New to SL Surfing? Try These Places First!

Submitted by Socks Clawtooth
Senior Furry Correspondent

Just getting started? Then this information is for you! These are the five places I recommend people new to SL surfing try first. All have loaner boards on the beach, some have free items, and all are great spots to learn surfing for free! It has all the wave types you'll find in SL and give you a good taste for surfing here. Then, once you've tried them, you can try the rest of the Rough Guide for size!

Chi (125, 211, 22)
Wave type: Pipe/Fluffy
Freebies: None that I've found, but search the sim
Sales: Board sales on the beach near the break and SE up in the town area, as well as apparel
Beach loaners: Almost always at least 3-4 boards out
Pros: One of the oldest surf breaks on the grid and also maintained regularly
Cons: The break is short and narrow but the saying is, if you can surf Chi, you can surf anywhere. It can also be "laggy" occasionally.

Moana'Ina @ Weather Island (41, 164, 29)
Wave type: Epic
Freebies: Once you teleport, you will be put on the TP hub on Weather Island. Either walk north over the bridge and follow the path east, or fly direct to the coordinates you see above. You'll see a blue shack marked "Sebastian's Surf Shop". Walk in thru the curtain. Once inside, you can touch a surfboard and get a free one for you to use. Don't get too excited - it only works on Weather Island. Also, look for the crate next to it for a free wetsuit for you to wear, too. A little sim crawling will turn up all sorts of freebies.
Sales: The surf shack also has boards for sale but they don't advertise that fact.
Beach loaners: None, but the intent is that you go to the surf shack and pick up a board there to use instead of leaving them on the beach. So in reality, there's loaners there.
Pros: The build is incredible so for that alone, it's worth coming. The site is also the home of the original "epic" wave, so there's alot of history here. There are also alot of atmospherics that make it a great place to ride.
Cons: No music so that's kinda a downer. It gets very crowded here sometimes, and I've seen an occasion where I couldn't get in because the sim was full! And the loaner board is an older script. But even in spit of all that, I still come here to surf when the mood strikes me.

Mori Pwani, Erie Heights (121, 221, 21)
Wave type: Epic, but pipes and fluffies are next door
Freebies: Some "dollarbieS" in the stores, but some searching will reward you with some good stuff.
Sales: Plenty - almost all the surfboard reps are here.
Pros: If you want a slice of surf culture, this is the place to go. Good people, good waves, good everything. The people who run this sim also ran the legendary breaks of "Majini" and "Pepo", both sites of past competitions. Also, I recommend joining the "Vibes" surf group while you're here. You'll be happy you did. And check out the pipes/fluffy run next door at Tuli Bahari.
Cons: They don't leave alot of loaners out and some days it's crowded. But to be truthful, the surf is only one reason to come here.

Surf Camp, PrimWorks (145, 196, 21)
Wave type: Pipeline/Fluffy combination
Freebies: If you go just N/NE of the waves, check out the blue tent and the surrounding area. Lots of cool stuff.
Sales: Lots in the surrounding area going NW/W of the waves.
Beach loaners: If you're less than 90 days old, there's a rezzer on the water you can use. Or you can join the Surf Camp group to use the other.
Pros: Well maintained sim and a good place to get alot of information about surfing and the SLSA
Cons: Not easy to get loaners unless you're new or in the group. But it leaves alot less clutter on the beach.

Thetis Bahia
Wave type: Pipe and Fluffy
Freebies: None
Sales: Some board sales on the beach
Beach loaners: Minimal but I know they're there usually
Pros: Great place to learn pipes. They have a 3 wide "mini-epic" as well as a stand alone pipe. There's also a fluffy run as well
Cons: None really, except it's usually not that crowded. Not really a con unless you like socializing

Tsunami Beach (247, 103, 21)
Wave type: "Sunset", a single "megaprim" wave with no seams
Freebies: None
Sales: "Freeport" is one sim over and has alot of shops on it with everything from surf clothing to boards
Beach loaners: At any time, you'll find longboards, shortboards and windsurfers on the beach ready to use
Pros: Very good sim and the first to really showcase the "Sunset" wave
Cons: The"Sunset" is a very hard wave to master. But if you can surf this one, you can ride anything.

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