Surfing for beginners: from surf school to your first wave

Why start at a surf school

Do you need lessons to start surfing? No qualification is required to surf for your own enjoyment. Even so, the French surfing federation (FFSurf) is clear that you should learn at an affiliated club or an accredited school [1]. As I see it, the reason has less to do with the technique than with everything around it: the beach, the other surfers, the state of the sea that day.

The safety sign published by the federation starts with three conditions: being able to swim, surfing with a leashThe cord that ties the board to the surfer’s ankle., and preferably wearing a wetsuit [2]. Then come the rules for beginners: stay in the white waterWaves that have already broken and roll towards the shore as foam. or the small waves, use a foam board, avoid the shore break and protect your head when you fall [2].

A school provides exactly that framework. The rules of the German surfing federation, the Deutscher Wellenreitverband (DWV), give a concrete idea: beginner lessons on lifeguarded beaches, in water no deeper than the hips, in waves of 1.5 m at most, with each pupil’s swimming ability checked as a requirement [3]. Surfing England likewise trains its instructors to teach beginners in waist-deep water, in groups of no more than 8 [4].

Choosing a school: the qualification, the card and the label

Surfing may pass for the sport of freedom, but like everything else it starts with a bit of paperwork. In France, what the text says is plain: article L212-1 of the sport code reserves paid surfing tuition, from taster sessions to full courses, for holders of a professional qualification listed in the code, such as the BPJEPS vocational diploma in ‘surf et disciplines associées’ [5]. What that means for you: an instructor who charges for a lesson must hold one of those qualifications.

The proof is on display. Once their qualification and good character have been checked, paid sports instructors receive a professional card, renewed every 5 years; a copy of the card and of the qualification must be displayed where the public can see it, wherever the activity takes place [6]. The card carries a QR code, and the French Ministry of Sport lists every instructor with a valid card online: its sports instructor search portal lets you check a name [6].

The ‘École française de surf’ label, created by the FFSurf in 1995, adds a quality charter on top of that legal minimum: accredited schools issue the federation’s progression passports and ‘École’ licences, and employ only state-qualified instructors [7]. The label is not compulsory; it is a commitment the school makes to its federation, and you are entitled to ask to see it.

What changes from one country to the next

Elsewhere the logic is similar, but the gatekeeper changes. In England, Surfing England accredits schools and has awarded its own surf instructor qualification since spring 2023, which requires an up-to-date beach lifeguard or surf lifesaving award [4, 9]. In Germany, the ‘DWV-anerkannte Surfschule’ label is renewed every calendar year: each site is run by the holder of a level B surf coaching licence, lessons are given by an instructor with a DWV level C licence, or by holders of an equivalent qualification, and all instructors hold the DLRG Silver lifesaving award and first aid training [3].

In the United States, North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina shows how a town can regulate the schools on its beach: an annual permit costing $100, one instructor for no more than 8 pupils, and instructors trained in CPR and first aid [10]. In Portugal, the national federation publishes a list of the schools registered with it [11]: the first document to look at before booking a course there.

The first lesson: from the white water to the pop-up

A lesson starts on the sand. The DWV requires its schools to cover a minimum of theory in every beginner course, however long: the international rules of surfing, including priority and how to avoid collisions. Over a week-long course, weather, waves, tides and currents are added [3].

In the sea, you stay where the waves have already broken, and you learn the pop-upMoving from lying down to standing on the board as the wave pushes it; the French call it the take-off. in the white water before trying it on a wave that has not yet broken. That is the whole idea behind the Pass’Surf, the progression shared by FFSurf-accredited schools, which has 4 levels [8].

The passport costs €10 on top of the lesson, then €2 for each further course; every level signed off by the instructor stays on record online and counts from one accredited school to another [8]. The DWV even trains instructors who specialise in teaching beginners in wave pools, another way in, well away from the tide tables [12].

The beginner’s board, wetsuit and leash

A first board is foam, long and buoyant. Schools recognised by the DWV must use soft ‘malibu’ boards with beginners, in sizes from 7 to 9 feet, roughly 2.1 to 2.7 m, matched to each pupil’s age, weight and height [3]. For later on, working out the volume to suit your weight and level has its own guide: choosing the volume of your surfboard, and the volume calculator gives the figure in two answers.

A wetsuit is not compulsory, but the FFSurf considers it preferable [2], and its thickness depends on the water temperature, which varies widely around the coast: see our guide to wetsuit thickness and water temperature. The leash, on the other hand, is not optional: ‘I always surf with a leash’, says the federation’s sign [2].

The priority rules: one wave, one surfer

At the peakThe point where the wave starts to break., surfers wait their turn, and the basic rule fits into four words on the FFSurf sign: ‘one wave, one surfer’ [2]. Surfing England publishes very similar rules [13]. Here is what both federations ask:

• Priority goes to the surfer nearest the peak, the one furthest inside the breaking wave, as the FFSurf puts it [2, 13].
• You don’t take off on a wave someone is already riding: that is a drop-inTaking off on a wave in front of a surfer who is already riding it and has priority., ruled out by both federations [2, 13].
• You don’t paddle round others to get ahead of them at the peak, which Surfing England calls snaking [13].
• You call where you are going, ‘left’ or ‘right’, so that others know [13].
• To get out back, you paddle round the area where the waves are breaking; caught inside, you go back out through the white water rather than across the shoulderThe part of the wave beside the peak that has not yet broken., so as not to spoil the ride of the surfer on it [2, 13].
• You never let go of your board, neither when diving under a wave nor when coming off one [2, 13].

For a beginner, the last rule matters from day one. A board let go of carries on with the wave, at the end of its leash, towards whoever is behind: I can think of no better reason to keep it close, even in the white water. The other rules come into their own at the ‘Wave’ level of the Pass’Surf, the one about sharing the peak [8].

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Reading a beach before you go in

Before you look at the waves, look at the seabed. Surfing England describes three kinds of wave: those that spill gently onto a gently sloping beach, ideal for beginners; hollow, powerful waves that break over reefs or sandbanks; and those that dump all at once on the shore or in very shallow water, best left to experienced surfers [14]. These are the ‘rouleaux de bord’, or shore break, that the FFSurf sign tells beginners to avoid [2].

The type of spot matters too. A beach breakA wave that breaks over sand, whose shape changes with the sandbanks and the tide. breaks over sand; a point breakA wave that breaks along a headland, a river mouth or a reef. breaks along a headland, a river mouth or a reef, and in the UK these spots are often harder to reach, not lifeguarded, with currents and rocky bottoms [14]. Finally, the tide changes the shape and power of the waves, as well as the strength of the currents [14]: before a session, read the tide times and the tidal coefficient, then the swell and wind forecast.

In France, the federation gives two pieces of advice before you first paddle out at an unfamiliar spot: ask the local surfers or a specialist source, and never surf alone [15]. It names the Pays de la Loire region, from Les Sables-d’Olonne along the neighbouring long beaches, as ideal for beginners, its waves being less powerful than in Brittany or Aquitaine [15].

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Flags and zones: where boards belong

In France, flags on lifeguarded beaches follow decree no. 2022-105 of 31 January 2022, in force since 1 March 2022. On the mast, green means ‘lifeguarded swimming with no apparent danger’, yellow ‘lifeguarded swimming with limited or marked danger’ and red ‘no swimming’; two red and yellow flags, planted near the water, mark out the lifeguarded swimming area [16].

Boards have no place in that area: ‘Respect swimming zones’, says the FFSurf sign, which shows a buffer zone on either side and then a surfing zone marked with chequered flags [2]. The chequered flag does not appear in the decree [16]. It is the mayor who polices bathing and water activities launched from the shore, up to 300 m out, and who marks out the lifeguarded zones and periods [17]: to find out where boards are allowed, ask at the lifeguard post or the town hall.

In the UK, on RNLI-lifeguarded beaches, the red and yellow flags mark the area for swimmers and bodyboarders, and the black and white chequered flags the area for surfboards, stand-up paddleboards and kayaks, where you never swim [14]. In Germany, the DLRG gives the chequered flag the same meaning, a watersports area closed to swimmers, and points out that the green flag has no official meaning there, whereas it does in France [18, 16].

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Rip currents: how to spot them, and why not to fight them

A rip currentA narrow, fast current that carries the water brought in by the waves back out to sea. carries back out to sea the water the waves push onto the beach. According to the US National Weather Service, rips mostly form at gaps between sandbars and near structures such as piers; they move at 0.3 to 0.6 m per second on average, but have been measured at up to 2.4 m per second, faster than an Olympic swimmer [19, 20]. A rip does not pull you under: it takes you away from the shore, and it is panic and exhaustion that drown [21].

The figures show where rips rank among beach hazards. In the UK, over 60% of RNLI lifeguard incidents involve rip currents [21]; in the United States, NOAA estimates that rips kill about 100 people a year [20].

On France’s sandy coasts, people talk of a ‘baïne’, meaning a ‘little basin’ in the south-west, a ‘bâche’ in the north or a ‘pouldour’ in Brittany. The SNSM, France’s sea rescue service, describes how it works: waves and tide fill a hollow in the sand, which eventually overflows, and that overflow creates a strong outgoing current that even a very good swimmer cannot resist [22]. It adds that nobody ever knows exactly when or how fast this will happen, and that the baïnes keep moving, even for people who have known the beach for years [22].

To spot a rip, the US weather service lists four signs: a gap of darker, calmer-looking water between areas of breaking waves, a channel of churning, choppy water, a difference in water colour, and a line of foam or seaweed moving out to sea [19]. That is the trap: many bathers go in where there is no white water, which is often exactly where the rip is [21, 22]. The same service advises asking the lifeguards, when you arrive at a beach, which currents are expected that day [23].

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After surf school: surfing without an instructor

When can you do without an instructor? The FFSurf progression gives a benchmark: surfing independently is its final level, after the one where you learn to read the water and choose your session [8]. Even then, the federation says never to surf alone [15], and to choose waves suited to your level and uncrowded spots [2].

That leaves insurance. Outside lessons, the FFSurf offers a ‘Surfingfrance’ licence at €45, valid for a year, to be insured when surfing independently outside a club; it does not allow you to compete or to teach [25]. The other route is a licence from an affiliated club, which offers, in the federation’s words, friendship, training and competition [25].

Worth watching

RNLI lifeguards and a University of Plymouth rip-current scientist show how to spot a rip, how to avoid one and what to do if you or someone else is caught, with a survivor’s account.

The video is hosted by YouTube (Google): nothing loads until you play it, and Google may then set cookies.

Arnaud Couderc

Fact-checking, regulations and safety

Arnaud Couderc reviews our contributors’ articles and writes for Outfarer about regulations, safety, fishing, the sea and outdoor pursuits. He traces every rule back to its official text and every figure to its source, so that you set off with sound benchmarks.

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