What Challenges Do Surfers Commonly Encounter When Learning In Kauai's Breaks?

From wild breaks of the North Shore to the calm waves of Kalapaki; Kauai is blessed with diverse surf breaks. No matter what your skill level – whether you are a champion surfer or a beginner who has just started surfing, Kauai welcomes you. This place is also home to some of the top-rated surfing schools that employ former surfing champions as instructors. Learning from these surf instructors is like a dream come true.

This blog post discusses some critical things about the challenges you may face when learning to surf in Kauai breaks. It is therefore important that you read this blog post in full before proceeding with your surfing journey.

An Assortment of Kauai Surf Breaks: Finding the One That Best Suits You

For Beginners

Kauai is world-renowned for its surf-friendly beaches. Its unique geographical location creates the most favorable surfing conditions. But not all beaches are equally suited for surfing… If you are someone who is new to surfing, it is important that you choose the beach with the right surf conditions.

Beaches with ideally small to medium waves, light offshore winds, and soft crested waves are considered suitable for beginners. Anahola Bay, Hanalei Bay, Kalapaki Beach, and Kahili Beach are some of the beginner-friendly surfing beaches in Kauai.

For Pro Surfers

If you are someone who is adept at riding waves and wants to push your limits, then you should choose beaches that are known for their consistent high waves. There are a few beaches in Kauai where you will get the chance to satisfy your desire to ride extreme waves and give your adrenaline a push. Kealia Beach, Poipu Beach, Hanalei Bay, and Haena are some of the top beaches with extreme waves.

Learning to Surf in Kauai: Discussing the Challenges

#1- Crowded lineups

Being the Mecca of surfing, Kauai welcomes millions of surfers and tourists from all over the world every year. Its extremely crowded beaches leave little room for newcomers to start their surfing journey. It doesn't matter how good of a surfer you are, if you want to ride the waves in Kauai, you better know how to deal with the crowds. Just a quick tip, overcrowding can sometimes lead to fatal collisions between surfers.

#2- Polluted water

Recently, water pollution has emerged as a cause of concern among the surfer community. No matter where you go – whether it's the coast of Kauai or the deepest part of the ocean – you'll find man-made objects, especially polyethylene, everywhere. And guess what??? Surfers are not the only community bearing the brunt of water pollution. Fishing communities around the world are struggling to meet their needs as fish populations decline due to water pollution.

#3- Unpredictable weather conditions

As someone who wants to enter the ever-exciting world of surfing, you need to learn many different things; from the act of balancing to the act of reading waves. And, yes... you must have the ability to analyze weather based on data provided by various weather forecasting services. One challenge many aspiring surfers face is predicting the weather before they hit the water. If you want to establish yourself as a pro surfer, among other things you should learn how to predict weather.

#4- Sun exposure

When you're out there learning to ride the waves, you run the risk of being affected by excessive solar radiation. Getting better at surfing requires intense practice. Prolonged exposure to UV radiation and other harmful radiations while practicing can result in all sorts of health-related conditions like skin cancer, sunburn, dehydration, etc. Skin aging, permanent eye damage, and heat stroke are some of the other risks of prolonged exposure to solar radiation while surfing.

#5- Marine life encounter

Another challenge you may face while learning to surf is encountering marine life. When you are out there riding the waves you are entering uncharted territories of marine creatures. So, you should be careful… Never put yourself in a situation where you have to deal with sharks or other deadly sea creatures.

In Short...

Kauai's coastline is very conducive to surfing and other similar water sports… So, if you are in Kauai and want to bring out the surfer in you, you should enroll yourself in a surfing training institute. The institute's certified instructors will provide you with all the information you need to start surfing. But you may face some challenges when learning to ride waves in Kauai... and this blog post highlights some of them.

Surfing is one of the most sought-after adventurous activities and if you are visiting Hanalei, HI and plan to learn surfing on those lovely beaches, then you should get in touch with Hanalei Surf School where the professionals will be happy to help.