Remamo, remamo, remamo & up! Norberto looks critically at the position of my feet on the surfboard he drew for me in the sand. Although I went surfing for my first time in Tofino I didn’t take a lesson and had no desire to really try standing up on the board. I was having way too much fun riding the waves on my stomach and laughing. This time is different. The waves are bigger here and I’m actually a little terrified to just go out and try. Plus there are so many people here, I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone or get hurt myself. To do anything well it takes lessons and learning. My left foot at the rear of the board isn’t on the centre. I have to do it again. If I don’t get my footing correct I’ll tumble over in the wave.

Remamo, remamo, remamo… up!! This time I have it. Norberto is pleased. At age 22 he already has a good life for himself. His day job is a lifeguard on the beaches from playa principal in Puerto Escondido all the way down to punta Zicatela which is where we are today. The job is one day on, one day off which is perfect as he can meet tourists like me on the beach and offer to give them a surf lesson the next day. All of his coworkers do the same gig. Although he seems to give a fair amount of lessons, he does not have much English and I have to really push myself to understand. Our cell phones with Google translate are back in the lifeguard tower down the beach. I practice on the surfboard on the sand until Norberto is also satisfied with this performance. Then I strap up and enter the waves.

We aren’t the only ones here. It looks like 3-4 schools are giving lessons today. The little punta where the waves break along the rocks has about 50m of good surf from advanced to beginner and about 70-80 people are crammed in this little patch of water.

The water is warm and refreshing. The current is strong here and it feels like I’m paddling nowhere as I try to get out beyond the break. Suddenly I’m way far and turn around to see Norberto waving me to come back to him. Even though he schooled me on the courtesies of surfing here he tells me again that I need to stay on the right when I paddle back to him from shore. Entiendo, I nod. He tells me before I try a wave we’re going to practice me standing up on the board. He examines my position on the board, and gets me to wiggle up a bit so my body is centred even as I lay on it so I am in the right position for standing. He moves to the back of the board and tells me to get my feet ready. He pushes the board and yells up! I stand up as told and immediately keel over. I laugh as I pull myself out of the water back onto the board.

Norberto waves me back to him. Good he says. Then he points to all the spots he’s already showed me on the board where I’m supposed to keep my feet. Balance in centre or you fall. I laugh and say ok. Otra vez. This time I get up and don’t fall off right away. Good. Again and again we practice until Norberto finally declares I am ready for my first wave. Solo una chica no un grande he assures me several times. We wait and wait for the perfect wave. 

It finally comes and Norberto has me all set up. He pushes my board from the back to get me on the wave and I’m up, standing on the board for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds before my chica wave is over and I crouch back down to the board. I turn around and paddle back to him on the right as instructed. We catch a few more olas chicas until either he misjudged the size of the wave coming or thought I could really handle it. I did great until I started getting closer to shore and decided to bail as I didn’t want to go all the way in and run the board on the sand. What I didn’t realize is that by the time I bobbed my head back up out of the water another bigger wave was coming in behind me. I see Norberto scrambling to get to me and he mimicks diving under the wave which I do but I forget to take up the slack on the tether to my board and it pulls me with the wave. Above the water I see another wave coming. I try to pull in my tether this time but the wave comes too soon and even though I dive under I’m pulled again, this time getting my free foot caught in the line of the tether. When I get above the water again Norberto is there and he has my board and gets me to lie back on it. Other than the scare of finally understanding just how strong the water really is I’m really fine. 

I start to paddle back out with him pushing from behind but he tells me to rest and relax for a bit. He can tell that scared me. We get back to where the waves start and go just a little further where it will be calmer and we won’t be in the way of the others who are ready. Norberto asks again if I’m okay and when I say yes he tells me to rest again. We chat about what life is like here and he asks me again if I like it here and if I will come back. Thinking of the sunset the night before I say yes, I can see myself living here. 

When I’m ready we get back into position to catch the waves. Norberto is really careful now and only puts me on the really chica waves. Whenever the big ones come he points my board towards them so I can lift myself up as the wave comes and go over it while he holds the tail. Finally he tells me, dos mas olas chicas y ya. My last ride of the day I caught the wave easy and rode it all the way to the beach. It wasn’t like my fully lighthearted first time in the water. I knew more this time. I knew what I could and could not do.