Q & A * Newport Beach surfing teacher Scott Morlan

For 24 years, Scott Morlan has taught people of all ages, especially children, how to surf as part of a summer program offered by the Newport Beach Community Services Department. A surfer since 1962, Morlan, 47, says he believes surfing is a recreational activity that lifts the spirit and cleanses the mind. The frame for his car’s license plate reads: “There’s nothing that a good day of surfing can’t cure.” He is also a mathematics instructor at Newport Harbor High School, where he recently started a surfing class. He spoke with Times correspondent Enrique Lavin from his “office” at the shore in Newport Beach.

Q: Why is surfing a worthwhile recreational activity?

A: It’s something that you can read about, you can see in the movies. But when you actually do it, there’s a magic to it. I try to impart that to all the kids that come down and try it. There are kids who I taught years ago and who I’d meet out here as adults.

Q: What do you mean, there’s a “magic” to it?

A: There’s a sense of peace and tranquillity. When you’re out in the water, it’s just you and the waves. Occasionally, you see dolphins real close to you. The dolphins teach you how to really ride a wave. You have these good experiences, and it becomes a way of life that you never want to stop. Getting out and riding a couple of waves--that makes the whole day better. The ocean is a happy place. There’s a lot of laughter in surfing. That’s the magic.

Q: Is this sport for everyone?

A: There are kids who say, “I’m cold to the bone” or “I don’t like it, it’s dirty!” But most fall in love with it. The guidance is what’s going to make someone like it or not. Not having instruction is like someone putting a golf club in your hand and saying, “Go sink a hole in one.” It wouldn’t be the experience it could be.

Q: What types of adults sign up?

A: Some say, “I just moved from Minneapolis, isn’t this what you’re supposed to do when you come to California?” Others say, “I did this in the ‘60s and I always had trouble, and I really wanted to try it again.” My favorite is a guy named Bob who started surfing in the 1940s and decided he wanted to give it a go again. And now you can see him early in the morning catching his mandatory five waves a day. He’s about 65 years old.

Q: How has surfing changed since you started doing it?

A: The first 20 years I surfed, there wasn’t any reason to think about it. Now, there are places I don’t go anymore, like the river jetties, because you get ill. Anything that goes in the storm drains ends up in the ocean. . . . It’s not as clean as it used to be. But that’s part of the awareness I give my students. We can make a difference if we say something about it. Mother Nature is in charge. We get to share the experience, and we learn to give back.