Surfing Lessons In Wales On Rhosilli Beach

We have just returned from the most wonderful week visiting Swansea Bay and the Mumbles. I honestly don’t know where to start; we did so much as a family.

However we have never taken surfing lessons as a family before. So this seems the perfect place to start.

I will be honest taking surfing lessons is not something I ever considered doing. And going by the comments on my Instagram and stories a lot of mums I know think the same. However if I could give you one piece of advice, it would be go surfing in Wales. Ok go surfing anywhere you can, but Rhossili Beach will always be special to me. It’s the place we first tried our hand at surfing.

The day was booked with Gower Activity Centres

We were based at the Rhossili site where we met our instructor Stuart, got kitted out in wetsuits for our lesson and set of in the mini bus to the beach.

Gower Activity Centre is a wonderful organisation, which offers a host of activities on water and land. They offer many courses to schools and groups, including residential weeks in their on site accommodation. However they also welcome tourist groups. The instructors are all qualified and experienced so able to lead groups and tutor activities.

There is something stunning about Gower beaches

And as we walked down the very long track in our wetsuits, giving us time to take in the spectacular views over Rhossili Bay and the Worms Head I felt excited but soooooo nervous.

Stuart started with a surf lesson on the beach

We covered the basics and all the health and safety stuff on the beach, also marking out a central point to all follow to prevent us drifting down the beach.  Joe was beside himself with excitement as we strapped our boards to our ankles and ventured into the sea.

As I waded out my heart was pounding. I was sure I would either injure or humiliate myself. The first thing I noticed was how amazing the wetsuit was. Part of my fear was being cold, however the wetsuit totally shields you from feeling the cold water.

It was a warm day and the sea is currently warmer than normal. Although we are not talking Caribbean temperatures, this is still the good old UK, yet I felt comfortable and did not feel the cold one bit.

We started out learning how to read the waves and work out when to get on the board and when to paddle. It’s all about timing and Stuart worked with each of us to get this just right whilst lying down on the boards.

Once we were feeling confident we moved on to getting into a kneel position and steering the board. Now I felt this is where my skill was at, I was onto a good thing and why change something that works! So I spent the next couple of hours happily steering the board on my knees whilst Chris and Joe mastered standing.

It’s a weird thing mastering something new, especially in the sea. I was excited to keep going back and trying again. Concentrating on getting the waves at the right time. Yet also had one eye on Joe, checking where he was, was he ok. And that is the beauty of being with an instructor, I knew that although Stuart was all giving us hint and tips, he was that extra pair of eyes. Checking Joe was safe, following the rules and getting it right. Allowing Chris and I to take turns and feel safe that Joe had two pairs of eyes on him.

A Family Surf lesson is the perfect way to spend a day at Rhossili Beach.

Having a lesson gave us the confidence we needed; Stuart was able to give us hints and tips on how to improve, whilst we would most certainly benefit from more lessons. We left feeling confident we had a learnt a new skill we will undoubtedly do again.

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