Reaching out from #Sayulita to all the surfers in the Punta Mita area in México and around the globe, who are looking to improve their surfing skills and find strenght and release prior and after hitting the waves, here are some useful yoga exercises:
To warm up with some modified #Sun_salutations, start in #Tadasana, standing with your feet hip-width apart, pelvis in neutral tilt and shoulders relaxed, with arms alongside your body. Lift your arms above head as you inhale (1), exhale and fold forward from your hips, keeping your knees bent, a little bit or a lot, but enough to lie your belly close to your thighs (2, #Uttanasana).
On your next inhale, extend your spine and straighten your legs, gaze forward and neck relaxed, coming to an L-shape with your spine and legs (3, #ardha_uttanasana). Exhale as you plant your palms on the ground (4), and step both feet back, reaching a planck position, hands shoulder width apart, and feet at hip-width (5). Inhale in planck, then slowly lower all the way to your belly as you exhale; option to lower with knees, chest and chin (6), or the traditional #Chaturanga, keeping the core strong, elbows close to your body and straight line from crown to tail bone.
Inhale and raise your chest above the ground for cobra pose, keeping the elbows bent back and close to your body, shoulders away from your ears, no tension on the lower back (7 & 8). Exhale and press back, knees on the floor, then press the hips up and back to reach an inverted V shape, for #Downdog (9).
To spice it up, inhale, lifting your heels high, bend your knees, keeping the arms straight and strong, look forward and hop forward, aiming to tap your heels to your buttocks, at least five times, back and forward. This should get the heart rate pumping (10). After 5 –#bunny_hops-, land back on the front of the mat, with your belly lying on your thighs, bowing forward in #Uttanasana (11).
Inhale and lift half-way up, to extend spine and legs to that “L” shape position. Exhale and fold back down again (12).
Inhale as you bend your knees and lower your hips like sitting on a chair, sweeping your arms along the floor and raising them up (13, #Utkatasana). Take one round of breath, then seat all the way down on the floor (no hands!), reaching a “V” shape, #Navasana or #boat_pose (14 &14a).
In #Navasana, keep a bent at the knees to bring the shins parallel to the floor, spine straight, chest high, belly strong and arms along side (or on the floor for support). Start rowing the boat by inhaling and lowering the spine (almost til your shoulder-blades touch the ground) and straightening the legs to hover close to the floor (15 & 15a). Then, exhale and come back up. Row it up and down at least 10 times. Hug your knees to your chest, round your spine, rock back and forth on your spine, pick up momentum and try to stand up all the way back to your imaginary chair,Utkatasana (16). Exhale and press up to stand again (17). Repeat the whole sequence once more; maybe addhandstand pikes instead of #bunny_hops.
Everyday people come through asking which tide is the best to surf, what is an incoming tide? Outgoing tide? Does it make a difference between a beach break, point break or reef? Well keep reading to find out…
The Sayulita and Punta Mita area is blessed for having waves all day long and all year long. Situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the main town of Sayulita is proudly facing north, which better receives a North swell. While Wildmex Surf Shop in La Lancha, Punta Mita, sitting on the other side of the point, is more open to a South swell. All breaks in between can hold either an east or west facing swell, due to our rugged coastline.
Now what is “swell”!? As described on Magic Seaweed; swell is a collection of waves moving away from a storm in the ocean. Swell can travel in all different directions, and can withhold a variety of power and size. This swell as it heads into shallow water at your local beach will make the waves you surf (or not depending on it’s size and direction!).
See here – a collection of lines, that break into a wave as it hits shallow water, this is swell!
Now to the specifics! See below is a map of the Sayulita surrounding area, and the different surf spots.
Sayulita is a town known for a gentle, fun beginner or longboard wave. The left side of the beach is sitting mostly on a sandbar, the best time to surf would be hightide. This spot is best for beginners! Whereas the right side of the beach is a rock bottom point break – better surfed at low or mid tide. Intermediates or above would be best suited to surf here.
Just up the road (north of Sayulita), San Pancho offers a left hand river mouth, sand bottom break. This wave is quite punchy and best for shortboarders – not advised for beginners. The best time to surf is low to mid tide.
Heading south you’ll find Punta Mita – a surfers paradise. At Wildmex, we LOVE La Lancha. You can find a variety of boards at out office, directly across from the La Lancha trail head. La Lancha is known to be the most consistent break in the area. A mellow reef break, best for beginners or longboarders. It works well in all tides, but beware of the rocks at low tide!
In between Sayulita and La Lancha you will find Anclote, The Lighthouse, and Stinky`s. All three breaks are reef and rocky. Working best at low – mid tide. Whereas, Palmitas, a punchy beach break works best at mid to high tide.
Heading further south towards Puerto Vallarta, you’ll find Burros. This reef break sees more rights than lefts, and works best at low tide.
So to break it down simply. Beach breaks, generally work better at mid to high tide. While, reef works best at low to mid tide. Obviously each place can vary, and sometimes beach breaks work better at low to mid. But in most cases, beach breaks tend to “close out” at this time of day.
Surfing is not snowboarding, nor is it skateboarding. You don’t lie down on your snowboard then pop up just as you are gathering speed. Nor does snowboarding or skateboarding require you to paddle your way back up the hill after a big run. One of the hardest things about surfing is paddling into waves, which requires a lot of upper body strength. Surfing requires a lot of strength, endurance, and balance. Here are some tips that will help you improve on all these to enjoy a better surfing experience.
Swimming:
Swimming is a great way to get ready for surfing. It works out some muscles that will be used while paddling on a surfboard, becoming familiar with being in water, coordinating your breathing and holding your breath while working out in the water. Spending 1 or 2 hours a week swimming in a pool will definitely make your surfing experience much more comfortable.
Yoga:
All types of Yoga will benefit your surfing, by working on your balance, core strength, breathing and flexibility.
Gym:
Check out this article from Outside Magazine on Surf Fitness.
Fit to Surf: By Ryan Brandt
SURFING DAILY is the best way to stay wave-ready, but what if you live in Wichita? For you, we tapped Tim Brown, a physiologist who works with world champ, Kelly Slater and Chicago’s Pete Lambert, a phys-ed teacher who swims to stay in shape for Lake Michigan’s sporadic breaks. Their plans build the strength, endurance, and balance needed to thrive on the waves.
Dr. Brown played quarterback – as well as receiver – for his college football team at the University of the Redlands and led them to an undefeated league
record over 4 years. As an oft-injured athlete, he spent a lot of time in the training room. At that time, all treatment and therapy focused on the injured body part. Nothing focused on the functional imbalances that almost always represent the cause of injury. This was a motivating factor in his decision to become a sports doctor.
STRENGTH
Tim Brown’s workout mimics the effort of paddling out.
Twice a week:
3 sets x 30 second sets of push-ups, switching from narrow to regular to wide arm placement with each set
3 sets x 7 reps of each dumbbell lift below (no rest between lifts or sets)
1. Reverse-Grip Curls
Hold the dumbbells on your thighs, palms facing your legs. Keeping your elbows tucked into your waist, slowly curl the weights to your shoulders, then lower them back down.
2. Front Military Press
Hold the dumbbells at shoulder height, palms facing out. Press weights overhead and 12 inches in front of your head until arms are straight. Slowly lower to shoulders.
3. Bent-Over Rows
Holding dumbbells in each hand, bend forward at your hips while looking straight ahead and keeping your back flat, until your back is almost parallel to the floor. Lift weights to your chest, then slowly lower them back down.
4. Overhead Triceps
Extensions Press the dumbbells overhead. Keeping your elbows close to your head, slowly lower the weights behind you until your forearm is parallel to the ground, then slowly raise them back up.
5. Upright Rows
Hold the dumbbells against your thighs. Raise the weights to your shoulders, extending your elbows out to your sides (they should finish above your shoulders). Slowly lower them back down.
(Note: use enough weight with the dumbbell exercise to struggle on the 7th rep)
End with 3 sets of pull-ups, alternating narrow, regular, and wide grip.
ENDURANCE
Pete Lambert builds lung power with pool workouts that approximate the stroke and effort needed to paddle out and catch a wave.
1. Twice a Week:
Swim 4 x 50 meters with a float buoy strapped to your feet
8 x 25 meters with your head above water
2. Once a Week:
Sprint (swimming) 6 x 100 meters
8 x 50 meters
10 x 25 meters
(Rest for 30 seconds between each interval)
Build your lung capacity by increasing the number of strokes you take between each breath, starting each lap at two and increasing to seven
BALANCE
Brown suggests tuning your equilibrium (a state of rest or balance due to the equal action of opposing forces) with a balance trainer like the I ndo Board.
Three six-minute balancing sessions per week, in a surfer’s stance, should do the trick.
Level 1:
Keep the board level for 90 seconds; in this same position, bounce a tennis ball against a wall three feet away for 90 seconds; then stand still with your eyes closed for another 90 seconds. Master this, then take the exercises to the next level, and so on—without letting the board hit the floor.
Level 2:
Rock back and forth.
Level 3:
Stand still in a squat position.
Level 4:
Do slow squats.
For more surf related Indo Board Exercises see our “Indo Board Workouts for Surfers” blog post
Rainy season on Mexico’s Pacific coast starts in July, goes harder in August and September and starts lowing down on October. A lot of questions come to mind and if you are on vacation at the beach it will feel like luck is not on your side… On the contrary.
Is it okay to surf when it rains?
This is a question a lot of people ask. And I say; Hell yes! you are gonna get wet anyway.
Sayulita and Punta de Mita are great spots to surf no matter your skills, with a tropical climate! meaning water temperature is the best, you might even find it a little hot which is nice (…unless it’s sudden and you’re near someone). And it is not just o.k. to surf when it rains, there are big advantages to do so;
Surfing under the rain adds a special touch to this sport, it really is a unique experience being on your board waiting for a set to come and just feel the rain pouring down your face, but let’s not get too romantic and back to the advantages; First of all the beach will be just for you (and some other surfers); parking spaces close to the beach unoccupied, stop worrying about zigzagging in between people to finally get to the beach, and no imprudent swimmers getting on your way while riding a wave.
Rain also calms the wind, and waves clean up creating ideal conditions!
Plus, really there’s nothing else to do. If you’re on your holiday, the wet weather options are even more dire… staying at your hotel should not be an option. So get yourself booked into a surf lesson and get properly wet.
The area hosts quite a bit of rain during the summer season, which is why we like to keep our guests informed about the facts regarding surfing in the rain or during storms.
What about Surfing during a storm?
This scenario changes when it comes to surfing during a lightning storm.
Due to the conductivity of salt water, the effects of lightning can reach up to 500 m from the place where it has impacted the surface of the water. The probability of being struck by lightning is still really low, but it is always better to be informed and careful.
In order to know the distance to which the storm is, we must count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. With this data, we perform the following calculation:
Distance (km) = Dif Light and Thunder (secs) / 3.
With a time interval of fewer than 3 seconds is when we must take precautions, get out of the water and seek shelter, as it means that the storm is less than 1 kilometer away!
Ocean waves are formed by low-pressure storm systems far out at sea, or by localized onshore winds. Waves traveling from a long distance away are called ground swells , and travel across the ocean in orderly groups called sets . Sets of waves generally have between three and eight waves, but can have more, and can travel solo, though not often.
Ground swells for surfers are produced by large low pressure systems in cold latitudes, or by tropical storms and hurricanes, in both the southern and northern hemispheres.
Wind swells , on the other hand, are created by strong localized on hore winds that create waves traveling in more tightly packed and less organized sets, this generally creates much choppier water.
An easy way to think of the difference between groundswell and windswell: For a groundswell, take a rock, and toss it in the middle of a small pond. The waves that are generated from the rock come from one source, and propagate outwards, until arriving on the shore. A windswell is more like a fan blowing water up onto the shore, and produces choppier, less refined waves.
How a wave will break depends on five factors:
swell size
swell direction
bottom contour (land formation or sea floor)
wind
tides
To have good surf:
You need swell hitting the beach
Any given swell will have different characteristics when arriving from different
locations; a swell coming in from the north will break differently than a swell arriving from the south
Good winds
Offshore wind blows from the land to the ocean, and is the kind of wind
desired by surfers; offshore wind produces clean, groomed surf, and takes away all chop to the waves.
A well-formed sea floor to shape the wave
The right tide
Every surf spot has a tide that works best; low, medium, or high
When the tide drops, it can expose previously hidden reef, rocks, sand, etc.,
When the tide is high, it can cover up the surf spot with so much water that it
ceases to have any waves at all
Wave Types
Waves can either be ” mushy” ; breaking slowly with a lip that just sort of crumbles over when the wave breaks, or ” hollow “; fast-breaking, barreling waves with lips that pitch out forcefully into the wave’s trough.
The types of waves that can be surfed are called beach breaks, pointbreaks, and reef breaks . These waves all have their own characteristics;
Beachbreaks
Sand bottom
Not always reliable as the underlying sand can move in big storms and swells
Beach break waves do not always break as softly as point break waves or reef
waves. On the other hand, wiping out on a beach break tends to be a lot more forgiving than the alternatives.
Famous beach breaks are: Huntington Beach, and Trestles Beach, both in California, and Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia
Pointbreaks
When the conditions are perfect a point break can create a really long wave to ride as the wave wraps around a point or headland and then runs along the coastline of a bay or cove
Point breaks can have rock, coral, or sandy bottoms
Most surfers would consider a point break the perfect wave as the actual time
riding the surfboard will be the longest
Famous point breaks are: Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, Noosa in Queensland,
Australia, and Rincon in California
Reefbreaks
Reef breaks are created by a reef under the water, often coral
The surrounding water can be quite deep, but due to the formation of the coral reef the
waves will break there, often seemingly in the middle of nowhere
Reef breaks can offer fantastic waves but can also be famous for nasty injuries
Famous reef breaks include: Pipeline in Hawaii, Uluwatu in Bali, and the very famous Teahupo’o off Tahiti.
Lefts and Rights
Every wave that ” peels ” (runs sideways down the beach for a distance before shutting down ) goes either left or right. The way to tell the difference between the two is simple; when you’re lying down on your surfboard, paddling into a wave, you’re going to drop into the wave and angle either towards your right (then it’s a right hander) or your left (which tells us it’s a left hander). Important, when seen from the beach, someone going left will be going towards your right.
Everyone has their preference as to which foot goes forward:
If you put your left foot in front and your right foot on the tail, you’re a regular foot
So, if you’re a regular foot, and you drop into a wave and go right, you’ll be going frontside: facing the wave. Drop into a left, and you’re going backside (back to the wave). For goofies, it’s left: frontside, and right: backside.
Rip Tide or Rip Current
A strong, narrow surface current that flows rapidly away from the shore. Rip currents form when excess water that has accumulated along a shore due to wind and waves rushes back suddenly to deeper waters. Also called r iptide.
Most surfers, after time, will learn to paddle out right in the middle of rip currents, in order to get a “free ride” out to the break, and then surf right alongside the rips, as they tend to sweep the sandbars into desirable shapes.
Wipe outs!
ALWAYS REMEMBER – If you do get hit by a wave and held underwater, never panic and scratch hard for the surface! Here’s something to consider: when big-wave surfers take a wipeout on a thirty or forty foot wave, like Waimea Bay in Hawaii, they’re almost never underwater for more than twenty seconds. A twenty second hold down would be considered an extremely long time by any experienced surfer. On waves that beginners are likely to ride, from around knee to head high, wipeouts are nothing to fear; even on a powerful wave, you’ll be underwater for no more than five to ten seconds. It is a natural reaction to panic and try as hard as you can to get up to the surface, and every second you’re underwater seems to feel like ten, but once you learn to relax, you’ll find that being tumbled around by a wave is not bad at all. It’s actually kind of fun; it just depends on how you look at it.
Don’t forget that your surfboard isn’t just for riding waves, it is also an excellent lifesaving device and your primary means of getting out of trouble should a bad situation arise.
Have Fun!
The best thing you can do for both yourself and others in the water is simple – just enjoy yourself! It’s hard not to have a good time in the surf, but everyone has a bad day every once in awhile. If you find yourself getting frustrated, ask yourself why. Are you missing waves that you’re trying to catch, and wiping out on the ones you do manage to get into? Maybe someone has dropped in on you a few times, or hit you with their surfboard and didn’t apologize. Hey, don’t worry, be happy! Remember to always stay in a relaxed frame of mind, and encourage others to do the same. Share waves, smile, and give a kind word to both friends and strangers alike. Hoot for others when you see them get a good wave, and soon you’ll hear other surfers hooting for you on your good ones!
