Surfing has been on my bucket list for a long time. I finally tried it out on a recent trip to Cozumel with my 8 year old daughter. My daughter and I were looking at activities we could do together and she said she was interested in trying out surfing. I immediately said yes!
I know what you are thinking, Cozumel isn’t known for surfing?!?!? That’s true, but it turned out to be a great place for us to learn because of the mild waves. The company we went with, Highlife, was amazing in every possible way and we had so much fun!
Booking
After some research I decided to book our surfing lesson with the Cozumel Surf School by Highlife. The surf lesson includes pickup and drop off from your hotel and everything that you needed for the lesson (eg. surf board, rash guard, etc). Transportation is included because they take you to the East side of the island for the surfing lesson where the waves are larger – and there is no cell service.
Originally I thought we might rent a car. Because of that I reached out to them via their website to ask if we could drive our own car. They responded almost immediately via chat and were helpful and said we could follow them in our car if desired. That great communication sealed the deal and I booked lessons for my daughter and I.
Soon after booking they reached out and we established communication via WhatsApp which we were able to use very successfully throughout the rest of our interactions with the Highlife team.
Pick Up and Drop Off
We ultimately decided not to rent a car and took advantage of the pick up and drop off that they offered us. They picked us up in the morning at our Airbnb in central San Miguel (that we were checking out of) and dropped us off at the Sunscape Sabor Resort after the lesson. We were grateful for this flexibility as it was very convenient for us and saved us from having to find transportation from San Miguel to the Sunscape.
Camila and Sabrina, our surf lesson team, pulled up in a quintessential surf mobile – a classic VW bug with surf boards strapped to the top!
It was a pleasant ride with the windows down in the car and we enjoyed the time getting to know Sabrina and Camila on the way to and from the lesson. We learned a lot about Cozumel and other parts of Mexico and got some solid recommendations too!
The Lesson
Camila was very knowledgeable and was excited to share her love of surfing. She was very patient and helpful throughout our learning and did a great job of cheering us on! While Camila gave our lessons Sabrina took photos of us that she shared with us afterward (photo credit to her!).
First up was an overview on the sand of the surf board and showing us how to stand up on the board.
After a little bit of “classroom” time it was time to head out into the surf.
The waves weren’t large but were perfect for us as beginners, particularly for my daughter. We were both able to stand up thanks to Camila’s help and excellent feedback. That said, it was my daughter who was catching waves from the beginning and had great form. As for me – well, you can teach an old dog new tricks, but let’s just say that the form for those tricks may not be great…
Most importantly though we both had a blast during our lesson and we were sorry to see it end!
Closing Thoughts
Camila and Sabrina were amazing throughout the entire experience and truly exceeded our expectations. From initial communication, to the surf lessons, to transportation everything went perfectly. We had a wonderful time and we hope to back for another surfing lesson in the future!
