Is Santa Monica Beach Good for Beginner Surf Lessons in Los Angeles?
In this episode of the Calibunga Surf Lessons Podcast, professional surf instructor Lucas Coleman answers a listener question from a couple visiting Los Angeles: Is Santa Monica Beach a good place to learn surfing for the first time? Lucas explains why the beginner-friendly sandbars, predictable waves, and safe conditions near the Santa Monica Pier make Santa Monica one of the best places in California to take your first surf lesson.
Greetings, people of Santa Monica Beach. And hello, welcome to the first listener question episode of the Calabunga podcast brought to you by Calabunga Surf Lessons. My name is, of course, Lucas Coleman, and I am the owner and lead instructor at Calabunga Surf lessons here at Santa Monica Beach right next to the Santa Monica Pier. I have been surfing since I was nine years old, and for more than a decade, I've been teaching surf lessons professionally in Los Angeles. Over the years I've worked with thousands of students from total beginners who have never touched a board before to people who want to refine their technique, become stronger surfers, become more technically perfect high performance shore borders, people that want bigger waves, people that want smaller waves and longer boards to do foot tricks, whatever style you're into, that is what we are going to be discussing on the show. Now I've served all kinds of waves in all kinds of conditions. Small summer surf, big winter swells, clean glassy mornings with messy windy afternoons. I've ridden long boards, short boards, soft tops, pretty much every kind of board you can imagine.
Through my work running Calabunga surf lessons, I've also served as an expert witness in legal cases involving surf lesson safety liability. That means I've spent a lot of time studying what actually makes a surf lesson safe. What actually makes a surf lesson effective? for that person trying to lear,n and just generally how to make it educational for beginners. So this podcast really comes from years of experience teaching people how to surf safely at Santa Monica Beach and throughout the Los Angeles coastline. And the goal of this podcast is simple. To answer the exact questions people are searching for when they're trying to learn surfing in Los Angeles. So let's do it. Let's take a listener question.
Calibunga Surf Lessons provides excellent, fun-packed surf lessons for beginners in Santa Monica, California - Located near the Santa Monica Pier.
Is Santa Monica good for surfing?
Our first listener question comes to us in the form of an email from either Jan or Yann. They write, "Hi, Kalabunga. My partner and I are going to be making our first trip to Los Angeles. We are thinking of taking a surf lesson. We are both incredibly athletic and enjoy the outdoors. However, we have no experience with the ocean. Is Santa Monica Beach a decent spot for us to try to learn surfing for the first time?
Excellent question, Jan or Jan. I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna go with Jan just to make it a little more exotic sounding. Jan, apologies if I'm getting that wrong. The reason Santa Monica Beach has become such a popular place for beginner surf lessons is because of the wave conditions. The overall generic answer I can give you is yes, but I'm going to expand on that a little bit. Unlike some surf spots in California, which break over reef or rock. The ocean floor here at Santa Monica Beach is mostly sand. This is why we call it a beach break as opposed to a reef break where there's bedrock or reef for the ocean floor. That sandy bottom creates sandbars, and those sandbars shape the wave into slower rolling waves that are much easier for beginners to catch. You can apply this to any of the athletic sports you and your partner do. If you're going snowboarding, snowboarding on a powdery sunny day is going to be a lot easier than a windy, crazy storm. And our waves and beaches are the same way. If you have a smooth, slow, cruisey wave, it's just going to be easier for you to handle and manage yourself. While you're out there, especially if you're a beginner and you're just getting a feel for the sport, right?
Beginner surf lessons Santa Monica.
Think about these sandbars, these bumps in the ocean floor as a speed bump. If you're cruising down the street, that little speed bump is going to slow you down. So as the ocean, that swell, that big current, that big water force that's rushing towards our coastline, it's going to hit these sandbars. It's going to firstly slow it down and it's going to bump it up into a small, small to medium-sized wave. Now obviously the faster that that swell rolls in and the more direct the angle, basically the faster that water hits the speed bump just like on a car. If you hit a speed bump going real fast, it's gonna give you a huge thump. That can happen too. But Santa Monica Beach is known for having very consistent and very predictable waves for surfing. So if you're planning a trip, especially it looks here on the email like you guys are planning your trip, pretty far in advance, and you don't know what the weather's gonna look like? Well, if you go to a more exotic location, you might be hit with more unpredictable weather and patterns. So if you wanna safe bed, especially if you're planning a if you want a safe bed, especially if you're planning a trip around taking a surf lesson, eight out of 10 times here in Los Angeles, it's gonna be mellow predictable, safe for beginner conditions.
If you're ready to try surfing yourself, check out our surf lessons in Santa Monica.
Now, when someone takes their first surf lesson at Santa Monica Beach near the Santa Monica pier, we're going to start with the fundamentals. Even if it is a slightly bigger or punchy or day, we're not going to abandon you out there, we're not going to leave you to your own devices. We're going to start the session on the sand talking about ocean awareness. We're going to give you a recap. Maybe you don't know, are these waves crazy or are they really shrimpy and small? We're going to tell you because personally I'm in that water six days a week for six to eight hours every day. I'm going to give you a recap of what we're getting into that day. We're going to teach you how the waves break. We're going to talk you through how to practice proper paddling technique. And we're going to teach you what's called the pop-up method, which is the motion of going from lying down on the board to standing on your feet.
Most beginners are surprised by how quickly they start to understand the mechanics of surfing, especially when you're learning at Santa Monica Beach where it's very predictable and very, very mellow. Now once you understand how the waves work, once we get you on a big, stable, beginner surfboard, surfing becomes much more approachable than people expect. So you don't need to panic, you don't need to worry. And if there is a weird shift in weather conditions, if we're gonna get those once in a decade swells with huge mega waves, don't worry. We're gonna call you with plenty of time in advance and we're gonna let you know what's up.
How do I find the best beginner surf school in Los Angeles, California? Check Out Calibunga Surf Lessons In Santa Monica Beach.
Where should I learn to surf in Santa Monica?
A big part of beginner surf lessons is simply learning to understand the ocean and feel confident over it. Understanding where waves break, understanding how to position yourself on the board, and understanding that falling off the board is actually not just a part of the process. It is the funnest part of the process, especially if you're learning to serve for the first time with friends or with your partner or with a group, taking a group, serve lesson. It's great for two ways. First of all, it makes it a bigger memory, right? Watching your friend fall is hilarious. Having your friends lose it when you wipe out really hard. It doesn't hurt to fall. It's only water. It's a lot of fun. And it's also failure is the greatest tool you have towards success.
Obviously, the instructors are going to be at your side the entire time, saying, "Yo, get back up on the horse. We're going to be there to encourage you. It's our job. It's the thing we like most about the job. It's what we're excited to go to work for every day is just to push people forward and see you achieve that success out there." Every surfer falls. Every surfer falls, every surfer fails, but the good ones get back on the board and keep going. That was a great question. Thank you so much, Yawn or Jan, for writing in fantastic question to kick off the first episode of listener questions. If you have a question like Jan/jan and you want it answered on the show or you just want to talk to somebody on our staff who can sort of get you over that apprehension for taking your first surf lesson in Santa Monica. You can write us at info@calabungassurflessons.com. You can visit us online on our website www.calabungassurflessons.com or you can find us on the socials Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok.
Where’s The Best Waves In Los Angeles For Beginner Surfers?
You can also give us a call. You can shoot our number of texts. We are happy to help you out. I'm your host, Lucas Coleman of the Calabunga Surf lessons podcast. Funky Golden Sun by Jim It was our song for the day. Thank you, Jim It for the funky golden sun and we will see you out in some funky golden sun at Santa Monica Beach with Calabunga surf lessons. Thank you everybody. Check us out next week. Hit that like and subscribe. Surf's up soon.
