UC San Diego Ranks No. 1 for Surfing

Surfing Fundamentals (It’s a class!)

For those interested in learning to surf, UC San Diego Recreation offers an 8-week long “Surfing Fundamentals” course that runs concurrently with the fall, winter and spring quarters and in the summer. Groups of 15 students and 3 instructors meet at the beach just north of the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, for 80 min once a week for class. For those looking for something shorter, a four-week “Intro to Surfing” class is also available. Demand is so high that there are classes offered at multiple times on both Friday and Saturdays.

Because this is UC San Diego and asking “why?” is in our blood, the class includes more than board anatomy, how to pop up, and the mechanics of how to catch a wave. Classes also cover how to safely navigate potential stingrays (Note: shuffle your feet at all times when walking in the water); how to visually identify currents, ocean swell height and the inside and outside surf zones; and how tides and wind affects conditions such as wave size, breaks and impact zones.

Understanding the effect that the weather has on surfing is crucial to teach students, says Isaac Laddon, an aerospace engineering major at Warren College who is set to graduate this year and who teaches in the program. “Surfing is probably the most difficult sport to learn because it's like 60% the weather and the conditions and 40% your own skill,” he notes. 

Lessons are layered with time on the water so that students are better prepared to understand the conditions that they will face in the water and how to safely navigate them — as well as surfing etiquette. “Surf etiquette is like understanding traffic laws,” explains Laddon. “When is my right of way? When do I need to yield to avoid collisions?”

“We really want students to be as confident as they can be once they're ready to take that step and surf alone or surf without the help of an instructor,” Laddon says.

According to Clayton Claiborn, assistant aquatics director at UC San Diego Recreation, this also includes the importance of water safety lessons, such as teaching students how to visually identify rip currents. “You’re looking for a narrow, distinct line that is different from the area around it,” he says. “If you find yourself in the rip, know that it is narrow. Do not panic. All you need to do is  paddle sideways to get out of it.” 

Come One, Come All

Typically, says Claiborn, commercial surfing classes offered at beaches are tailored to tourists so they’re only 1-2 hours long and focused on getting people up on their boards. “But with UC San Diego’s proximity to the beach we had the opportunity to create something that was for our student body,” he says. 

UC San Diego Recreation wants to make learning to surf an option for anyone. “A lot of surfers grow up living on the ocean and surfing their whole life, and forget what it was like to be a beginner,” Claiborn says. The classes are designed for the students who don’t have that childhood experience to draw on, he says.  

The idea is to meet people where they are: “We emphasize that you can surf any way you please,” says Jackie Halberstadt, an international business major at Seventh College who teaches in the program. “So if your goal is to stand up, that's fantastic, but if it's just to ride on your stomach or your knees, that's also great,” she says. “We teach it a certain way, but we also want to emphasize that you can ride a board whichever way you want to ride. It's fun regardless.”

Creating Community

Community building is also a foundational element of the course. “Being out in the ocean is such a great experience,” Halberstadt says. “My favorite part of class is sharing the energy, the excitement, and the love for the sport. And having fun with the people and the friends they brought, or seeing them make new friends. It's a great sense of community and it's exciting sharing the sport that I've known for so long.” 

“UC San Diego is a great place for surfing,” Claiborn says. “Our proximity to the ocean is incredible. Offering surf classes that allow students the chance to take a break from studying and come out of the library — maybe just once a week — and go down to the nearby beach is a unique part of the UC San Diego student experience.” 

“We know how academically tough it can be to be a student here, so we try to make taking a break easy on them,” Claiborn continues. This includes showing the students how to ride either the public bus or the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shuttle down to Scripps Pier, encouraging them to appreciate the beach, and teaching them ocean awareness and safety skills that they can take with them long after the course is over.

Students are given surf boards and wet suits to use weekly in class, and while there is a required swim test before sign up, surfers-to-be can brush up on their water skills via “Learn to Swim” classes through UC San Diego Recreation as well. 

And for those looking for an intermediate class, a course currently dubbed “The Outside” is being designed.

Find out more ways to get outside and get active with UC San Diego Recreation.