to catch a wave. Actually it is right the opposite. Surf deprivation makes days a bit worse. What really helps is to have a surfing vacation planed in the near future so you have something to look forward to. Here are a few tips on what and how to plan you next surf trip, what details of your surfing vacation do you need to think about?
Surf Location
The first thing you’ll need to decide is where you’re going to surf. Depending on your time, budget, your surfing experience and your surfing bucket list you can pick something close by or you can choose to travel overseas. Places like Coffee Bay in South Africa and Bingin Beach in Bali are well known and often part various top overseas surf location lists and you can not go wrong with the. Then there are those a little bit of the radar places. You can check our surf travel guides to find something interesting or simply open Magicseaweed and browse through their surf forecasts to find something interesting. Picking out the location is important as it sets the other elements of the surf vacation that you’ll need to look at. Ideally, if you’re a beginner, pick a place which has waves that are a good fit to your level and isn’t too far from where you’re comfortable.
Financing Airfare and Others
Once you’ve decided where to go, you’ll need to look at your finances. If you choose an overseas surf destination, you’ll need to look at airfare and time your purchase to get savings. The cheapest average airfare is available around 76 days before the target travel date, according to CheapAir. Now that is something I have to remember haha! You also need to look at visa costs (if applicable), lodging, meals, and equipment rentals (if you’re not bringing your own, if you are bringing your own board also check how much the airline charges for it). If the cost is a bit beyond what you’re able to cover right now, you might consider looking at a personal loan. Checking out available financial assistance options gives you a better idea of how much you may need on top of your available funds on hand. Nothing like taking a loan to fund your addiction :).
Luggage Smarts
When packing do not forget that around 62% of travelers overpack, according to Trunk Club’s survey. That’s another funny and useful thing to keep in mind when going on a surf trip:). Especially on a surf trip where surf equipment alone means loads of luggage already, without all the “things you might need”. To avoid overpacking, carefully decide what is really necessary to bring with you. Take things you can not live without, leave the things that “might be useful” at home. In the end you always end up wearing that one t-shirt through all the trip:). As a surfer, you will need your surfboard, fins and leash, boardshorts or wetsuit depending on the water temperature (check here what wetsuit thickness you need), a towel, sunblock, fin keys, and clothes. Depending on where you are going a good waterproof backpack for all your belonging might save your day. Try to bring a single bag to accommodate all your things. If you are bringing a board you can put lots of stuff in the boardbag together with your surfboard, but be careful not to damage it (here is a full guide in how to pack properly). Consider renting gear if you’d rather not bring your own to minimize luggage.
Where To Stay
On a surf trip, if you really want to make it about surfing, then the most important thing to look for when choosing where you will crash is location! You want to stay as close to at least one good surf spot as possible. Best case scenario – you can check a good the spot from your house and walk there and be in the water in 5 minutes and there are a few more spots in the walking distance. Worst case scenario – you live somewhere away from the sea where you can not even check wind and swell conditions on the sea and you have to pack into a car and drive through heavy traffic to get to the first spot. This will seriously cut into your surf time and motivation. So if you really want to surf a lot, forget about the pool, breakfast, nightlife, room cleanliness and go for the location.