Surf's Up

Surfing day was upon us, and as is customary the stars aligned and GC had to bail on our adventure. The sickness took her, but the one-to-one classes where non-refundable, so off we went for my solo lesson (after breakfast at Cafe Alabama obviously).

I will be brief in terms of my surfing lesson. Having only had two teachers in my life, I have little basis for comparison, but I will say that my experience in Portugal was far, far better, even though back then we took a group-class. The instructor here, albeit being a one-to-one class, and albeit keeping tabs on me, gave me little pointers on improving my form, or any pointers at all. He did push my limits harder, which was good, but I think it went a bit far. That and the fact that the waves in San Sebastian were fairly incessant and brutal made for an intense two hours. When wiping out, the waves seemed to keep crashing above my head, and I would struggle to resurface for air. One moment stands out; after a brief glide over a wave, I lost my balance and fell into the water. Almost as soon as I popped back up for air another wave smashed into me, and the current underwater battered my body and I lost my sense of where was up. My instincts kicked in (I do pride myself in them) and I remembered my most sacred of under-water rules: if you lose your sense of up or down, blow some bubbles out and follow them up-up-up. I opened my eyes, and saw bubbles all around as the series of waves continued to crash over me and thrash me around. I was also terrified the board would swing round and hit me on the head, so I kept pushing it away from me, expending even more air and energy. Although I never feared for my life (there were life-guards every 10m spread across the beach) I remember thinking: “Gonna run out of air pretty soon. Might pass out. That’s gonna suck.” I held my breath until I felt my lungs were burning, pulled myself onto my board - at the time the only way I felt I could keep afloat - and paddled as hard as I could, breath rasping in the back of my throat, back to shore. Slowing my heart-rate was hard, as was catching my breath, and I had to wave the instructor over and ask him for a break. The adrenaline was coursing through my body, and I felt shaky, upset, and in the classic vein of an anxious-perfectionist person, convinced that it was all my fault and that I was a terrible student.

I got back in the water almost straight away, even if I didn’t go out quite as deep. I will also definitely surf again. But that experience has stuck with me, and so I’ve picked up a couple more rules for moments like these. If the series of waves after you wipe out is overwhelming you, lie your belly flat on the surf board and let them take you to shore. It might seem like the waves are going to crash over you and wipe-you out again, but trust me when I say they will guide you to the safety of land. As much as this seems obvious now when I was underwater all I could think about was getting onto the board and paddling against the waves and towards the deeper ocean, where I could see people sitting on surfboards on calm, flat water.

I guess what I learned from the lesson in San Sebastian was that, at the end of the day, you’re pretty much alone in the water, and you need to be safe. Even close to shore waves (and the currents they create) are powerful so knowing your limits is important, as is adhering to them. This is the reason I feel I was disappointed in my instructor: he did not seem to cater the class to my level at all, and although I appreciate being pushed, when your student is struggling to keep her head above water and has a bit of a scare, it’s your job to take things down a notch, rather than explaining why “panicking less” next time would be better (something about oxygen consumption in the brain), followed by “right, let’s get back at it, shall we?”

After a lounge in the sun to settle my nerves, GC and I went on another little hiking adventure: Urgull Mendina. A little hill which was accessible and only required a couple hours out of the day for the most casual walkers of us all. Having the open ocean all around was absolutely blissful to me, topped by a small bar part-way up where it's worth having a sit-sit-down and a cold drink. It was dreamy: ocean all around, warm breeze in my hair, sun setting on the horizon… My soul restoration was complete.

Dinner that evening was at Simiri. We ordered the most mouth-watering risotto I have ever tasted, and these little fish-croquets which were perfectly fried and perfectly tasty. I’d recommend the place as more of a tapas-based casual dinner as the sit-down area was small and more of a stools-and-tables vibe rather than a traditional sit-down restaurant vibe. Still absolutely enjoyable, still absolutely fun, still absolutely delicious. Since GC was still feeling a little unwell, I honourably and selflessly ate her substantial leftovers at dinner, and I have to say I did not feel fabulous at all (no regrets though).

We had a beautiful wander along the beach which was lit-up and speckled with people enjoying the warm water (it was unnaturally warm) and to my absolute surprise, as we noticed throughout our stay in San Seb, everyone exhibited absolute respect for their surroundings and the people around them. This place is an absolute gem guys, and I plan on being back. A lot.Read more