GoGoGaz Experience

We got picked up at 8.15am by the Stoked School of Surf minibus. It’s a mobile surf school which means they can take their trailer of surfing equipment wherever the waves are. For us that meant a half hour trip to Muizenberg beach in the suburb of Cape Town.

It was our first time surfing and I was ‘stoked’. This has been on my bucket list for a long time! Dave and Alexi coached our little group of eight and did a superb job of it. Both had chilled and friendly demeanours and were informative, attentive and helpful for the full two hour lesson. They are both clearly good at what they do and their passion and energy made it a fun experience. They also played some sweet tunes on the ride there and back.

A quick warm up was followed by a land based lesson then we hit the waves.

The first few times we just aimed to get our knees up onto the boards and catch a wave back to shore. Both myself and Laura figured this step out pretty quick. Easy.

The rest of the lesson was just about ‘popping up’ and then simply riding the wave. I took about three or four attempts that included swallowing a lot of sea water and a smash to the head from the surf board. But with the help of Dave and Alexi I was soon up and surfing like a pro. Well maybe not a pro. A first time surfer that was just happy to be able to stand!

The biggest challenge is finding the right wave and hitting it at the right time. It was a little hit and miss at first but by the end I was generally getting up and surfing back to shore with ease. Once you are up it feels great and it is easier to stay on than expected. ‘Safe brew’.

Laura asked me to mention that she was the first to stand up for a long period. But I will counter that by also saying that once she got up a few times and was happy her picture had been snapped she gave up. Her spindly little arms were knackered and couldn’t push her up any more! She swore categorically that she would get fit before the next time we had a surf lesson.

For anyone that hasn’t tried it, I would absolutely recommend surfing. It is a fantastic experience. If you happen to be in Cape Town you can’t go wrong with the guys from Stoked School of surfing. Their passion and energy made it a ‘totally awesome surfari brew.’ (650 rand including transfer (£35ish)).

Stoked surf school Cape Town