When Girl Meets Board, They Make Lots of Waves
I learned to surf when I lived by the beach and begged to borrow a 10-foot-long board from a colleague. He had me practice popping up from my stomach to my feet a few times on the beach, then I was on my own.
But what would it be like to actually start out with a surf lesson, I wondered?
To find out, I headed to La Jolla for a weekend clinic at Surf Diva Surf School.
Surf Diva was founded in 1996 by Isabelle Tihanyi, 32, a competitive surfer who started teaching surfing in high school. She began Surf Diva with her twin sister, Caroline, because she felt there weren’t enough women in the water.
“There was not enough instruction that was geared toward women and was non-intimidating, that wasn’t just about catching the biggest wave,” Isabelle Tihanyi said. “I wanted it to be about having fun and being lighthearted.”
Surf Diva, based in La Jolla, offers private lessons for girls and women, with teen surf camps, weekend clinics and even a session called “Guys on the Side”--co-ed private lessons or classes. They teach at locations from Vancouver , Canada, to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. All classes are taught by the “Diva method.” That, explained Tihanyi, means breaking surfing down into baby steps, giving lots of one-on-one attention, and going out in the water only as far as people are comfortable.
The weekend clinic, which costs $115, consists of two-hour sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. Classes start at different times of day, but I signed up for the 7:30-9:30 a.m. class. Even three weeks in advance, most of the later clinics were full.
I arrived at 7:15 a.m. The day was overcast, but the beach at La Jolla was already so crowded I could barely get a parking place.
Surf Diva set up camp right next to Lifeguard Stand 32, a tent for shade, a rug of AstroTurf on the sand, and a rack of flowered girlie rash-guards (T-shirts worn under wet suits to prevent rashes in winter, and used as light insulation in summer) at the ready. Stacks of blue, pink and yellow foam boards lay against a nearby wall.
We had five teachers, who all looked like they had stepped right out of the pages of Wahine, a women’s action-sports magazine that ceased publication earlier this year. We were a group of 25 women, ranging in age from teens to late 40s. Most of the women were local; one mother was on vacation from North Carolina with her family, and had never even ridden a boogie board.
A Movie’s Ripple Effect
Enrollment in Surf Diva classes has been growing quickly. Tihanyi estimates that this year 5,000 women will paddle out into the water with Surf Diva. And that’s before the debut of Universal’s “Blue Crush,” a big-budget, chick surf movie set to open in theaters on Aug. 16.
“Just since the trailers have come out, our phones have been ringing off the hook,” Tihanyi said. “I think that after that movie every little girl is going to want to surf. It’s going to be like Dorothy Hamill and ice skating.”
Back at the beach, we introduced ourselves, and everyone said why they were there. Some had always lived by the sea. Some had seen the Divas out in the water and wanted to check them out. A lot of women had surfing boyfriends and husbands who either tormented them by dragging them out into too-big surf or abandoned them on the beach while they joined their buddies in the waves.
The first 45 minutes of class were spent on the sand, learning surfing etiquette and basic ocean safety. If there’s a riptide, swim parallel to the beach, they told us. Fall flat off your board. Don’t be a board caddy, chasing after other surfers’ runaway boards. Always wade into the water shuffling your feet to scare away stingrays so those camouflaged bottom-dwellers don’t zap you. And never, ever cut off a surfer who is already on the wave.
We learned the anatomy of the surfboard and a smattering of surfer lingo. Then we dragged our foam boards out to the sand, donned the aloha print rash guards, and practiced pop-ups on land. Next, the instructors divided us into smaller groups of five for more intensive instruction.
“Look for your sweet spot on the board,” said instructor Jane Kaine. We slithered around on our stomachs, trying to figure out where that might be.
We got in push-up position and curled our toes under, ready for orders.
“Here comes the wave. Paddle! Paddle!” yelled Kaine. We looked over our shoulders at the imaginary wave, paddled through the air, and then, bing!, popped to our feet like Bruce Lee. “Knees bent, so you can take the bumps,” Kaine coached. We squatted low and stable, riding our imaginary waves to the horizon like Hawaiian queens.
Then we strapped on our leashes, picked up our boards, and headed for the waves.
The foam boards are light and easy to maneuver as boogie boards. An out-of-control bonk from a flying foam board won’t cut your lip or put a bump on your head. The boards are simple to paddle out and less scary for beginners. They are good in a crowd.
On the first day, our instructors kept us inside in the white water. Kaine took us, one at a time, and pushed us from behind, launching us into the waves. She yelled encouragement and advice as students toppled over, time after time.
Tihanyi said some people ask her if she can guarantee that students will stand up in a class. She always says no. The only guarantee she offers is that participants will have a good time.
By day’s end, everyone in my group had gotten up. Some were wobbly, some were screaming in terror, and some rode to shore with their feet spread wide in the classic stink bug stance. But they were riding the waves!
The instructors sent us home with a round of applause and orders to do 25 pop-ups on the bedroom floor before we turned in.
When we arrived on Sunday, Diva Kaine asked us: “How are your muscles? How is your mind?”
Denise Martella, 35, said her arms were so sore that her husband had to dress her that morning because she couldn’t raise her arms over her head.
We stretched in a big circle in the sand, then got another dry-land lecture on some practical surfing basics. “I’m taking my group to the outside,” Diva Kaine announced. “I think people are ready to get on their board and paddle out.”
I’ve been out in the water a lot, but I had to admit, it felt pretty cool to be out in the lineup with a tribe of women.
We practiced punching through the surf without losing our boards. We raised ourselves up in push-up position to get through the baby waves, and flipped over and turtle-rolled for the bigger swells. We bobbed in the water, facing out to the horizon in search of the perfect wave, then learned to turn and paddle for it. “Put the nose in the air, slide back, grab the rails, do the eggbeater kick,” Diva Kaine coached. Slowly, the surfer girls spun into position. Finally, we learned how to pull out of a wave.
Then we were left to catch our own waves. The waves were perfect and smooth, and the women in my group were zipping by me on their boards. There were no hang-tens, a lot of squeals, and a bunch of women zooming to shore in the white water still stuck on all fours, laughing.
“I’m not the most athletic person,” said Megan Riggs, 32, of Carmel Valley after class. “Let’s just put that out there. But I actually stood up. It was the most amazing experience. It was probably only five seconds, but it felt like forever.”
Waves Provide Workout
None of us had shoulders like an Adonis or rippling golden brown biceps after a day, but steady surfing can carve a great upper-body physique. Paddling for waves can be as much of a workout as swimming laps in a pool--especially in big surf--and a lot more fun. Even surfing for less than an hour in small waves I burned 238 calories the first day and 150 the second.
The clinic really was for flat-out beginners. I thought maybe I’d learn how to walk to the end of my board, or pick up some amazing style that a self-trained surfer like me never got.
The emphasis, though, was on learning the basics. Still, I had to hand it to the Divas: They packed a real surf experience into two days. They taught camaraderie and chick-power. They projected attitude, but not testosterone. They gave us a great workout, but didn’t punish us.
Best of all, they got women in the water, floating like mermaids and addicted to that rush of riding a wave. There is nothing like it. Even on a sponge board in baby waves.
“When you are out in the water, nothing else matters,” Tihanyi says. “It’s not what’s in your bank account. It’s not what kind of car you drive. Get off the beach! Don’t let the boys have all the fun.”
*
Snapshot: Surfing
Where to go: Surf Diva Surf School, La Jolla, (858) 454-8273, www.surfdiva.com
Duration of activity: 43 minutes
Calories burned*: 238
Heart rate*: Average of 138 beats per minute; high, 156
Time in target zone*: 30 minutes
* This information was obtained using a heart-rate monitor. Time in the target heart-rate zone is a measure of the intensity of the workout. Target zone varies based on age and individual heart rate.