A question that we get asked at our surf school every day is ‘how old do you have to be to have a surfing lesson?’
The stock answer is always over 8 years of age if they are unaccompanied but we will take children aged six years and above if they have a parent or guardian come in the water with them or if they are in a One to One surfing lesson. Any younger children, while they will almost certainly be able to stand up on a surfboard, will be better off just playing in a rockpool with a surfboard as they usually aren’t physically able to deal with waves and multiple instructions.This is why we insist on 6-8 year olds accompanied by a family member – to act as a surfboard caddy and to reassure the children when needed.
The picture above shows a very young surfer (18 months) but I wouldn’t be comfortable taking someone elses child in the sea at that age. On this particular day it was warm, the surf was tiny and all the variables came together to make it possible for a very short time to enable me to give my son his first go at surfing.
And he loved it! But then he also loves throwing yoghurt at walls, burping and trying to ride the cat so it’s early days yet.
