Best Mellow Place for a Beginner into Intermediate

[MikeC]

For April -May 15th I can live anywhere and I want to take up surfing. What would you guys recommend considering the following:

1. I'll be able to surf every day so I really want to minimize the number of consecutive days without decent waves.

2. I really don't want to have to drive all over; I'd like to be able to walk to the beach and then no more than a couple miles up or down the coast.

3. I'm a fast learner when it comes to these things so a place where an intermediate would be satisfied with.

4. I kind of gather that the surfing culture can be a little more ****ish than the skiing and dhmtb cultures that I'm used to so definitely a place that isn't notorious for that. And not too incredibly busy on weekdays at least.

5. I'm not stuck on Florida, I'll go anywhere but when I used to do triathlons I always had a hard time with cold water so probably not CA in April.

I know that's a lot but I'm a pretty analytical guy. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

[tonylamont]

Florida can be kinda inconsistent. If you're looking at continental US, CA would be a much better choice for consistent surf IMO. It definitely is localized in places, but many of those are places you will want to avoid as a beginner. Do your homework on spots, understand the etiquette, etc.

If you are not limited to the US, I definitely think you should check out Costa Rica. Lots of warm water breaks that are great for beginners.

Re: cold water, have you worn a modern wetsuit? With the right suit, cold water is not that big of a deal (and trust me, I am a real wuss about cold water).

[sharp eye]

DMCO for sure

[MikeC]

what's "DMCO"?

Thanks tonylamont that helps. Yeah, I had a wetsuit for triathlons and I still couldn't handle cold water but then again I had to put my face underwater for that...

[mbs05c]

What is the "dhmtb" culture?

And I would def check out Hawaii if I was you

[imperial]

How about Lake Michigan or the Mississippi River or South Bill Jetty's Kiddie Pool!!!

[neptunehui]

PR can satisfy all your requirements check out www.vrbo.com #214129 I own it rent it for cheap and it includes surfboards best deal on the island

[Gfootr]

PR can satisfy all your requirements check out www.vrbo.com #214129 I own it rent it for cheap and it includes surfboards best deal on the island

Nice! I PM'd you for more info...

[Koki Barrels]

What is the "dhmtb" culture?

dhmtb - down hill mountain biking

SoCal, def. not anywhere on the east coast, this is just misery I'm going through.

[Doug]

Costa has some friendly waves and some advanced ones too. Hawaii is for advanced surfers period (except Waikiki).

ps. dhmtb,imo,dmco; I have no clue what your abbreviating because I'm dumb.