{"id":7728,"date":"2011-11-15T08:54:33","date_gmt":"2011-11-15T15:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/?p=7728"},"modified":"2025-02-19T12:37:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T18:37:57","slug":"experience-of-a-lifetime-when-witchs-rock-surf-camp-changed-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/experience-of-a-lifetime-when-witchs-rock-surf-camp-changed-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Experience of a Lifetime: When Witch’s Rock Surf Camp Changed My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Arrival.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


Was a sunny Los Angeles day in early September. I had recently been given the rare opportunity to be paid for some time off, and with that time off I had decided I wanted to write some travel essays. Of course, in order to write travel essays, you must travel. Hmm, where could I go that would be a bit atypical? A place where I wouldn\u2019t feel unsafe going solo and might involve some kind of learning-to-do-somethingness? An interesting place that would fuel my creative writing thoughts? A place where I could fulfill one of my life\u2019s most long sought after drea\u2026OH MY GOD SURF CAMP.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurf camp,\u201d \u201cBest surf camp<\/a>,\u201d \u201cTropical surf camp,\u201d \u201cDuck penis\u201d \u2013 all search terms that still pop up in my computer\u2019s search cache. I researched the hell out of the possibilities. I really wanted to find just the right place, read as many user-reviews as I could, go some place beautiful and inviting, but also find something that wasn\u2019t going to send me to the poorhouse. And there she was- WitchsRockSurfCamp.com.<\/p>\n

I called reservations and spoke with the lovely Elizabeth. She answered all of my dumb questions like, \u201cSo, are there going to be any other solo travelers there?\u201d (definitely) Or, \u201cDo I need to bring my own rashguard?\u201d (you don\u2019t have to, but you can) Or, \u201cDo you know what a duck penis looks like because I\u2019m just curious?\u201d She didn\u2019t know that last one. No one knows.<\/p>\n

I arrived at 12:10pm Greenwich Mean Time, September 24th, 2011, with a new sense of hope, an incommunicable amount of excitement, and my two new rashguards. I was ready to ride this pony. As promised, there was a shuttle driver there to pick me up at the Liberia Airport. He was also there to pick up other solo travelers, two of my new future CFFs (camp friends forever), Chris and Tim, who I\u2019d just met at the terminal. Over the 45-minute drive, the three of us had our where-ya-froms and why-ya-heres, and before we knew it, we were arriving at the sacred grounds of Witch\u2019s Rock Surf Camp in Tamarindo. Dreams were about to become realities.<\/p>\n

We got out, walked through the main entrance of the Eat @ Joe\u2019s Cafe, and there I was, standing in just the spot where I had first seen the \u201cNachos as Big as Your Ass!\u201d sign online. And back toward the beach side of the restaurant, I could see the big selection of boards we\u2019d have at our disposal! Right next to a little stone path to the gorgeous Tamarindo beach! This is going to be the best damn week of my life. Right away, we got ourselves checked in at the front desk-slash-surf shop (adorable much?) and got settled into our corresponding rooms. Mine was Room 16 \u2013 small, nothing fancy, but it had everything I needed and nothing I didn\u2019t. It had a view of the ocean. I could hear the waves. Blam, all set. I loved it.<\/p>\n

After I threw my things from suitcase-to-closet, I wandered the premises a bit to get the lay of the land, then ended up hanging out with my new CFFs from the airport, as well as some new stragglers who were just arriving. Which reminds me, in this particular submission, I\u2019ll provide some insight as to what can be expected by a beginner\u2019s WRSC daily routine, but it must be said; the people I met on this trip \u2013 campers and staff included – played an equally massive role in shaping the experience. That\u2019s the wonderful thing about immersing yourself in something \u2013 we were all together, every day, taking lessons and cheering each other on, hanging out, eating, drinking, going on monkey-finding walks along the beach, hitting the town, and even took a day off of surfing in the middle of the week to all take a tour together. We tubed and rode horses and ziplined and rock climbed and and and\u2026 All of these things flavored the entire trip and made it extra delicious. I could write your ears off about them. But for now, hopefully for your benefit, I\u2019ll stick to the surfing experience.<\/p>\n

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As far as the routine camp schedule went, we would simply look at the info board in the lobby every evening, which told us what time our surf lesson would be in the morning and with what instructor. (So, of course, depending how late our lesson was the next day, we would determine how late we could stay out on the town the night before.) I considered myself lucky. The surf lessons are determined solely by tides \u2013 usually, high tide is best at Tamarindo, and it just so happened that meant late lesson times my particular week, usually starting between 11:30a to 1:30p. By the time the next week\u2019s session had rolled around, for example, lessons were starting at 6:30am. Poor bastards. Actually, I extended my stay 3 days, due the refusal of returning to reality, and my last two days had 6:30am call times \u2013 I admit, there was something kind of fabulous about being up that early with the whole day ahead of you, too. You\u2019re getting up early to go surfing, not get a root canal. That\u2019s the good news.<\/p>\n

Surfing. You can imagine how nerdily nervous I was before the first morning\u2019s lesson. All the build-up and anticipation, decades of dreaming about learning to surf, finally there. And it\u2019s scary! Big ass boards with sharp fins flying around in the air, trying to get past the pummeling white water, the certainty of wipe outs \u2013 it\u2019s not necessarily a sport for the delicate, but for the dedicated. But at some point that first lesson, I got up! Then I crashed. I got up again! Then I nosedived. Then I\u2019d catch another one! I realized why it was all worth it \u2013 the feeling I got from sliding along a wave and dancing with the ocean was indescribable – and the urge to keep practicing consumed me. Yeah, I said \u201cdancing with the ocean.\u201d Ridicule me if you must. I\u2019m not quite sure what it is, but this surfing shit is more addictive than meth, so take heed.<\/p>\n

For someone who has thought since birth that it was her destiny to surf \u2013 I was like the Rudy of the group. Heart? Check! Natural ability? Ehhh\u2026 Trying to watch me stand up on a board is kind of like watching childbirth. It\u2019s beautiful and disgusting all at the same time. Yet, whenever I\u2019d find myself frustrated, the instructors kept me on track, and my CFFs shouted whoo-hoos regardless of a great ride or a gnarly nose-dive. By the end of the week, we had all had good days and bad days in the waves, but we all progressed. By God, by week\u2019s end we could actually handle our own out there! We could turtle dive under big waves to make it past the breakers, we left the whitewater behind and began surfing the unbroken \u201cgreen waves,\u201d we knew proper etiquette, and we knew how to protect ourselves on those rare-but-there collision threats. It occurred me: I was now confident enough to fly home and tackle SoCal, cold water be damned!<\/p>\n

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After ten days of camp, I was no where close to being a \u201cgood surfer,\u201d but I had everything I needed to become one. Within the last month since I\u2019ve left camp, I got myself a board, a wetsuit, and have been surfing in L.A. over ten times and get better everyday. I can surf! I\u2019m a goddamned surfer! This is something I will now do for the rest of my life instead of just wishing I could do it. Thank you, Witch\u2019s Rock Surf Camp. I love the crap out of you and I miss you more than my teeth. I\u2019d also like to thank myself for booking the ticket. (You\u2019re welcome, Self.) Listen folks, even if you don\u2019t live near a beach and don\u2019t plan on surfing often, I guarantee WRSC will be an experience for which you\u2019ll thank yourself, too. Book it, sillypants! And if anyone finds any information on duck penises, please do let me know.<\/p>\n

Until next time, thank you for reading.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was a sunny Los Angeles day in early September. I had recently been given the rare opportunity to be paid for some time off, and with that time off I had decided I wanted to write some travel essays. Of course, in order to write travel essays, you must travel. Hmm, where could I go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,57],"tags":[80,82],"class_list":["post-7728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-tamarindo-surf-camp","tag-surfing-2","tag-travel-tips","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7728\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}