Tofino Surf Camp
Age and memory don’t always play well together. Take for example my memories of surfing while living in Santa Cruz California for only two years. Those two years represented my entire, and short, experience surfing, but the memories I experienced are some of the most vivid. Thirty years later those memories still feel like yesterday. My desire to get back in the water never left me, so when I was able to convince Sabine that we should add surfing to our sporting repertoire I was elated. There was only one caveat — that we do lessons, and specifically lessons with women.
Around that same time the Portland Monthly covered Tofino as a hot destination for surfing. We found Surf Sisters surf camp in our research for lessons and the trip was booked many months in advance.
The only negative part of Tofino is the distance from Portland. To get there takes 2 solid days. The trip includes driving and taking a ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria BC. The roads are windy and typically full of traffic and if you have reservations for the ferry it adds an element of pressure to the trip. Overall the drive is pleasant and manageable, but the ferry thrown in the middle always seem to have us arriving exhausted.
The camp consists of 3 hours a day for five days. We were by far the oldest and we felt it each day. We took some solace when several of the other much younger folks shared similar complaints of exhaustion and soreness. The instructors were fantastic and the waves gradually increased until day 4 where the entire group experienced what the instructors called a necessary day of being pummeled.
The holy grail of the week was the “green wave” where you miraculously put together all the necessary steps; pick wave (hardest part), get in position, paddle while checking behind you, paddle some more, stand up (easier said than done), and head in the right direction. If all those steps line up you will find yourself peacefully in awe of an unfolding energy just beneath your feet. This smooth part, just in front of the white wash, is a place where time stops. The swell, born far away, is metamorphosing into a beautiful wave just before it meets it’s ultimate demise in finality of a diminishing sea bed.
One week as a newbie does not always bring this euphoric experience. So for these unlucky ones Tofino offers views and food.
Sabine and I would spend each day post surf lesson chowing down on fish tacos or fish and chips. We’d bounce between Tocofino that distinguished themselves with the seared tuna and freshies, and Wildside that has some of the best fish and chips (in our opinion).
We will return and when we do we’ll probably stay at the Bella Pacifica in our van, but for this trip we spoiled ourselves staying at the incredible Ocean Village.