Novice Surf Camps in Raglan

Get More Confidence and Control and Start Surfing More Challenging Waves

An intensive 3 day camp to make you a more well-rounded surfer and expose you to new experiences within surfing, land based training, movement and forecasting – a deeper dive towards intermediate surfing

• Who is this for? – These camps are for graduates of our Beginner Surf Courses or surfers that are regularly surfing out the back but perhaps only on tiny days, or are lacking confidence in crowds and competence with turning and steep takeoffs among other things. Basically a level 2 or perhaps a lower level 3 on our scale
• Equipment – you might be riding a soft-top, minimal or fish and may be wanting to transition to a smaller board
• Goals – Go from sometimes successfully surfing across green waves when conditions are easy, to regularly surfing across waves and making turns in a much wider range of wave types
• $750 – Includes 2 nights accommodation, daily breakfast, detailed technical surf coaching twice daily (mix of in-water coaching, land based training, yoga movement sessions and video coaching), all transport during the camp
• Maximum of 5 people per camp to ensure personal attention

Upcoming Raglan Novice Surf Camp Dates:

More dates may be added depending on demand and our availability. If you have a group that want to do a camp, feel free to inquire about other dates. We do have a confirmed Level 2 and 3 Surf Camp in Dunedin starting 21 March 2023, view details for that here

Novice Surf Camps Overview

The Novice stage of surfing is kind of the ‘make or break’ phase for surfers, particularly late starters. At this point you’ve had some magic surfs where you feel like you’re really getting it. But other days you feel frustrated, like you’re going backwards or that you’re so far down the pecking order that you’ll never get waves among a crowd.

Those are all normal experiences on the journey to good surfing, but you do need to make sure you don’t plateau too much at this stage because some surfers get stuck here forever. The reason is there are a few things that can halt your progress at this point, for example an incorrect pop-up technique, the wrong equipment, consistently attempting to surf in conditions that aren’t suitable for you, body movement limitations…and this is just picking a few of the more common ones.

Very often novices aren’t aware of what their roadblocks are until they are pointed out or highlighted in the video footage. Once that is done they can go about improving steadily again, go past the plateau and head towards better waves and what I’d call the intermediate level of surfing. Where you are just that much more consistent and can take on a wide range of spots, travel to the famous locations and really enjoy surfing as a part of your lifestyle.

No looking back from there!

How will I be coached?

When coaching beginners we have to be in the water at all times for safety and support. But at this novice level you are more self sufficient so we step back from the water a bit and broaden the coaching to include more technique work, introducing video and land based training methods. Here is what you can expect:

1 or 2 surf sessions per day. These will include water time with your coach for improving your positioning and further enhancing your wave reading abilities. We’ll mix the in-water coaching with filmed surf sessions so that we can review your technique and identify:

• Is your paddle angle in to the wave ok? Are you using your rail for angled takeoffs?
• Is your pop up technique ok? How about on steeper drops? How about on your backhand?
• What’s your stance like? Foot placement? Can you compress properly?
• What are your turning mechanics like?

It’s really easy to improve if the above are all sweet, but if they aren’t it’s an uphill slog! Fortunately we are quick at identifying any issues and providing you with techniques to fix them up.

Land based training sessions at the holiday house base. We will introduce you to effective ways to tidy up your pop up and stance on land and improve your turning mechanics and speed generation.

Smoothstar skateboard session (also filmed) to further develop your turning mechanics and speed generation faster than you would otherwise. If you already use a Smoothstar we will make sure you are using them in a way that will carryover to surfing. Many people just thrash about and it can actually lead to bad habits.

Being in Motion Yoga. Explore fundamental movement patterns through mindful breath and movement practices to enhance your natural range of motion for more fluid, dynamic and easeful surfing.

A practical session and discussion on forecasting and wave types to help you more accurately plan your surf missions!

Wave reading once up and riding. Doing the right turns in the right places is important, we’ll spend some time going through this with POV footage and different wave scenarios.

General Q and A – Novices generally have lots of questions and it can be good to get clear on any topics you want to ask about. Equipment? Ettitquette? How can I get more waves in a crowd? etc.

The Details

Joining the Camp: Simply make your way to Raglan on the first morning of the camp. The meeting place and time will be advised beforehand.

Accommodation: You will stay in a beach house in Raglan. There will be 2 nights spent at the house. On the final day we will finish up in the afternoon.

I will attempt to find the most spacious accommodation possible but it may be that you have to share a room with another person of the same sex. In the past this has always worked out fine. We will use the accommodation as the base for all the training sessions and for hanging out between surfs. You will be able to use the kitchen facilities for meals – we usually do a group shop which keeps costs down, cook a few meals at home and have a few out, typically lunches.

Transport: All transport during the camp is included.

You will need to bring your own board(s) and wetsuits although I can provide some soft boards ranging from 6’6 to 9’2 free of charge if needed. Bring anything else you’d usually take on a surf mission, plus some clothes you can do exercises in, and suitable shoes for the skateboard sessions. Don’t worry if you’ve never skateboarded before, I’ve got a lot of people in to it without injury! We’ll start slowly.

You will also need to bring towels and possibly linen for the beds but I will advise on that close to the time.

There will be a maximum of 5 people on these camps.

FAQ

What happens if the waves are not suitable?

We don’t need perfect conditions for the coaching to be beneficial but because this is a novice level camp we do need conditions where we can get out the back reasonably easy. So I will check the forecast a week beforehand before I give the green light that the camp is on. If the forecast isn’t suitable I will refund all payments 100% and/or discuss options for postponing to another date.

Where will we be surfing?

We will be surfing Ngarunui beach Raglan, and possibly Ruapuke if it is very small. We won’t surf the point breaks but we may go there and talk about the setups and learn from the crowd.

Do you sometimes have quite a difference in the surfing ability of the group?

The camps are grouped by level as much as possible. It doesn’t matter if you are the most or least skilled surfer on the camp, you will still get coaching focused on your needs and suitable waves to surf in.

Bookings

To secure a space on the trip, a 50% deposit of $400 will be needed, with the balance due 1 month before the camp. There is a maximum of 5 people and only 3 camps are scheduled this season, so I’d recommend getting in early.