Welcoming Victoria Johnson to our team for 2012

 

We are super duper excited to have Vicky on our team this year. She’s a wicked surfer, an amazing coach and we just adore her. Living right near the beach in the beautiful village of St Agnes she’s always in the water! Vicky rides a longboard and a short board when the waves are on the heavy side. She’s also an avid competitor, ranking 3rd in Europe in the women’s longboard category in 2011. Vicky will be coaching with us from the start of March, so look out for her on your next visit.

She’s just returned from a trip to California, and is just about to head to Morocco for a week of fun waves! She’s travelled the world surfing some of the best waves around and is looking forward to sharing all her surfing knowledge and experience with our visiting surfers in 2012!

We’re really pleased to have a wonderful selection of female coaches on our team. You can check her out our our team page, and we’ll be adding lots more info soon.

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Launching our O’Neill Surf Academy Base Camp – Watergate Bay!

Enjoy many evenings like this 'apres surf' with our crew at our brand new and exciting surf school facility at Watergate Bay.

We’ve been itching to tell you all about our wonderful new plans for the Surf Academy during 2012. Now ends have been tied up, schedules worked out and all the blocks put in place we’re excited to bring you our new and exciting O’Neill Surf Academy Base Camp!

If you’re joining us after the 1st March 2012 you’ll be meeting us at our new indoor facility right in the heart of the Watergate Bay Beach Complex (located on the ground floor of the Phoenix). Here you’ll find our Surf Lounge where we have created the perfect surf hangout – our visiting surfers can now relax in our comfy chairs and beanbags, watch the latest surf movies and read the latest magazines with a steaming hot drink…..and get amped for their lessons!

Our new facility also includes changing rooms, toilet facilities and storage for your personal items whilst you’re in you lesson.  With our onsite restaurant and our brand new Surf Supper menu’s learning to surf at Watergate Bay has never been better.

Along with our new facility is a new schedule. We hope that our revised schedule each day can really help you absorb the wonderful surf lifestyle and community spirit that we have here in our little bubble at Watergate Bay alongside your surf experience.

Head to the FACILITIES page of our website for more details and we hope you can join us for the ultimate surfing experience during your next trip to Cornwall! With new features including a daily photographer and classroom based coaching our surf school has never been better!

We’ll also be running our O’Neill Mobile Surf School facility along our great indoor facility to ensure we’ve got s many options as possible when it comes to experiencing some of the best waves on offer locally! Ideal for our intermediate and advanced surfers!

 

Why not also take advantage of our latest Special Offer – 2 days surfing (that’s 4 x 2.5 hour sessions including all equipment) for just £70p.p

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Surf, Sun and a bit of practice……Surf and Hire this summer with the O’Neill Surf Academy and Gone Feral Surf Shop

When it comes to learning to surf a bit of practice outside your lesson time never goes amiss. The ‘experience’ part of surfing with plenty of wave time soon means that your experience and ability level meet in the middle, welcoming in a great little thing known as improvement.

After teaching many thousands of people to surf over the years, we know that getting some practice in after your lessons can sometimes be a little difficult – when hiring gear to go it along you’re normally at the mercy of the bloke at the hire shop, happy to give you anything that happens to be left in his rack without knowing what equipment you really need to help you improve!

With this in mind we’re now offering hire outside of your lesson time with the support of the Gone Feral Surf Shop. Located right next door to the surf school you’ll get the opportunity to discuss with your coach your surfing level and progression and they will help you select the right board for you. With a huge range of over 40 soft and hard surfboards, whatever you ride we have it here!

We hope that this additional service will benefit everyone who visits us, and will allow you to have a much more productive experience every time you go surfing – whether it be on your own or in your lesson!

Hire is available to prebook alongside your lesson, though it’s not a necessity. You’re able to hire on the day as and when suits you best at highly competitive rates.

Make the very most out of your surfing trip with us get some serious surf time under your belt!

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Launching our brand new Surf ‘N’ Stay Packages

Wake up to waves at Watergate Bay with our new Beach Break Surf Packages

We’re pleased to announce a brand new addition to our ever popular Surf ‘n’ Stay Packages here at Watergate Bay. This is just one of some very new and exciting features we’re adding to our surf packages for 2012 and we hope you can come and sample a taste of the surf lifestyle here with us this summer!

For the last 2 years we’ve worked a wonderful partnership with the Watergate Bay Surf Lodge to offer our surfers the ‘super saver’ budget breaks in one of the UK’s most popular surfing and holiday destinations. We’re very excited to introduce a brand new mid range package in the form of our O’Neill ‘Beach Breaks’ in addition to the cheap breaks on offer.

With accommodation overlooking the Bay here at Watergate our selection of en-suite rooms  (including one self catering room) we are really excited to be able to offer such premium accommodation just a stone’s throw from the surf academy.

The new accommodation is located in the upper level of the Phoenix Restaurant where we have a selection of 3 large rooms. Recently renovated, these modern rooms are literally a stroll down the stairs to the surf school! With plenty of facilities on site, including surf lessons, surf hire and food and drink it’s the place to be this summer!

Whether you’re a family, a group of friends of even travelling on your own or as a couple we hope that this additional facility will help make our services on offer better than ever before!

Rooms available from Easter onwards – Check out our Surf ‘n’ Stay packages and prices ONLINE!

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Beautiful Cornwall……

With some fine weather over the past few days we’ve been getting out and about enjoy the sun on our skin. The air’s a bit chilly, but we even went for a surf minus the gloves…..and it was more than bearable! Today there was another beautiful sunset and we were lucky to be at the beach to see it……and thought we would share it with you all! We’re looking forward to many more evenings like this in 2012 :-) Spring is well and truly on the way….. enjoy!

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Custom made surfboards now available from the O’Neill Surf Academy online store.

We’re reaping the rewards of our recent partnership with NT surfboards, our local shaping company. They produce some of the best boards we’ve seen in the UK and their innovative designs and skilful shaper mean that when it comes down to buying the right surfboard it will be the perfect fit every time – now they’re available in our exclusive online store!

Our Academy service also feature customised board ordering – you instructors will be able to help you piece together the right sized board with the right features for your skill level. The end result is always boards that are better suited to you, and your surfing style – lasting you throughout your surfing career! If you’ve not surfed with us but would like some professional advise on board design and custom orders then we’re more than happy to help!

We’ve got a whole range of NT surfboards featuring on our website right now. Featuring some of the most popular short board models in their range we hope you can find something that takes your fancy!

We’ve got some longboard models coming very soon too!

In the meantime check out our online surfboard store HERE

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Spring is in the air….for a moment anyway!

We hope you all managed to get out and enjoy the fresh air yesterday as the sun made a rare appearance. We were treated to a whole day of some sunshine and some fairly descent looking surf. Here’s a couple shots of this rare sunny day to fill you with hope that spring really is edging closer!!

View from our office

A beautiful day down on the beach

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Something for surfers of all abilities….. is there something on offer for everyone? Ashleigh takes a look at the surfers view on surf school……

Surf Schools are all too often branded with the same ‘just for learners‘ label that far too often makes those who already surf feel like they have no choice but to go it alone. Just yourself, your board, the ocean and a whole head of dreams that could, with a little help, quite easily become a reality!

Donning a brightly coloured rash vest whilst jumping around on the beach like a lunatic, arms flailing with 20 other people you’ve never met in a so called ‘warm up’ is less than appealing when you’ve already put some hard graft in and call yourself a ‘surfer’ – but deep down you’re really wondering what you’ve got to show for all your hard work? It’s a situation I see all to often, in fact, something I see every day when I’m out on the water. I end up asking myself why is it that all surf schools are tarred with the same brush when it comes to the surfer’s view on tuition, and why aren’t all these people out with me enjoying the waves really making the most of what they could be doing??

‘Tuition’ in any sport is something we use to improve upon our techniques that we may already have gained, brush up on skills and weaknesses in our technique and learn new things that will enable us to push ourselves to a higher ability level. Players and athletes in any sport of any level will more than likely be involved in some sort of training or coaching to help them improve. Why is this not the case with surfing??

Are there are far to many surf schools offering lessons aimed only at beginners? Is it that once we’ve learnt the basics and jumped into the sport feet first that we’re not willing to go crawling back for more help without feeling like a failure? Is it that we don’t know if tuition is really going to work or that you’re going to have to spend £500 for someone to tell you there’s no hope?

Take it from me, an experienced surfer (grown up by the beach, surfed all my life and a successful international competitor) that I am also a surfer has ‘Tuition’.  I can say with 100% confidence that without the coaching, training and direction I have sought to help me improve my surfing that there’s no way on earth my ability and understanding of the sport would be so high. To this day I continue to get tuition as with surfing you’re always learning something new. I realise how far I’ve come, especially in my longboarding which I only started a few years ago and i can definitely say that so much of this is down to the tuition I have had. So with all these things in mind, I’ve put together some things that may help you decide which path to take when it comes to coaching…………

Join a Surf Club: Here at the O’Neill Surf Academy we’re starting a new and exciting Boardmasters Club for 2012. You’ll be able to sign up  for an entire year and in return there’s coaching and tuition available, regular club events and fun competitions. The best bit about the club environments is meeting other surfers. You’ll learn so much from other people that even if you don’t want to join in with everything – just by immersing yourself in the social web of surfing you’ll learn a lot more than by going it alone. You don’t need to be an amazing surfer to be part of a boardmasters club! Clubs also help you maintain a regular pattern to your surf time, designating space in your diary for a bit of extra surfing! Most coastal areas have local surf clubs or boardriders clubs….get involved, it will only cost a small membership fee and a bit of your time….not a lot to invest for a huge reward!

Take part in a specialist coaching day or weekend: You’ll find that many of the top surfing schools and academies offer specialist coaching days or weekends. There aren’t there for first time novices – they’re there for you! Things like longboarding clinics and weekends and shortboard days are never going to be subscribed with soft surfboard riding beginners. If it’s on offer then its always worth taking up – these courses take huge amount of time and effort to put together on the surf school’s part. They’re great sessions tailored to your particular area of the sport too so whether you ride a longboard or a shortboard there’s normally something for everyone. If you’re not keen on being part of a small group then seek out a professional instructor for a bit of 1-1 tuition. Some of the great coaches around offer video and photo coaching too se you can see for yourself your improvements however big or small. If you’re not sure about the coach, or session give the school or academy a ring and ask to speak to the coach in question – this shouldn’t be a problem if they run a professional and tight ship – if it’s not possible look elsewhere!

TIP: If you’re not sure on your coaches credentials a simple google search will always give you a lot of information about their coaching past, present and future!

Book yourself some coaching So, you’ve already spend nearly £500 on a board, a couple hundred on a suit, far too much in fuel checking the surf and back and forward to the beach – however, you’re still at the same level, that perfect wave is still a dream and surfing seems like a constant uphill struggle? From a coaches perspective most of the common problems I see with people surfing are pretty basic things that with a bit of an explanation and a few words of encouragement are pretty easy hurdles. If you’re going to invest all your spare time and spare money chasing that wave of a lifetime, seek a bit of advise and it may be closer than you think – us instructors aren’t out there to tell you how rubbish you are and that you should be doing better. We’re here to look at your fundamentals and from a completely objective point of view and give you some expert advise to help your surfing improve.

Watch some surfing…. I asked some local kids who surf  the other day if they’d seen this new surfing movie. They looked at me puzzled, shrugged their shoulders and carried on as though it didn’t exist. I got me thinking – when I was growing up surfing, surf videos were the lifeline between the surfer you were and the surfer you wanted to be. Hours spend intently watching your heros ride waves you could only dream of. Not only are surfing movies inspiring, they’re educational!  A lot an be learnt by watching surfing – its very rare that any of take the time to have a really good look around us at what other people are doing out in the water, and even down to the basics of understanding how a wave breaks it’s all there right on the screen in front of you. . Most people learn a huge amount visually, so a bit of extra input on that front will go a long way in helping you understand surfing and trying new things in almost a copycat style. With the development of the internet there are so many surf films out there you can stream online for free, thousands of clips on youtube and a variety of surf movies available to download on itunes! Next time you’re browsing the web take a couple minutes to watch a bit of surfing – it may be well over your head to start with but over time you’ll begin to understand, and slowly but surely things will develop out in the water too!

 

Here at my surf academy I try to make sure we’ve got a wide variety of coaching and tuition on offer for surfers of all level …you can book a lesson as a complete beginner and similarly book some coaching and tuition time as an advanced surfer. Whether you want some advise on buying a board, ordering a custom board , improve your techniques, find out anything to do with surfing – or you may even want to become a professional surfer….we’re a surf school for all ages – and all abilities. That perfect wave is closer than you think!

Ashleigh

 

 

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A change in the weather…..?!

After several wet and wild weeks and appalling surf conditions things are looking on the up. This afternoon we took a little stroll along Watergate where there were plenty of people out in the water enjoying the cleaner conditions. The waves were by no means brilliant but definitely a lot better than anything we’ve seen on the open beaches for a while.

Even some blue sky made an appearance and with no wind it was pleasant enough to leave the coat in the car! Here’s a little picture of Watergate this afternoon to fill you with cheer and remind you all that spring is just around the corner and this grey sky isn’t going to last forever! Also, the surf forecast is showing some OFFSHORE winds/breeze later in the week….exciting!!!

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Something for the Kids…….Get Involved this Summer

New lessons for kids coming for 2012 at The O'Neill Surf Academy!!!

Our Kids Only Surf School which runs over the summer holidays is such a popular and much loved resource that we have been working hard to provide a revised program of session to ensure we can accommodate children of all ages and abilities during 2012.

For 2012 we are now offering ‘Surf and Sea Lessons’ for Children aged 5 – 10 years of age. The aim of these sessions is to allow kids who’ve never experienced the sea to get used to the water, learn about how to be safe in the ocean and on the beach as well as get their first few waves. For these first lessons we’ll be using bodyboards for wave catching and riding – a smaller version of surfboards where you lie down riding wave to the shore.

We hope this additional service is going to allow slightly younger children to participate in our sessions, ensure a higher level of understanding of the ocean for children who aren’t used to the beach and start off the whole surfing experience for children who’ve never been in the ocean a little more gently!

We hope these sessions are going to be a great confidence booster for our youngest visitors and a great facility for parents to ensure their kids are up to scratch on their beach safety this summer!

There sessions will be available for children aged 5 – 10 in the afternoons during the school holidays.

More information is coming to our main website in the next couple days – if you have any enquiries or would like to book you child in for one of these great sessions please email us info@oneillsurfacademy.co.uk

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