After about three hours of driving, I arrive in Wales. I am visiting a friend from university there. It’s a very sunny June week and we walk outside a lot. Then, on a windier day, we have something big planned—we’re going surfing. My friend is new to all this—I’d been surfing on standing waves before and watch the World Surf League religiously—but today, none of us knows what to expect. We booked a surf lesson with a small Welsh company called AberAdventures, which offers surf lessons or rents out surfboards in either Ynyslas or Borth, depending on where the better waves are on the day. In our group there are a handful of other people, most of them much younger than us, but I believe you are never too old to start surfing.
Wearing rather thick wetsuits and boots for the cold Irish Sea, we head into the water after a short safety demonstration and warm-up. I am super excited; this is a dream coming true for me. Very quickly I lose myself in the water. My mind ignores the people around me and it feels like I am alone with the universe. I can barely feel any water on my skin, I just feel elated. I am floating, in absolute awe of the surrounding nature and it takes me a while to focus. As far as I can judge I am the fastest and most confident to paddle out. It’s more difficult to decide what waves to go for but I quickly seem to get the hang of it. Before I came here, I already knew a lot about surfing, every possible theory you could imagine, now was simply the time to put it into practise. Standing up on the board is more challenging than I thought it would be, especially with boots, but I’m having a lot of fun, which is the most important thing. I look over to my friend and he gives me a smile and thumbs up. He knows how much I am enjoying this. Being in the waves allows me to forget about everything else and really be in the moment. I don’t even realise that it starts to rain quite a lot; I’m surrounded by water anyway. Sooner than I would have liked, the session is over and we have to get back to shore. I don’t want to leave but look out onto the sea one more time, cherishing this moment forever. Now, I feel like I am officially a surfer and I am addicted to this sport more than ever. Right now I am full of energy, but later I fall asleep easily, dreaming of the blue water that makes me so happy. The next day, my friend and I decide we will go surfing in Wales again as soon as we can.
If you want to go surfing with AberAdventures, find out more information
or book lessons via their website here.
