If you haven't surfed before then the addictive, fun factor will definitely take you by surprise. GoTravel24.com catches a few waves with the Roxy Surf School.

After a whole week of planning, excitement and anticipation, we had one objective to fulfill…

Our mission: to catch a wave
Our venue: Surfer’s Corner, Muizenberg
Our eager wannabe surfers: Ulpha Edries, Selene Brophy, Shivaan Mathews and Ashleigh Scott.
Our moral supporters: Lebo Mogashoa and Muneeb Abrahams
Our coach: (my good and very bubbly friend) Robin Thomas of the Roxy Surf School.

Check out our experience here.

Arriving at this cove in False Bay all hyped up, it's easy to see why it's known as a surfer’s haven. The waves are always unpredictable so the beach is always alive.

Get surfed up as you catch some waves at one of Cape Town’s awesome beach destinations with these killer packages.

No one can do it like Roxy can…

Whoever said "girls can do whatever boys can do, if not better" must have seen Roxy Towill in action.

This “narly”, vibrant chick is a professional surfer and coach and opening the Roxy Surf School for Girls in August 2003 was just a natural evolution for her.

The Roxy Club, also sponsored by the Roxy apparel brand, is best known as a place for girls of all ages to have fun, hang out in a safe environment and simply enjoy the advantages of surfing.

As Roxy puts it, “I wanted to give back to surfing… to share this awesome lifestyle with others. It is more than just a sport… it a healthy addiction, just what is needed in today’s world.”

Time to get suited up…

The convenient thing about the school is that it provides the basics: wetsuits, boards and a coach for beginners.

If you're not used to it, seeing yourself in a wetsuit can take some getting used to.

Shivaan wore a brightly orange colored top over his wetsuit (used to identify guy students), while the rest of us girls donned neon pink, a colour which left Selene and I in stitches.

Let the experience begin…

Our trusty coach Robin met us on the beach, which is clearly his domain - besides more than 20 years surfing experience, people continuously came up to chat and say hi.

For Robin, this is not just a sport. He admits it initially started as the odd weekend activity with his friends but now it totally consumes his weekends and he'd easily give up his day job in a heart beat to surf all day long.

First we had to do a warm up of running and stretches. This was to prepare the many muscles we would be using while out in the waves.

With the board strapped to the ankle we're most comfortable kicking with; we had to lie flat on our boards as the lesson began in the sand first.

• Step one:
Paddle - you literally feel like a beached seal performing the simple forward stroke while remaining stationary.
• Step two
With your hands firmly gripped on either side of the board, raise yourself while twisting your upper torso in the direction of foot the board is strapped to - easy enough.
• Step three
Jump up to land sideways with you feet hip-distance apart, without going beyond the board's halfway mark - if you do you'll be unbalanced and simply tip over.

Then Robin gave us the safety basics on how to avoid being hit by our boards as well as the emergency signal to indicate distress or if we wanted out. Sticking your clenched right fist straight up in the air means, "I need help fast."

Finally it was time to buddy up for the paddle out.

Hitting that waves…

Surf's up. From my practice stance on land the waves looked great and we were all psyched up.

But as we got close to the breakers the strength of the waves caught me by surprise. After much perseverance, I accepted defeat and made my way back to shore. It’s not as easy as it seems, trust me.

But watching everyone else was awesome.

Shivaan made his way up but got knocked down again. Selene was determined to catch a wave and was almost successful - but they eventually got the better of her too.

Back on shore we all agreed the experience was definitely wicked and that it was the start of an addictive new hobby.

Had any awesome experiences, tell us about it? We’d love to hear all about it…

• Add new comment

Bookmark/Search this post with:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•