• About me
  • Advertising/PR
  • Links

Beyond Blighty

Adventure Travel Exposed

  • Beyond Blighty’s Top Travel Destinations
  • Adventure
  • Scuba Diving
  • Responsible Tourism
  • Wildlife
  • Gear
  • Tips

Surf School with Mojo Surf

July 17, 2014 by Arianwen Morris 10 Comments

It’s not really acceptable to spend more than a couple of weeks in Australia and not try surfing. The climate, beaches and surf all lend themselves well to this sport and it’s a lot of fun, even as a beginner. As part of the BEACHES AND REEFS tour run by Contiki, I visited Spot X at Coff’s Harbour to learn more from Mojo Surf.

TAKE AN ADVENTURE WITH CONTIKI…


…AND HAVE NO REGRETS

Before I launch into describing our surf lesson, I need to emphasise something. This tour was – and always will be – one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had. This coming from someone who’s spent over four years backpacking almost solidly is no small claim. It’s the best way to ensure you have a big group of fun people to travel with, and there are exciting, adventurous activities to try out every day. I often find myself wishing I could go back and do it all again!

HISTORY OF SURFING IN AUSTRALIA

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Duke

Surfing was first recognised as a sport in Australia in 1915, when the Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku came over to the northern beaches of Sydney and demonstrated a so-called ‘ancient Hawaiian board riding technique’.

The Freshwater Surf Lifesaving Club still has his board on display, and there’s a statue in his honour overlooking the bay. His shorts might be a little outdated, but with a physique like that, we’ll forgive him.

COFF’S HARBOUR FACTS

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Big Banana

Two important things you need to know about Coff’s Harbour before you visit (aside from that it’s amazing for surfing) are that it has the most liveable climate in Australia (apparently), and it’s home to a giant roadside banana.

Having gawped for some seconds at the fruity monolith, we continued up the coast to Spot X, dumped our bags in the shipping container-style dormitories, queued up for a burger and chips and then stayed up far too late drinking goon bags and playing Ring of Fire.

SPOT X AND MOJO SURF

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Carrying Technique

The accommodation at Spot X is only one minute’s walk from the beach and you can see the ocean from most of the rooms. It’s primarily a surf school, but there’s also a strong focus on socialising in the evenings.

If there’s one piece of advice I can pass on from this experience (because I’m definitely not the person to ask for surfing tips), it’s to not drink too much the night before a 6 am surf lesson! While the refreshing water temperature can knock a hangover on its head in seconds, inhaling a few litres of salty water through your nose will bring it back again surprisingly quickly.

A MOJO SURF LESSON

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Team Contiki

An impressive number of us dragged ourselves stoically out of bed before sunrise and assembled for our lesson. After struggling into wetsuits, we carried our boards two per pair down to the nearby beach.

TECHNIQUES

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Lesson time

Before we were allowed in the sea, we gathered round our instructor as he showed us the basics of positioning ourselves on the board, paddling at the right time, jumping (or crawling) to a standing position and trying our best not to mow our friends down as we rushed towards the beach.

A QUICK DEMONSTRATION

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Lesson time

To demonstrate, our instructor paddled out effortlessly, caught a wave, stood up immediately, rode it to the shore, jumped down onto his feet and finished it all off with a flick of his long golden locks.

HELL BREAKS LOOSE

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Body boarding

This was the third time I’ve tried surfing and I can safely say I’ve gotten worse with each attempt. Some would call it quits before their surf board hit them in he face, but it’s so much fun I can guarantee I’ll be back for more.

MOJO SURF PACKAGES

Surf School with Mojo Surf Coffs Harbour - Surfing

Mojo Surf offers two- to five-day ‘Surf and Stay’ packages at Spot X with prices starting at $265 for two days. This includes:

– A daily surf lesson
– Dorm-style accommodation
– Breakfast, lunch and dinner
– Board and wetsuit hire during lessons
– 2 hours board hire per day

They also offer a ‘Stay and Play’ package for the more experienced surfers, with activities such as river kayaking, kangaroo golf and surf rafting.

My Beaches and Reefs Tour from Sydney to Cairns was sponsored by Contiki. While they requested that I write about my trip, the choice of topics has been left entirely up to me. Any opinions expressed are a genuine reflection on how I felt about the experience. I will earn a small commission if you follow one of the affiliate links on my website. I wouldn’t endorse it if this genuinely hadn’t been one of the best travel experiences of my life!

Comments

  1. Ken Kai says

    July 17, 2014 at 2:20 am

    Hey Arianwen,

    Surf lessons sound good. Actually, funny that too – Because I was just talking about doing some with my partner when we go over to Bali in August. I kinda gave up on the surf board and went for the boogie board after my failures 15 years ago. Let’s hope I get something out of this! :D
    Ken Kai recently posted..How To Get A Smooth Face Anywhere You Go!My Profile

    Reply
    • Arianwen Morris says

      July 17, 2014 at 2:39 am

      I think you just need a few days in one go to really get used to it. Each time I’ve done it it’s been for only one or two hours and a few years apart. I’d like to think that’s the problem anyway! Enjoy Bali!

      Reply
  2. Africa says

    July 21, 2014 at 6:50 pm

    really amazing

    Reply
    • Arianwen Morris says

      July 21, 2014 at 11:36 pm

      It really was! :)

      Reply
  3. London says

    November 24, 2016 at 3:32 am

    surfing is great activity and i wud like to try it someday

    Reply
    • Arianwen Morris says

      November 24, 2016 at 10:43 am

      I hope you have the chance! It’s an amazing workout!

      Reply
  4. Agadir says

    December 17, 2016 at 12:48 am

    surf is one of my fab activities in Morocco

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

FIND ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Search Beyond Blighty

TOP DESTINATIONS

001 Argentina 001 Australia.jpg Belize Posts 001 Bolivia.jpg 001 Brazil cambodia 1 001 Chile 001 Colombia 001 Costa Rica 001 Ecuador Stockholm1 001 Guatemala INDONESIA Laos 001 Mexico.jpg 001 New Zealand 001 Peru Philippines SINGAPORE SPAIN 001 Tanzania 001 Thailand Vietnam Posts

WHO’S BEHIND IT ALL?

About Beyond Blighty

GET THE NEWSLETTER

AWARDS

Blog_badge_Badge4_Most Fearless
Top Travel Blogs 2016

As Seen On…

Adventure

Adventure Posts

Wildlife

Wildlife Posts

Scuba Diving

Scuba Diving Posts

Copyright © 2021 · Beyond Blighty