If you have always wanted to learn how to surf, there is a surf resort in El Salvador that can show you how. However, there are a few other skills you learn first. Without these additional skills, surfing will be quite impossible.
Learn to Swim WELL
It is not just a matter of knowing how to swim. To fight the tides and learn how to surf, you need to learn how to swim very well. Even on days when the waves hit the coasts of El Salvador and they are not very big, you could still drift out to sea and have to swim like crazy to get back to the shore. Your surfing instructor can teach you a few tricks, but he or she is not a swim instructor.
Learn Some Ocean Survival Skills
Shark attacks are rare, but they do happen, especially since a surfer paddling out to the ocean looks like a giant tasty fish to the shark. A greater danger is a sudden squall, where sheets of water and powerful winds pummel you. Then there are riptides, jellyfish, and several other ocean dangers. Take a course on ocean survival training before you take your first surfing lesson. It is better to know how to survive these incidents and not need to use the training than need the training and not know how to survive.
Try Learning to Balance on Your Surfboard in a Pool
This is not exactly a prerequisite for learning how to surf, but it does help immensely. If you have purchased your own surfboard, take it to a pool that is big enough to hold it. Spend a lot of time practicing your balance on it, crouching on it, and riding small waves created by a friend in the pool. This will give you a taste of the balancing skills you will need to stay on your board when you are finally in the water for surfing lessons.
Bring Lots of Determination
If you are the type of person that quits when you cannot learn something in a day or two, surfing may not be for you. Even champion surfers still fall off their boards, so you can hardly expect to stay on a surfboard when you have never surfed. If you are going to learn this sport, bring lots of determination with you. It will take time and practice to finally ride a wave.
Check out places like The Last Resort Mizata El Salvador to plan your vacation.
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