SURF SCHOOL: to be or not be?

Are surf schools a threat to our (already overcrowded) sacred place?

These days the whole surfing iconography is massively present in advertising, all over television and the web, even reality shows. Only a few years ago surfing was still an underground activity here in Italy but nowadays, given the right conditions some of the spots are packed at peak time like everywhere else in the world.

Many of us think there is no need to open yet another surf school. We ourselves weren’t exactly sure what to do when approached, circa a couple of years ago, by a new surfing association asking for technical sponsorship and support.

Shall we do it or not?

Are we going to jam the line up with kids who have no idea what they are doing? Are we going to forget the beauty of the secluded surf session forever?

It wasn’t an easy decision to make but in the end we thought that crowds were going to come anyway and maybe this way we could help to educate the mini riders in surf-etiquette!

So the decision to start with the school was taken on one condition: no kids older than twelve. We’re happy at teach the basics but also to give them a few years to develop their style and independence before hitting the senior’s line up.

And when the day will come and the best set of waves approaches, at least we’d be able to say: let me go son, don’t you remember? I was your teacher!

Teaching Surf In Italy

Teaching surf in Italy over the summer is a huge amount of fun. The seasonal weather pattern delivers small wind swells on a daily basis and in some sheltered spots that can really resemble a long period clean swell condition (on a small scale of course). Advantages are that, unlike some open ocean places, it’s easier to take out these little surfers and push them down a line of a little green unbroken wave rather than having them battling in dashing whitewater.

Smiles from boys and their parents are the best part of the game. It takes just a few tries and one good ride before the curiosity turns into the urge to do it again and again. A sensation that every surfer knows extremely well.

Our initial scepticism has turned into a true passion. It’s like surfing by transfer, a way for us to keep the sensations we love alive also during summertime when the conditions are not so great.  It’s a bit like playing bowling in the water, you throw those tiny rider in and if everything goes right… it’s a big strike.

Home Spot Surf School is based on the beautiful beach of Sperlonga, 120 kms down from Rome, open from mid may until September. Camps and lessons runs daily all summer long, pass by for a visit or inquire about it here.