If you’ve been looking for the chance to give your kids a great first experience with surfing or want one yourself, the perfect opportunity to do so is Sunday on South Padre Island.
The SurfVive.org non-profit community organization will be hosting free surf lessons from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. for persons of all ages and abilities. The group meets behind the D.J. Lerma Pavilion at Isla Blanca Park to enjoy a morning of surf, fun, and community. Organizers advise bringing chairs, towels, sunscreen and anything else you would bring to enjoy a morning at the beach.
“Surf lessons are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can sign up when you arrive and we’ll make sure everyone gets a chance to ride some waves,” they say on their website.
SurfVive.org is run by Port Isabel natives Ryan and Erica Macaulay, who have been giving free surf lessons to the community since 2016 and grew up surfing on the Island. Ryan went to Texas A&M University and Erica to the University of Hawaii. She’s been wearing her UH shirts for Spring Break, she said.
“We want to give the surfing experience to anyone who wants to try it,” Erica said. “We just believe that surfing has taught us a lot of valuable lessons in life, and by teaching others to surf we can share those lessons with them as well.”
The lessons are done in groups of five, first on land and then moving out into the water.
“We practice the lessons on land and then expand into ocean safety, surfing etiquette, and then we take the kids out to about waist-high water and we push them into the waves and help them stand up,” she said. “It’s first come first served, but we do make sure that everyone that shows up gets a chance to surf. We encourage people that come to bring chairs and anything they normally would bring to the beach so they can be comfortable while they wait for their turn.”
Macaulay advised checking out the Surfvive.org website and Facebook page for the exact dates for Surf n Sundays, which continue into June with one or two exceptions. She said usually about 20 kids and sometimes a few adults show up for the lessons.
When asked what is so great about surfing, Macauley said people have called it a life-changing experience.
“When you do it you feel it and you know it,” she said. “Just being out there in the water, even if you don’t stand up on the waves the first time, there’s just something abouut being out there in the ocean that really makes you feel a little more connected to the bigger picture.”
News Source: https://www.coastalcurrent.com/2022/03/18/surfvive-org-offers-free-surfing-lessons/
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