1. Read the beach first
- Stand and watch the water for five minutes before you get in. Never skip this.
- Pick a landmark on the beach and check it often — the water moves you sideways.
- Ask the instructor where to get in and where to get out.
Welcome to Yzerfontein
Surf shop · Surf school · Surf house
Hello, and welcome. We are stoked to have you here.
Over the next two days you are going to learn to read the ocean, look after yourself in it, and ride a wave. Nobody here expects you to be good at it on day one — everyone in this shop fell off plenty before they stood up. Bring your questions, take your time, and enjoy it.
Your two days, roughly
- Welcome, settle into your room, and a look at the surf conditions for the day.
- Safety briefing on the sand — not optional, and it is the first section of this manual.
- Stretch and warm up, then the cobra and the pop-up on dry sand until it feels natural.
- Into the water for the part you came for, then a debrief on the beach at the end of each session.
- Theory in between: how waves work, how your board works, and how to read a forecast.
Bring with you
Swimwear to go under the wetsuit, a towel, warm clothes for afterwards, sunscreen, a hat, water, and something to eat. We provide the board, the wetsuit and the leash.
yzerfonteinsurf.co.za · info@yzerfonteinsurf.co.za · Sea rescue emergency: 112
Surf safety
Read this before your first paddle-out. The ocean is not dangerous if you understand it — but it never stops moving, and it does not wait for you.
2. If a rip pulls you out
- Do not fight it. You will lose — nobody out-paddles a rip head on.
- Stay on your board. It floats, you don’t. Hold it, never push it away.
- Paddle parallel to the beach until the pull stops, then come in on the whitewater.
3. Your board can hurt you
- Carry it beside you, never between you and the wave — a wave will throw it at you.
- Keep two board-lengths clear of everyone else in the water.
- Foam boards are soft, but the nose, rails and fins still cut.
4. How to fall off
- Fall flat and sideways, like landing on a mattress. Never head or feet first.
- Come up with both arms covering your head — your board is somewhere above you.
- Sandbanks here are shallower than they look. Assume knee-deep.
5. Whose wave is it
- The surfer closest to the breaking part owns the wave. Everyone else pulls off.
- Never drop in in front of someone already riding.
- Paddling out, go around the break and behind the rider — never in front.
6. Signal for help
- In trouble: one arm straight up, hold it there, and stay with your board.
- A whistle or a raised arm from the instructor means come in now. No arguing.
- Shivering, cramping or tired? Come in early. Cold water drains you fast.
Six rules, every session
- Never surf alone, and never leave the group.
- Leash on the back foot, checked before you enter.
- Stay inside the area the instructor marks out.
- Hold your board. Never throw it or let it go.
- Water, sunscreen, and a wetsuit that fits.
- If in doubt, don’t go out. Ask first.
Sea rescue emergency: 112 from any cellphone · NSRI
Warm-up
Ten minutes on the sand. Do these in order while you watch the water. Move slowly and keep breathing — cold muscles tear, and a stiff hip flexor is why most beginners can’t stand up.
Neck — side tilt
- Ear down towards the shoulder. Keep both shoulders level and let the weight of the head do the work.
Hold 20 seconds each side
Neck — look around
- Turn slowly, chin towards the shoulder, then the other way. Never force the end of the turn.
5 turns each way
Shoulder circles
- Straight arm, big slow circles. Warms the shoulder you paddle with.
10 back, 10 forward, each arm
Cross-body stretch
- Arm straight across the chest, other hand pulls it in above the elbow.
Hold 20 seconds each arm
Low lunge
- Back knee on the sand, hips pushed forward, chest tall. This is the one that opens the hip flexors.
Hold 30 seconds each side
Leg swings
- Hold your board for balance. Swing the leg front to back, then side to side, loose and relaxed.
10 each way, each leg
Deep squat
- Heels flat, elbows inside the knees, sit down into it and breathe.
Hold 30 seconds
Pop-ups
- Lie on the board, hands under the shoulders, and press the chest up into the cobra.
- Back foot comes under you first, planted flat. Then swing the front foot through between your hands.
- Stand up in one movement, knees bent, eyes down the beach. Never onto your knees first.
A few slow ones, then a few at speed
Before you go in
- The pop-up is the move that decides whether you stand. Do it slowly and properly, not fast and sloppy.
- Stretch to a mild pull, never to pain. Never bounce.
- Stiff after the session? Run the neck, shoulder and lunge stretches again.
- Anything that hurts rather than stretches — stop, and tell the instructor.
How waves work
A wave starts as wind on the far side of the ocean and ends as the thing you stand up on. Nothing about it is random — once you can read the chain, you can read a forecast.
Wind over the storm piles the water into short, steep, messy chop. The further that energy travels, the more it sorts itself into long clean lines. Near the coast it trips over the rising bottom and breaks.
Swell period
- The seconds between two crests — the most useful number in a forecast.
- Long period means the swell was born far away and carries its energy deep down.
- 8 seconds is weak local windswell. 14 seconds and up is groundswell, and it will break with power even when it looks small.
Energy, not water
- Out the back you bob up and down and stay where you are.
- The water turns in circles on the spot; only the energy travels across the ocean.
- That is why you can sit in one place and wait for a set to come to you.
Feeling the bottom
- In deep water the wave has no idea the bottom is there.
- Once the depth drops to about half the distance between crests, those circles start to drag.
- The wave slows, stacks up behind itself and stands taller — which is why it looks bigger inshore.
Why it breaks
- The base is dragging on the sand. The top is not, so it keeps its speed.
- The face gets steeper until the lip runs out of water underneath it and throws forward.
- That moment — just before it throws — is what you are paddling for.
On a sandbank
- A mound of sand. The wave peaks over the shallowest point and peels off both sides — an A-frame.
- Sand shifts with every storm and tide, so the peak moves. Find it again each session.
- It breaks softer and it forgives you when you fall. This is where you learn.
On a reef
- Rock. It never moves, so the wave breaks in the same place and shape on every swell.
- Shallower water and a sudden step up mean it breaks harder and faster.
- Predictable, but it does not forgive. Not a beginner’s wave.
What the forecast is actually telling you
- Swell height is the size out at sea, not the face you will see on the bank.
- Period tells you the power; direction decides which banks switch on.
- Wind makes it clean or blown out — offshore holds the face up, onshore flattens it.
- Tide changes the depth over the bank — the same swell can be perfect at one tide and closed out at the next.
Know your board
Every part has a name. Learn them and you can talk to a shaper, buy a decent second-hand board without getting burnt, and understand why one board works where another does not.
Rocker
- The curve from nose to tail, seen from the side.
- Flat rocker paddles fast and picks up waves early — what you want when you are learning.
- More curve fits a steeper wave and turns tighter, but it is slower to paddle.
Rails
- The edges of the board, where it meets the water.
- Soft, full rails are forgiving and float well. Every beginner board has them.
- Hard rails with a tucked edge bite into the face and release water cleanly — quick, but they catch if you are sloppy.
Fins
- Single fin: stable and drawn-out. The longboard set-up.
- Twin: loose and fast, no centre fin. Fish and small-wave boards.
- Thruster (three): the standard — grip off the bottom, release off the top. Quad adds a fourth for speed.
More words you will hear in the shop
- Volume — the litres of foam in the board. More litres float you better, and it is the number that matters most while you are learning.
- Blank — the raw foam block the shaper cuts the board out of.
- Concave — the shallow scoop in the bottom that channels water and gives lift.
- Dings — cracks in the glass. Dry the board and fix them before the foam drinks water.
Types of board
Same ocean, different tools. Length and foam decide how easily you catch a wave; the outline and the tail decide what the board does once you are on it.
| Log | 9'2"+ | Classic longboard. Endless glide, catches almost anything, turns slowly. Cruising and nose-riding. |
|---|---|---|
| Mini-mal | 7'6" | The learner’s board. Enough foam for small waves, short enough to turn. Start here. |
| Funboard | 7'0" | The step down from a mini-mal. Still forgiving, noticeably more manoeuvrable. |
| Fish | 5'8" | Short, wide and flat with a swallow tail. Fast and fun in small, gutless surf. |
| Groveler | 5'10" | A wide, thick shortboard for weak days — modern small-wave board. |
| Shortboard | 6'2" | Narrow, curvy and thin. Hard to paddle, built for turning on a steep face. |
| Gun | 7'6"+ | Long, narrow, pin tail. Only for big fast waves — paddle speed and hold. |
| Soft-top | any | Any of the above in foam. Safer for everyone around you, and it still surfs. |
Tails — what the back end does
| Square | Corners to push against. Snappy, a little stiff. Mostly older boards. |
|---|---|
| Squash | Rounded corners — the all-rounder. Loose but still holds. Most shortboards. |
| Round | Smooth, drawn-out turns. Holds better on a steeper face. |
| Rounded pin | More hold again. Bigger, faster, cleaner waves. |
| Pin | Maximum hold, minimum release. Guns and big-wave boards. |
| Swallow | Two points instead of one — grip with a loose feel. The fish tail. |
Choosing your first board
- Go longer, wider and thicker than looks cool: 7'6" to 8'0", plenty of litres, soft-top if you can.
- You will catch ten times more waves — and waves caught is the only thing that makes you better.
- Drop a size only once you are catching most waves you paddle for and standing every time.
- Buying second-hand: press for soft spots, check for water in the foam, and look hard around the fin boxes and leash plug.
Reading a forecast
Every surf app shows the same handful of numbers. Once you know what they mean you stop driving to the beach on a hunch.
Swell size
- Measured out at sea, trough to crest — not the face you end up looking down.
- 1.5 m with a long period throws a face well over head high on a shallow bank.
- The same 1.5 m at 8 seconds barely stands up.
Swell period
- Seconds between crests. This is the power number, and most people ignore it.
- Under 9 seconds: local windswell — weak, close together, gutless.
- 12 to 16 seconds: groundswell that crossed the ocean. It will jump in size on the bank.
Swell direction
- Given in degrees, and it means where the swell comes from. 225° is out of the south-west.
- Your beach only sees the directions it faces — headlands, points and islands block the rest.
- Learn which direction switches your bank on, and check that line first every time.
Wind
- Also named for where it blows from. Offshore comes off the land and holds the face up.
- Onshore blows the wave over and turns it to mush. Cross-shore just ruins the shape.
- Under 10 knots is usually surfable. Over 20 knots onshore, save the petrol.
How far ahead
- A forecast is a computer model of the atmosphere, re-run a few times a day.
- One to three days out is solid. Past five days it is a guess and it will change.
- Always look again the morning you plan to surf.
And the tide
- Every app draws a tide line under the forecast — it is the fifth number.
- The same swell breaks completely differently over a bank at different depths.
- The next section explains how tides work.
Putting the numbers together
- A good day reads: 1.5 m at 13 seconds from the south-west, wind under 10 knots and offshore, on a pushing mid tide.
- A bad day: 0.6 m at 7 seconds with 25 knots onshore. Coffee and a walk.
- Cross-check two apps. When they disagree, trust the one looking the shortest distance ahead.
- The app is a plan; the beach is the truth. Do the five-minute watch before you get in, every time.
Tides
The moon pulls on the ocean and the water leans towards it. The earth spins underneath, so your sandbank gets deeper and shallower twice a day.
Spring and neap
- Full moon and new moon: sun and moon pull in line, so the tide swings furthest. Spring tides.
- Quarter moons: the two pulls fight each other and the range is smallest. Neap tides.
- It runs on a two-week cycle and it is printed on every tide table.
Two highs, two lows
- The earth turns through both bulges every day, so you get two highs and two lows.
- About six hours and fifteen minutes from a high to the next low.
- The whole thing shifts roughly fifty minutes later each day — yesterday’s times are not today’s.
Range
- Range is simply the difference between high water and low water.
- A big spring range means a lot of water moving, which means stronger currents and rips.
- On neaps the water hardly moves and the bank stays about the same depth all day.
Low tide over the bank
- Less water over the sand: the wave feels the bottom sooner, stands up faster and breaks harder.
- Steep, hollow, short — and the sand and rocks are close under you.
- Some banks only work at low. Others just close out.
High tide over the bank
- More water: the wave feels the bank late, breaks slower and fatter, and rolls further.
- Easier and safer to learn on, but it can get so full that it stops breaking at all.
- Two hours either side of mid tide suits most beach breaks.
Using the tide
- Write down which tide your bank works on. Two sessions of notes beats a year of guessing.
- A pushing tide usually improves a beach break; a dropping one can make it dump.
- Rips run hardest on a big spring tide, and worst while it is dropping.
- Getting in and out over rocks: do it on the way up, never on a dropping tide.
Indemnity
Please read this before you arrive. You will sign a paper copy at the shop before your first lesson.
Surfing takes place in an unpredictable natural environment and carries real risk. That includes drowning or near-drowning, being struck by a surfboard including your own, collision with other people, the sea bed or rocks, rip currents and strong water movement, marine life, sunburn, cramp, hypothermia and exhaustion, and injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to serious injury, permanent disability or death.
You take part voluntarily and at your own risk. The information you give us about health and swimming ability must be true and complete, and you must tell us anything that could affect your safety in the water.
You agree to follow the instructors’ instructions at all times, to stay inside the area marked out for the lesson, and not to enter the water under the influence of alcohol or drugs. You accept responsibility for loss of or damage to equipment issued to you, other than fair wear and tear.
To the fullest extent permitted by law you indemnify and hold harmless Surfers Froth (Pty) Ltd, trading as Yzerfontein Surf, together with its directors, employees, instructors, contractors and agents, against any claim for loss, damage, injury or death arising out of your participation — except where it is caused by their gross negligence or wilful misconduct.
This notice is drawn to your attention in terms of section 49 of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. Please read it before you sign, and ask us about anything that is not clear. Participants under 18 need a parent or legal guardian to sign.
Bring your ID or passport number and an emergency contact with you on the day, and let us know up front about asthma, epilepsy, heart conditions, diabetes, back or neck injuries, allergies or any medication you take.