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My years of traveling as a performer took me to some exotic places, and when possible I took my surfboard. Now, it’s nice to spend more time here in California as your private Surf Coach … I teach surfing to all ages and abilities, and occasionally coach at a local high school. I am an ex-Honolulu lifeguard with 30 years of surfing experience all over the world. I’m CPR/First Aid Certified, and a father of three young surfers. As a Hawaii raised surfer, my lessons are centered on Hawaiian style “waterman” training, with emphasis on ocean knowledge, safety, and fun. Lessons are typically in the mornings in the Huntington Beach area. A Private lesson is your most effective investment, though it’s more fun (and cheaper) if you bring a friend. Lessons include safe soft-top boards, wetsuits, and all the sand you can eat. I can also do hotel pick-ups. Watch my video: how a comedian surfs!
Contact me for info.
EMAIL:
JazKaner@verizon.net Freebee advice: Read Jaz Kaner’s SURFING 101.
RATES:
Private lesson – 2 Hours - $120
( Shark jokes are additional) Ask about rates for photographer/travel buddies, and large groups. (Children under 8 require a private lesson) Yes Jaz, Let’s Reserve a Lesson
Once we decide on a date & time, we’ll meet (usually) at Bolsa Chica State Beach ($10 to get in, but there’re showers & restrooms). It’s a typical sand bottom beach break. The SoCal water is about 70 degrees during summer, and as cold as 55 in the winter. At the beach, I’ll collect the release/waivers, and we’ll get into our wetsuits. (Most surfers go “commando” under the wetsuit, but a speedo or bikini is good). We’ll spend a few minutes on the sand with some safety, paddling, and stand-up instructions. Then I’ll do a water demo, and then we’ll hit the surf. I will accompany students with my swim fins on, helping you out through the waves, pushing you into waves, making corrections, and getting smashed by waves, etc. (You’ll find that a few hours in the water is very draining – have some breakfast). Your follow-up lessons, if you want them, should be cheaper depending upon your ability in the water. It helps to read my Surfing 101 tips.
Jaz Kaner’s TOP TEN SURF TIPS: · The biggest danger in surfing is not the waves, the rocks, the sharks, or creepy crawlies. It’s other surfers. Avoid crowded spots. Always try to keep at least 20 feet between you and the next surfer, especially important if they are to the outside (toward the ocean) or directly inside/shoreward of your position. When big sets come through, spread out and give each other some space. This will insure that the waves won’t pile you into each other. · Local Knowledge: One of the best tips a surf instructor can give you is where to surf, and where (and when) NOT to surf. · One of the hardest parts of surfing is the take-off. For that reason (in most surf areas) you will be learning in the whitewater. As you progress though, you will want to catch unbroken swells ‘on the outside’. Problems with timing your takeoff are normal, and happen to the best of us. (see The Objective) · Currents: A “rip current” pulls out to sea. Rips account for about %80 of lifeguard rescues. Never fight against a rip: Instead, swim/paddle parallel to the shore (across the current) to get out of it, then paddle towards shore. “Longshore” or “downshore” currents are common to HB and other beachbreaks, and are not as dangerous as a rip because they merely sweep you down along the beach, leaving you to guess where you parked your car. · Getting out through the surf is much easier if you keep your board pointed either straight out to sea, or straight to shore, at a 90 degree angle to the waves. Otherwise it gets pulled from your hands or pushed into you. · The Priority rule: In crowded situations, the surfer closest to the peak has priority. When someone catches the wave outside and turns toward you, they have priority: Take the next wave. If someone is angling towards you on a collision course, the safest thing is to bail off your board and dive to the bottom. Again, avoid crowded areas. · Surfing is ninety percent paddling. Get used to it. · Take a tip from the dolphins: If you’re bodysurfing or bodyboarding out past waist deep water, WEAR SWIM FINS. Every good waterman will tell you this – fins make a tremendous difference. · Creepy crawlies: OK, see how far down the list this one is? Stingrays prefer sand bottoms with warm, calm water, and can be present when waves are tiny during mid-summer. Get in the habit of always sliding your feet when you’re walking on a sand bottom. This “stingray shuffle” scares them out of the way. (Also looks groovy on the dance floor). · Sharks: Shut up: In the Los Angeles area in the last 80 years there have been 6 attacks, and zero fatalities. If you’re worried about sharks, you should be buying lotto tickets: Better odds. Stop watching the Discovery Channel.
Pro-Coaching: This rate is for those who have their own equipment, and can (atleast) paddle through waves to the outside, take-off, and standup. I would accompany and coach you on my own shortboard. Back to top
Board Buying
Advice For a typical fiberglass surfboard (a "hard" board), expect to pay 4 to 800 bucks for a new 7 to 8 foot "funboard", that's the type & size I'd recommend. Unless you’re a wiz on snowboard/skateboards, don't get the typical 6 ft thruster with the pointy nose; They are hard to paddle and ride. For the average size person, your first board should be about 8 feet long, at least 20 inches wide, at least 2.5 inches thick, with rounded edges and soft edge fins if you can afford them: The worst injuries in surfing are fin cuts. Look for soft boards by the names Morey, Doyle, Surftek, SofTop, Liquid Schredder, etc. They have them in surf shops for under $400. You’ll find more second-hand surfboard deals near the end of summer when the smart folks decide that badminton is less work. Actually, a good way to learn “surfing” is with a bodyboard. Every surfer should have one. Yes, it’s not as glamorous, but a bodyboard WITH swim fins, is cheaper, safer, easier to get outside, and easier to transport. Sometimes we get so hung-up on “standing up” that we forget the most important aspects of surfing.
Surfing:
The Objective Well, the “objective” is FUN, silly. But what surfers yearn for – what some sacrifice everything for – is the sense of speed, flight, and freedom that comes with a good day of surfing. Surfing, as it is done by “real surfers” (like dolphins), is achieved by trimming at an angle across the unbroken face of a wave, always staying “in the curl” of the wave, and ahead of the whitewater. That vortex that surfers call the barrel is where the speed is. Most of the maneuvers in surfing – the turns, snaps, cutbacks and aerials – are used to keep the surfer at maximum speed and positioning in the curl. (And then some of it just feels good). Finding the right uncrowded waves where such things are possible is what surfers live for. Welcome to my wonderful addiction. |
