School's In Session for Surfers on Florida's Atlantic Coast

By Terry Tomalin
Published August 3, 2011

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Cocoa Beach

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Cocoa Beach is "Surf City," home to world champ Kelly Slater and perfect conditions for a novice on a longboard.

Cocoa Beach – The waves may be bigger in Hawaii, but if you want to learn to surf, there is no better place than the beaches of Florida's Atlantic Coast.

"The conditions are perfect," said John Briches, school director of Florida Surf Lessons. "You don't want it too big or too small."

Briches and his instructors work the coast from Cocoa to Miami. Most students, if they pay attention, will be riding waves by the mid-point of their first lesson.

"You can learn to surf on a day when the waves are two-feet high, and you can usually find those conditions somewhere on the East Coast on any given day." – John Briches, Florida Surf Lessons

But don't expect to be ripping and shredding like Cocoa Beach's own Kelly Slater, the 10-time world champion.

"You should be able to stand up and go home and tell your friends, ‘Hey, I caught a half-dozen waves on my Florida vacation,'" Briches said. "And once you have done that, you will be comfortable enough to go out and surf on your own."

Briches' company and most other Florida-based surf schools use soft-top boards. If you fall, it doesn't hurt. The boards are 8-10 feet, commonly called "longboards."

These surfboards, first introduced in the early 1950s, gained widespread popularity in the 1960s through movies such as Gidget and Beach Blanket Bingo.

While less maneuverable than the shortboards you see most teen surfers riding, longboards are more stable, have a larger surface area, and as a result, are much easier to use in small waves.

"You can learn to surf on a day when the waves are two-feet high," Briches said. "And you can usually find those conditions somewhere on the East Coast on any given day."

But the first thing you learn about surfing in Florida, or any other place for that matter, is to watch the weather. All waves are wind-driven, so while it may be flat as a pond in Miami, the surf could be rocking in Jupiter.

"It helps if you are willing to travel a little in search of surf," Briches said. "But more often than not, we bring people to Cocoa Beach because it has the most consistent wave pattern in the state."

Florida's own "Surf City" is home to Ron Jon Surf Shop and an annual Easter Surfing Festival that brings out best wave-riders in the state.

Sign up for a class with Briches' instructors, or any of the dozen or so surfing schools in the state, and you will learn how to stand up on a surf board as well as finer points such as wave selection, water safety, surf etiquette and even how to become an amateur meteorologist.

Once you've caught your first wave, then you can head out on your own and find your own surf "breaks."

Just turn down any of Cocoa's numbered streets – 13th, 14th, 16th and so on – and you'll find waves. The Canaveral Pier is the site of many local contests and a great place for beginners. Jetty Park to the north is a good spot when the winter wind blows.

South of Cocoa Beach is Melbourne Beach, home to many of Florida's best surfboard shapers. If you keep heading down A1A, you will hit Sebastian Inlet, one of the most popular surf spots in Florida, and a state park that caters to surfers of all skill levels.

If you head north from Cocoa, past Cape Canaveral, you'll find New Smyrna Inlet, the south side of the famous Ponce de Leon or "Ponce" Inlet. Known locally as "the wave magnet," Smyrna's waves are well suited for trick riding or "hot-dogging."

Other prime surf spots within an easy drive of Cocoa's Surf Central are Flagler Beach, Crescent Beach and Matanzas. St. Augustine has Anastasia State Park, another great place to camp and surf.

And once you've learned to ride and feel comfortable in "heavy" water, check out Palm Beach's Reef Road, one of the few places in the state where the surf can achieve 15-foot "big wave" status.

To learn more about surfing in Florida, go to www.floridasurflessons.com. To see Florida's surf towns in action, check out the How to Do Florida video on learning to surf and Beaches & Adventure Insider Lauren Tjaden's video about New Smyrna Beach.