By Surf With Amigas Surf and Yoga Instructor Carly Fox
How to Make Friends and Catch More Waves: Surfing in a Lineup!
The beauty of the Amigas retreat experience is that we take a group of radical, supportive and fun women to a relatively remote and quiet break in Central America where crowds are usually not an issue. Our Amiga vibes dominate the line-up which most would say is a good thing, especially for those along for the ride with us.
We cheer, support each other and catch a lot of waves. We share waves with our friends and get almost as much joy watching each-other succeed as we do from our own surfing gains. Often not at the BEST (that’s where the crowds are!) break along the coastline but always at a consistent and mellow wave where we can be ourselves without worrying about being in the way or having others in our way!
As a woman learning to surf, this is a super empowering experience. Your wave count is high and your stoke factor is typically through the roof. It’s always good to make surfing friends because they can give you tips and tricks to help you improve. I am always having suggestions thrown my way to help me improve and someone even told me where to get better equipment and which was the UK’s leading surf shop!
But what happens when you go home and start surfing in your regular crowded line up again? Here are a few simple tips for bringing good vibes into any lineup:
Say Hayyyy! : This is a tip from Holly. When paddling out into a crowd be friendly, say hi to the people you are sitting around. Making a personal connection immediately brings your experience down from a competitive surf situation to a personal human connection and you are spreading the good vibes! It’s a lot easier for a grumpy guy/girl to give you a wave if you have just said Hello and told him you like his/her board (or wetsuit, haircut, airbrush, etc.).
Get Excited When You See Others Suceed: See someone shredding a wave or doing a manevour you aspire to achieve? Compliment them! Tell them you were stoked on their surfing and are working towards accomplishing those goals in your surfing as well. Feeling genuine stoke for other people and their experience only spreads those good vibes like ripples through the lineup. Maybe amiga style cheering doesn’t feel right, but a “NICE WAVE!” right to the person can be equally as effective!
Share the Stoke: This is my favorite tip, inspired by an article written by pro surfer and ocean activist Dave Rastovich a few years ago. For me this completely changes my surf experience and I try to remind myself of this often, especially when I feel my own competitive nature start to spike up in less than positive ways. This is the attitude of abundance and the culture of sharing. Instead of feeling like you are in scarcity mode and will never have enough waves- change your mindset! Share nuggets (sick waves) when they come to you and believe that there will be more coming, because the ocean is an abundant and ever giving resource. When you change your mindset from scarcity to abundance, your vibration changes, and so does your relationship to the waves. So yes, take sick waves when they come to you but also try to share some! Give some beautiful waves away, and see how you feel and how the general vibe in the lineup changes too! If you’re serious about surfing, have you considered looking at Homes For Sale In Huntington Beach, the surfing capital?
Most of all, we hope you are having fun! Surfing can be a lot of things but ultimately it is for fun, for joy, for connecting with nature and getting out of your head for awhile and into the pure bliss of your present moment experience as you ride down the line!
Happy Surfing Amigas!
