So, I have been saying that I wanted to learn how to surf ever since I moved back down to LA a year and a half ago, and I finally took my first lesson. I got up yesterday morning at 6:30am to cover myself in 100SPF and then head over to Venice Beach. I was excited, but definitely a little nervous because, although I am in decent shape, I have never been particularly gifted athletically.

I met up with my instructor, Peter, at 7:45a on the beach and he gave me a wetsuit and a board. After I got all suited up, we went over some surf terminology, the mechanics of the waves, and the basics of how to go from lying down to standing up on a surf board. I practiced that for a few minutes on the sand, and then it was time to get in the water. We went out into what Peter called "the soup" which is basically the whitewater area where the waves are breaking closer in to the beach. Peter had me lie down on my board facing the beach while he would tell me when to paddle and help give me push off to ride the waves in on my stomach and get a feel for the waves. We did this a couple times and then, as I was riding in, he told me to stand up and I did! It was very brief albeit, but I made it from lying down to a crouched position and then up for a split second before falling off. For the rest of the lesson, Peter stayed on shore and watched me while I tried to catch waves in. I was able to actually stand all the way up and ride the wave in to the shore about 4 times and apparently, I have my own way of getting into standing position that is different from what Peter taught me. He kept trying to give me pointers from the shore on what to do, but after a while he gave up and told me that what I was doing seemed to be working alright for me :)

All in all, it was definitely a fun lesson and I plan to sign up for more lessons in the very near future. I think with another lesson or two, I will be able to paddle out and attempt catching some of the larger waves that break farther out.

The craziest thing about the whole day was that, after the lesson, I went over to the beach club to read and everyone was talking about all of the recent shark sightings. Apparently, in the past week there have been a lot of Great White sightings along the local coastline. I am so glad that I did not know about this until after my lesson!

Go here to see all of the recent shark activity: http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm

Sunset Beach is about a half mile up the beach from the beach club and it is a really popular spot for surfers. If the surf is good at all, you can usually see 10-30 surfers hanging out in the water, and I have frequently sat at the club and watched the surfers catching the waves. If I ever see them all come in at once, I'll know why.