5 surfing hotspots for beginners around the world

Surfing is the world’s fastest-growing watersport. Fed by an increasing desire to be outside, and bolstered during the pandemic when we all looked for ways to keep active closer to home, it’s expanded beyond tropical locales to nearly every coastline on the planet. And there’s no better time to learn. New surf schools are opening all the time, offering a range of courses from single lessons to several-day affairs, all promising to have you ‘popping up’ and riding those waves. Here, we reveal five of the best, from a UK break in Woolacombe to a palm-fringed experience off Tahiti’s golden coastline.

 1. Weligama, Sri Lanka

At the turn of the millennium, the name Weligama — which means ‘sandy village’ in Sinhala — would have meant little to the international surfing community, whose focus has been primarily on the breaks of easterly Arugam Bay since the 1960s. Today, two decades on from its ‘discovery’ by wave-hunters, the town on Sri Lanka’s tropical southern coast is a byword for gentle, consistent, warm waves perfectly suited to rookies. Dozens of well-reviewed surf schools including Freedom, as well as dynamic retreats like Soul and Surf, are training a new generation of board-riders along this mile-long, golden bay; during peak dry season here, between December and March, opt for early morning classes to avoid the crowds, and select teachers offering video analysis of your technique for added benefit.

2. Ericeira, Portugal

A nation of seafarers, Portugal has beaten off stiff competition in recent decades to take the crown as the surfing capital of Europe, ushering in a new era of surf tourism, bolstered by the popularity of the 2021 documentary series 100 Foot Wave. Offering more gentle breaks than the monster waves of Peniche and Nazaré featured on screen, the pretty fishing town of Ericeira is the heart of the country’s surf scene, offering a choice of over 50 surf schools and 2.5 miles of spectacular, cragged coastline — all just a 30-minute drive from Lisbon’s international airport. Head for Ribeira d’Ilhas, a dramatic amphitheatre of golden rock with smart onshore facilities, where Blue Ocean runs classes year-round, including wetsuit hire. Or rent boards at West Coast in the heart of the whitewashed old town and paddle out in the sheltered Praia dos Pescadores bay to practise your pop-ups, where fishermen still ply their trade at dawn.

3. North Devon, UK

In 2023, Save the Waves Coalition highlighted the exceptional surf conditions and culture in North Devon by designating 18 miles of coastline a World Surfing Reserve. While many wave-riding Brits swear the Cornish coast offers the nation’s wildest waters and most vibrant surf culture, North Devon’s laid-back vibe and spectacular scenery is hard to beat for beginners. Head to Woolacombe Beach, with its gentle peeling waves and long boarding tradition (book lessons with long-standing local academies including Surfing Woolacombe), and graduate to Croyde, with its faster, dynamic peaks (try comprehensive, family-friendly lessons from Surfing Croyde Bay). Off the board, visit the Museum of British Surfing in Braunton or head out along the spellbinding coastal path, exploring the intersection of the new reserve with the existing UNESCO Biosphere, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Exmoor National Park. 

 4. Tahiti, French Polynesia

The sport of surfing made waves with its second appearance at the Olympics in 2024, hosted by France at Teahupo’o on Tahiti’s southeast shore, home to a powerful barrel wave named ‘jaws’ rising up to 15ft off a shallow coral reef. Fortunately, there are gentler beaches on which to learn the sport of the Polynesian kings while still savouring the island’s dark, volcanic sands and balmy, 25C waters. Choose a surf school, such as Ocean Vibes or Mo’o, that can organise transport and teaching at suitable points along the north coast, like Plage de la Pointe Venus or Orofara, or Taharuu in the south. One of the singular joys of learning in this arena is the cultural context: surfing is woven into ancestral traditions dating back to the 12th century and, in the same way that the finest breaks and boards were reserved for ancient chiefs, today, respect and right of way is offered to senior local Tahitians on the waves. 

 5. Santa Cruz, US

Three Hawaiian princes took local redwood surfboards to the barrels off Santa Cruz in 1885, introducing surfing to the mainland USA. The rest, as they say, is history. The quintessential northern California beach town lost the nickname ‘Surf City’ in a trademark war with Huntington Beach down the coast two decades ago, but its reputation as the home of American surfing persists: after all, this is where the wetsuit was invented by Jack O’Neil in the 1950s, where Santa Cruz Surfing Museum houses one of the best collections of memorabilia in the country, and where pros tackle the legendary waves of Steamer Lane in the whale-watching hotspot of Monterey Bay. For beginners, Cowell Beach is the place to learn: sandy-bottomed, shallow and offering long, gentle waves, perfect for finding your feet alongside instructors from Club Ed or Richard Schmidt Surf School.