Surf Forecast Sept 20-Oct 6, Travel Plans, Etc.

Hey all! Thanks so much for your inquiries about the lessons. I've decided to add a surf report for this coming week. First of all, my first availability to teach would be this Friday at 8am. The surf is going to be in the 1-2 foot range, perfect for lessons. I am booked this weekend, the 24th and 25th, but for those who have scheduled, if you happen to check this, it is also forecasted to be in the 1-2 foot range, once again perfect for lessons. And on the outlook, well, the Surfline Lola prediction is for another week of 1-2 foot surf, and again, perfect for lessons. The water is in the high to mid 60s. I wore a 2 mil yesterday and was totally comfortable. It should be dropping as we head into fall, but we all should be fine in 3 mils until mid to late October. As for the first weekend in October, I am not sure if I'll be in town. My mom is coming to the East Coast (she lives in Tiburon, CA) to care of the house she owns in Baltimore, so I am probably taking a trip down to Maryland either Sept 26-28 or Sept 30-Oct 2 . I will be sure to update this as soon as I know for sure, as that definitely cuts into lesson scheduling, but I as I am sure you all concur, it is important to visit your mother. Well maybe I'll just speak for myself. But my mom drove me to all my surf competitions as a kid and has been supportive of me throughout, and now we live 3,000 miles apart, so I snap up any opportunity to visit with her. To sum up, the waves will be in the 1-2 foot range for the next week and a half, the water is still warm, and I have a few scheduling issues, which will be worked out asap.

Certification and Montauk

I forgot to mention: I am cpr certified. This is only kind of certification one can have as a surf instructor. There is no surf authority that bestows surf instructor badges. The other kind of certification might be beach permits or something like that - I don't have those but because my lessons are private and use a hard board, so we just look like two people out in the water - a friend teaching another friend to surf. Also I switch up location depending on swell and sandbars. Nice and low key. Also, I had a lot of inquiry about giving lessons in Montauk over the summer. I finally went up there and sussed it out. I found a few good places to give lessons and have a nice hook up on a cottage I can rent up there, but the price is going to be steep. For a lesson in Montauk it'll be $300 a pop per person. Still includes ride and all that, but in order for me to teach up there I have to pay for lodging and gas from NYC. If I lived up there full time things would be different. Even so, I'm down to do it, so if Montauk's your bag don't hesitate to set something up.

Surf Lessons in NY Magazine!

I assume this blog might be getting a bit more traffic from the NY Magazine article on Urban Surf Lessons. I am stoked on their write up. They did a good job getting down the gist of my lessons and of course you can always come here to learn more. What I'd like to say in defence of what they have called my "slow, steady approach" as opposed to other "more aggressive" approaches is this: no matter how aggressively an instructor is in getting you stand in your first few lessons it simply will not translate to when you go try surfing on your own. They are helping you with wave judgement, which is the most difficult skill to learn, and which, I am sure, all of the surf instructors mentioned in the article have mastered for themselves. The trick is imparting the skills of wave judgement to the beginner(s), which is what I believe I do quite well, and which is only ascertainable through a "slow, steady approach", which will eventually amount to years of dedication. Also, I did not notice that any of the other schools focus on style. Being so few urban surf schools, I sure hope they do and that NY Mag simply left that out of the article. Any one can eventually learn to stand up on a board, but who is to make sure that they are doing it with style? From the perspective of an experienced surfer, regardless of tha fact that I am also a surf instructor, it pains the surfing community to see beginners and intermediate surfers with wide poo stances, which is the most common style mistake, and is a result of bending at the waist and moving the front foot to far forward in a false sense of stability. It only takes slight adjustments to learn an aesthetically pleasing technique that works for your body type (there is more than just one way to surf with style as there are also a number of different body types and physical dispositions). At any rate, I hope this clarifies what I mean when I say that I focus on style. I look forward to the possible buzz generated by this article.The water is still warm, but it's hurricane season, which means lots of waves for better surfers and a few windows of small waves for beginning. The water should stay reasonably tolerable (fullsuits) through October and November and sometimes into early December, so I'd say I'm open to teach until then. I myself surf January through May but it can be pretty brutal getting in and out of all that wetsuit in below zero temps. If you have further questions or would like to set up a lesson do not hesistate to call or email.

Here is Nik holding my board after her second lesson. As you can tell she is as stoked as can be. We ran paddling drills in between the 64th and 65th St. jetties to build up paddling comfortability and board control. Nik caught a few nice waves, but as always there is still more work to be done! She's an ambitious sous chef so I have no doubts that she'll succeed at surfing and at all else she tries her knife to.

Lesson Updates

Hello all. I expect a few of you will be directed here by the boys at Saturdays. Good on them for that. Much appreciated. As I have mentioned in a few previous posts, I have been getting lots of hits for lessons. Most people's first question is price. Lessons are $200 per person for the first lesson and $120 per person every thereafter. I do not do discounts for groups or raise/lower rates for weekdays vs. weekends. I teach up to 2 people at a time, no more than that. For those looking for a more bargain deal out of Manhattan hold tight - I am working on a surf camp that will span a weekend and will include lunch, stretching, surfing, and other awesome shenanigans. For now my rates stay as they are and I can guarantee you that you'll be getting the highest quality private surf lesson available in the NYC area. I have been surfing for 25 odd years and teaching lessons for 11. I competed at the professional level and simply have a massive desire to share the intricacies of the sport with others. But with this desire comes an enormous care about making sure people are introduced to proper style and etiquette, surfing ethics if you will, and this is what sets my lessons apart. Hear from you soon! -Di

Your Ride to the Beach

Oh and this will be your ride to the beach. What more is there to ask? Riding in style 24/7.

An Image of Success

Here's an image of a recent surf lesson. This is Oli. He stood up on his first wave, but this is probably his 7th or 10th wave of the session. This is in New Jersey, where I don't normally teach because, as you can see here, the waves break really close to the shore. Oli managed to deal with the sand pretty well, running off when he reached the shore. A total success! In other surf lesson news, I've heard from a number of you inquiring about lessons. Just wanted to say that I'm still here whenever you're ready to go. You won't receive one on one surf lesson expertise of the sort I provide anywhere in the NY area, so I just want to remind you all that lessons are well worth the price and the time and the energy. You will get back ten fold and be progressing much faster than those who simply try their hands at surfing on their own or in group lessons where there is little to no attention to detail. Really, it's just like any other sport, if you are serious about getting good it pays to get an expert instructor or coach. This is especially true with surfing where the environment is much more dangerous and dynamic than in any other sport. Plus it's a lifestyle and you'll want all the tips about the risks and rewards of adding surfing into your life. Take the plunge!