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Surfing Rule #1: Right of way The surfer closest to the peak of the wave has the right of way. This means if you’re paddling to the right and a surfer on your left is also paddling for it, you must yield to him. ​Surfing Rule #2: Don’t drop in Related to Rule #1, this important rule is about yielding a wave to someone if you take off on it at the same time. Never block someone else’s ride – not only is it rude, it’s dangerous. ​Surfing Rule #3: Paddling rules Do not paddle in front of someone riding a wave unless you’re well, well in front of them. Sometimes you’ll just end up in a bad spot and won’t be able to paddle behind the surfer. It’s your responsibility to speed paddle to get over the wave and…

Increasingly over the past decade, surfing has served as therapy to help alleviate or mitigate a number of mental, physical and emotional disorders. Organizations centered around disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anger management, autism, and even loss of limbs have utilized surfing as a form of therapy. The general consensus is that the ocean has a calming and positive effect on people’s psyche and encourages a focus on the present rather than the past. Below, we highlight a few organizations that are using surfing for good – to improve people’s lives where conventional medical interventions haven’t been enough. Mauli Ola Foundation Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder that targets a person’s respiratory and digestive system. People born with Cystic Fibrosis produce extremely thick mucus in their lungs, which causes drastic coughing and difficulty breathing. The mucus…

De-Mystifying Sharks I can’t tell you how many people tell me that they refuse to try surfing because they’re scared of sharks. Most of them realize how silly that sounds, but the recent news headlines haven’t done much to calm people who are already disposed to fear our toothy friends and, perhaps, it’s even made some of you think twice about paddling out. Since it’s such a hot topic, let’s break down what’s really happening with sharks on the California coast. First off, it is 100% normal for sharks to be in our area in the springtime – they come to mate off of the California shores between May and October…usually. This year, likely due to the El Nino conditions, the sharks stuck around later into the winter season and came back up from Baja earlier in the spring. So,…

The thing about women’s surfing is, well, women rip. Women’s surfing has come a long way in the last few decades, building on the legacy of surfer girl greats known as the California Golden Girls. These ladies, arguably the mothers of modern female surfing, forged a path for competitive women’s surfing. The California Golden Girls The thing is, even these ladies weren’t recognized just for how hard they ripped. Instead they were described as “attractive, elegant athletes.” Wait, come again?! “Attractive” as the first word to describe these bad ass athletes. No thanks. In fact, this has become such a chronic problem in women’s surfing. Google “girl surfer” and in the images you’ll get the following assortment of “stellar” representations of women’s surfing: What wave?! Ummmm…surfing? In fact, it takes more than surfing chops to be recognized as a female…

“Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).” – Richard Louv, Author Last Child in the Woods If you’re looking for a fun and positive place for your child for Fall or Winter break, look no further than iSurf School’s surf camp. Through our surf camp your child will acquire strength, friendships, confidence, a love of nature, and a passion for surfing in a supportive environment. Our camps are convenient and appropriate for all skill levels. Camps run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and are open for those ages 5 through 17. We pick up and drop off from Chase Palm Park on the Santa Barbara waterfront. On a typical day we start by going over the surf conditions and then decide on the best surf…

As the general manager of a surf school I pretty much have the best job in the world. Or course, one of my favorite parts of the job is taking students to new and exciting places…so you can only imagine how pumped I was to be going to New Zealand with some of our awesome iSurf ladies! Getting to New Zealand is no joke. After traveling almost 20 hours door to door and wrangling everybody once we got there, we were ready to SURF! Our first stop on our epic adventure was Raglan. Raglan is a sleepy little surfing town with just a couple thousand residents but it boasts one of the best left hand point breaks in the world. We went straight to our bach, pronounced like batch, which was a cute, three-bedroom house with wood floors and a wood burning…

Oh man, after an eternal hiatus from the blog we have returned just in time for the holiday season with a carefully curated Surfer’s Gift Guide – a hand picked shopping list for all the lovely surfers in our lives. This gift guide has something for every type of surfer – from novice to expert, from trendy to understated. And we’ve even included some stocking stuffers! As always, we wish each and every one of you peace, prosperity and love during the holiday season and beyond. Much love and happy holidays!