We'd been looking forward to today all vacation: a beach day and surfing in San Diego! Breakfast was, once again, very American, but okay. At least there was fresh fruit and yogurt.
Crystal Pier San Diego
We drove down Grand Avenue to the beach. We parked on a side street and walked to Crystal Pier. It's not just a pier over the water, but also a hotel with small bungalows. You can sleep right above the Pacific Ocean. A really cool idea. The waves didn't look very high yet, and the weather seemed rather gloomy. But it was still a few minutes before the surf shop opened, so things might improve.
Surfing on San Diego Beach
We walked a little further along the beach and then headed back to the car to go to Cheap-Rentals-SURFBOARD RENTALS AND EQUIPMENT SERVICES We parked somewhere on the side of the road after a long search and reading and understanding several street signs. We received a very friendly welcome and excellent service at the shop. Christian, who's had a few surfing lessons, bought a soft surfboard and a wetsuit. I wasn't feeling quite so confident, so I got a soft bottom bodyboard and a wetsuit. To be absolutely sure about the size, I was even able to quickly try on the suit in the staff restroom. I thought that was very nice and great service!
We grabbed our gear and walked a block further towards the beach. The weather had turned beautifully sunny, and the waves were perfect. We quickly changed into our wetsuits and headed out into the surf with our boards; the water was even pleasantly warm. After about an hour, the beach suddenly became much more crowded, and more and more surfers came into the water. We were suddenly surrounded by people, some of whom were unfortunately quite reckless as they launched themselves into the waves. Only after a while did we realize it was a surf school with many beginners. Most of them had no idea they were heading straight for us with their boards. Luckily, the students only had a limited amount of time and then had to get out of the water. More peace and quiet for us.
Christian often waited quite a while for the perfect wave, and he managed to catch most of them! I was amazed at how good he was. With my bodyboard, it was much easier for me, and I could catch almost every wave. What a fantastic feeling when you finally made it back to the beach! I tried it myself twice on the surfboard. Christian had to push me into the wave, though; I just didn't have the strength to paddle out on my own. I managed to stand up on my very first attempt! Wow, how awesome! I fell into the water, overjoyed, and was promptly hit by the board. Christian scolded me because he had explained to me beforehand how to fall properly, and I hadn't paid attention. But it was all good; I wasn't hurt, and that was the main thing.
In the afternoon, the waves became increasingly smaller and weaker. While they had carried us all the way to the beach in the morning, we were now falling off our boards halfway there. The culprit was the low tide. The water had receded quite a bit, and consequently, the waves lacked power. We made the best of it and simply went back into the water without wetsuits or boards.
We'd recommend everyone get wetsuits, because swim trunks and bikinis will never stay in place while surfing. What we didn't consider was the sun. It was really intense, and by the end of the day, our hands, feet, necks, and faces were reddish-brown. We should have used more sunscreen. The rest of us were completely white because of the wetsuits. We looked kind of funny. :)
In the late afternoon, we returned the boards and wetsuits, which was quick and easy. Then it was off to the hotel to rinse off the saltwater. Afterwards, we felt much fresher, but also completely exhausted. Surfing is really tiring! In the evening, we had dinner at Panda Express.
Are you still looking for a suitable hotel in San Diego?
You can find a hotel to suit your budget via various online travel agencies such as Agoda, Booking.com, ebookers.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, lastminute.com, opodo, otel.com or Venere.com.
When we were lying in bed, we could still feel the waves we had surfed on to the beach.
