Zahara de los Atunes: Surf lesson with local school

4.93

(56 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“You ever worn a wetsuit before?” That’s what Diego asked me as I tried to wriggle into mine at the Zahara Surf International School. The place felt like someone’s living room — boards stacked everywhere, kids running around, and the smell of coffee mixing with salty air sneaking in from the door. It was still early, just before 10am, but the sun was already warming up Zahara de los Atunes. Our guide (I think he was Diego’s cousin?) handed out boards and grinned at my clumsy attempts — “Don’t worry, everyone looks silly the first time.”

We walked down to the beach near the Cachón River, dragging our boards through sand that stuck to my feet in a way I didn’t expect. The water looked gentle but alive — you could hear little shouts from other groups and seagulls overhead. Before we got wet, there were these warm-up games that made us all laugh (and honestly, made me realize how stiff I am). Then came the first lesson: how not to faceplant. Diego showed us how to paddle and pop up — he made it look easy, which it isn’t. But when I finally caught a tiny wave (okay, more like rode it for two seconds), everyone cheered like I’d won something big. That felt good.

Between lessons we stopped for juice and cereal bars under a faded umbrella. There was this moment where one of the kids started picking up plastic bits from the sand — apparently it’s part of every class here. “The sea gives us waves,” Diego said, “so we give something back.” It stuck with me more than I thought it would. Later on, after stretching out sore arms and rinsing off in their showers (cold water but somehow refreshing), we swapped stories about wipeouts while waiting for our photos to load on someone’s phone.

I still think about that first wave sometimes — not because it was big or impressive or anything, but because for a second everything else disappeared except sun on my face and salt in my mouth. If you’re looking for a surf lesson in Zahara de los Atunes that feels more like joining someone’s family than ticking off an activity box… well, this is probably it.