Learn to Surf on a Gentle Santa Cruz Surfing Break

Finding a gentle Santa Cruz surfing break, to learn how to surf, is important when you are just beginning. A small gentle wave is ideal. You wouldn’t want to begin your surfing career at Maverick’s!

Things that make a good beginners surf spot:

• Relatively uncrowded—a few people around for safety is good, but you don’t want there to be huge crowds. With surfing being one of the more popular Santa Cruz activities, this can be challenging at Santa Cruz beaches. However, keep in mind that you will have more success finding an uncrowded spot during the weekdays and offseason.
• Sand or Mossy rock bottom—These types of bottoms are much easier on your feet and boards. The Santa Cruz surfing spots that offer this are usually the beach breaks like Capitola Beach and Pleasure Point area. 
• Calm, crumbling waves—You do not want to learn on waves that break, hollow and steep. There are a few Santa Cruz surfing breaks that offer calm crumbling waves. When you sign up for your next Santa Cruz surf lesson consider Capitola Beach – it is the ideal place to learn to surf.
• Shallow Water—it’s important to be able to wade out and catch the waves of whitewater at first, so try to find a nice shallow sand bar or mellow reef with waist to chest-high waterline at Capitola Beach or 38th Avenue.

For more information about Santa Cruz surfing spots, check out our blog post Santa Cruz Surfing Breaks. As always, If you have any questions about where to go, rentals or if you are looking for Santa Cruz surf lessons, hit us up!