Goa is big on water sports and what’s a better sport than SURFING!
Clyde D’Souza takes us through his first surfing experience at Goa Surf School which runs surfing classes in Arambhol. Listen to Clyde’s journey from body boarding to surf boarding, and the friendly tips for the beginners.
Review: 5 out of 5 shots!
And you can experience the same! We are giving 2 lucky winners a free session at the Goa surf school. Follow us across all our social media platforms and stay tuned to find out how to enter the giveaway!
Follow along Susegad Shots series, where Clyde D’Souza experiences the best of Goa’s places and activities, and reviews them!
Produced by Aishwarya Jawalgekar
Sound Design & Mix by Kshitij Jadhav
Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social platforms for updates on this podcast or take a look at their other podcasts.
Hosted by Clyde D’Souza. He is a creative director who has worked in TV, print, and digital. His book Susegad: The Goan Art Of Contentment captures Goa through conversations, memories, stories, recipes and much more. He lives between Mumbai and Goa and lives the Susegad lifestyle every day! Follow him on Instagram @clydedsouzaauthor.
Clyde D'Souza 00:06
Welcome to say dot stories from GWA. I'm Clyde de Souza and I travel and review the best of GWAS places and activities. Come experience these say God shots with me today I'm taking you to Arambol, a beach in North Goa, to experience one of my top things to do on the beach surfing. So I've always done the easy version of surfing, which is bodyboarding. If you don't know what bodyboarding is, well, it's half a surfboard and requires you to lie on it, wait for a good wave, and then ride that wave right up to the shore. If you love being on the beach, playing in its salty waters, then you're going to love this activity. Now it has been a while that I bought he bought it, which I normally do at the beach near my home and condo. The waves there are rough, and you can have the occasional tumble, but it's super duper fun. However, this would be my first time surfing like actual actual surfing. Now as it happens, I've come across an Instagram page called GWAS Surf School, which runs surfing classes and I sign up for a private two hour session. When I reach there, I meet Jessel George, a native from Kerala, who got sick of his telco job and jumped into his passions, which is football and surfing. So Jessica's first question to me was a glide. Have you ever served? I told him, I've already voted. Are you okay with the waves? He asked? Yes, I said I'm quite comfortable remembering all the tumbles I had when I was doing my bodybuilding in Candolim. Next, he showed me how to work with the eight foot surfboard, what's the nose? What's the tail and how to actually get on it. Then he made me stand with my feet apart and asked me, which was my dominant leg. Before I could answer he gave me a slight push, I instinctively move my left leg forward. Hey, turns out my left leg is done. Next was how to go from a lying position and actually stand on the board. Now if you've done yoga, you may find this easier. Basically, you lie down, do a slight surya namaskar and then jump into warrior position. Now I'm not going to get into all the details so that you can experience all this for yourself when you try it. All right. So sand practice was over. We now walk into the water. And I asked Jesse The only question that method pages so am I going to be able to serve on my very first day? It's up to you man. He says if you managed to ride the waves on the first day, but many take a week. Alright, I was ready. We were neck deep in water. I was lying on the boat paddling around to move in the direction of the waves when Jessel gives the board a push and I had to quickly jump on and try to ride way back. But splash download went tumbling underwater. And if you're not used to this, be prepared to swallow some saltwater. But don't forget to quickly get on your feet because time and tide wait for no man and another wave is coming your way. Attempt to splash again. Attempt three almost stood up but couldn't balance and when the cell phone goes towards the shoe that is pulled back because it's connected to my ankle by a strap. Attempt for just for pushes I paddle jump a year. I jump into warrior pose. I'm standing I bend my knees to lower my center of gravity. I feel the wave under the ball like an engine accelerating me forward so sorts things my eyes I hold on head facing the quickly approaching shore. I'm surfing like actually surfing And that's how I survived my very first wave on a hot afternoon in a row. It was exhilarating. And it may have lasted less than 30 seconds. But it felt like a lifetime and it was paused. As I hit the shore, I turned back to look at Jessel, my coach, who was beaming and giving me a two thumbs up. Turns out, I was one of the few people to ride the wave only in my fourth attempt, I was charged, I quickly got on the board again, see, the faster you get on the boat, the more chances that you will catch a wave. The trick is, you have to wait. Watch the wave judge which one is going to break where you are, and then be ready to stand up just when the wave breaks under your boat. Doing this I managed to surf a few more times. And while it was super duper fun, it's a hell of a rigorous full workout with strings, many different parts of your body. The funny thing is, the wave is like a metaphor for life. You have to get up and take action to ride the wave. Or it passes you by a Fortunately, the ocean and sometimes life maybe gives you a few more waves to ride. Now I know this podcast says we go beyond the beaches, but turn away. This experience while in the salty waters of GWAS beautiful beaches is very much beyond the typical beach activity. I totally recommend you try it early in the morning. And do share your experience with us. Diona winces Mascarenhas has been running go surf school and Arambol for the last nine years. And soon they're going to be starting another batch in Ashra. Here's my takeaway of surfing in Go. One, stretch before you start to a strong wave can be rough. Be ready to tumble three. A wave comes every 20 to 30 seconds. So get ready to jump on your board for beware of sharks today, there are no sharks. But don't worry about drinking the saltwater five. If you right away, you're hooked for life. If you ask me, I give this experience five out of five shots. So do check out go surf school on Instagram. They have a few trainers. I thought just so George was very friendly and very good with history. Now here's the best part. We're giving two lucky winners of free session at the Guasave school. Find more details in the show notes or follow us on Instagram at bound India and played de Sousa. See you at the beach.