We all love a little bit of inspiration from time to time. Now you can gain an insight into what inspires us here at The O’Neill Surf Academy. Pinterest is a wonderful online pin board that lets you share and organise all the beautiful things you find on the web – and you can look at other peoples pinboards too to see what inspires them and to gain a little inspiration yourself.

Our pinboard is growing every day – full of everything from our favourite recipes, the latest in surfing fashion,  beautiful surf and beach images and much more.

We find lots of things interesting – check out our O’Neill Surf Academy Pinterest Boards. With all these poor surfing conditions we’re becoming a bit addicted. Get pinning yourself and don’t forget to follow us – you never know, we may even follow you back!!!!

With an amazing coastline, Cornwall has a lot to offer – whether you love surfing, swimming, coastal walks or just a bit of fresh sea air – there’s something for everyone!

This week has not been the best for surf, with a couple small and even a flat day thrown in for a bit of fun. These days have spurred us on to get out and about and explore some of the other great beaches along our coastline.  Watergate Bay is so consistent its not often we have to travel for waves, but luckily for us the wealth of knowledge of all our team means that even when the surf may not be at it’s best here they are able to piece together all the info about swell, wind, direction and the complicated jargon that goes into finding a good spot to surf on any particular day!

Over the weekend we took the surf academy van our for a little trip down the coast to explore some of the most beautiful beaches in the county, and to find a few waves.

You too can enjoy the benefits of our wonderful mobil surf school facility when you visit us at the O’Neill Surf Academy. Our Private 1-1 and Private Small Group regularly use our mobile school facility, as do our intermediate and advanced lessons. If you’d like to surf at a different location that Watergate Bay for your private lesson, or maybe you’d prefer your instructor to come to your favourite beach for you surf lesson then just ask!

Here at the O’Neill Surf Academy we have so many great services on offer, that we’ve bundled them all together to make some amazing new corporate group packages.

Recently we were visited by staff from Orange and T-Mobile who enjoyed a fantastic day of activities with us here at Watergate Bay. It was great to see everyone enjoying the array of activities we had on offer, which included surfing lessons, an art class and an explore the shore rocky shore ramble.

We have put together all the details of these exciting packages, which include many more activities such as bodyboarding, power kiting, kite buggying, horse riding, kayaking,  and coasteering to name but a few.

Our great surf lounge facility also means that we’re able to provide some amazing buffet lunches or bespoke menus for your group once their activities have finished. With accommodation also available right next door to us at Watergate Bay – everything from luxury self catering apartments through to bed and breakfast, hostel and hotel accommodation it’s all here in one easy package!

Check out our new corporate group page on our website.

Yesterday we dropped off our lovely big surf school van for some new decorations! With our big van which we use as part of our mobile surf school facility we though it was about time it got it’s new sticker wrap! Now you’ll see us coming! Make sure you give us a wave or a toot if we pass you whilst out on one of our exciting surf surfari all over the cornish coastline!

A big thanks to all the guys at County Signs for doing such a wicked job as always!

It seems like its been forever since we had some ‘good’ waves. We’ve been stuck in a cycle of small conditions with offshore breeze, which whilst very pleasant when the sun is shining it can make things seem a bit chilly. On the surf front there’s been very minimal waves, and with some super weird swell directions missing so many of the open beaches. If you have lots of time and fuel money to spend driving around the county you may find some waves, but it’s probably not worth it as it has been small everywhere.

The plus side of this is that it has been great for some of our learners – especially the little kids who don’t need much to get them going! The conditions have been clean with lots of opportunity to learn some of the great skills and techniques such as getting out back, sitting on boards and riding green waves that we often miss out on when the waves are big!

The week ahead isn’t looking all that promising for all us full time surfers who are desperate to get some more sizeable waves. With strange wind and swell directions with almost every combination possible going on throughout the week, it’s going to be more of a case of getting lucky to get a great surf. There will be enough for our lessons which is a bonus!

Things are looking dire for next weekends English Nationals surf comp, which was cancelled last weekend because of the poor conditions too!

Keep an eye on our facebook where we post an update and a picture of the conditions throughout the day……we’ll even make some suggestions of where you may find a good wave from day to day. Like our page HERE or why not check the Gone Feral Surfcam for live streaming of Watergate Bay

We have another new GoPro HD Hero 2 to add to our wonderful collection of equipment that we use to capture your very best surfing moments here at The O’Neill Surf Academy. Yesterday the waves were small but longboardable so during our afternoon (slightly extended lunch break) we took to the water to test it out! Our new wrist strap accessory makes it super easy for us to capture your best surfing moments and the HD quality of the video is spectacular! Above is a little shot of Ashleigh enjoying a little peeling wave at Constantine Bay

We’re looking forward to getting some great snaps of all our surfers this summer, which will be available to purchase after your lesson. Photography and video is always also available upon request – let us capture your best surfing moments for your to tresure forever (and show to your friends!!!)

This week we’ve got 3 amazing deals – so what are you waiting for?? Get on down to Watergate Bay and hit the surf with us

SURF LESSON OFFER: Our ever popular O’Neill Intro Half Day Surfing Lessons are now only £20p.p! This amazing offer saves you a 1/3 on the normal cost of £30p.p and includes:

• 1 x 2.5 hour surfing session with our expert team of coaches
• Small group sizes for personalised tuition
• Beginner, intermediate and advanced sessions available
• All equipment included – super cosy O’Neill Wetsuit and surfboard suitable for your ability!

All you need to do to take advantage of this ridiculous offer is head to our website and BOOK YOUR LESSON ONLINE

SUPER SAVER SURF ‘N’ STAY WITH EVEN MORE SAVINGS:

Our Super Saver Surf ‘n’ Stay packages are super cheap…..now we’ve added a big discount to them you’ll get even more for your money! Our latest deal means you can now come and stay for 2 nights at the Watergate Bay Surf Lodge and have 2 x 2.5 hour surfing lessons with us at the O’Neill Surf Academy  for just £80p.p!

• 2 night’s accommodation only (breakfast not included, but available on site)
• 2 x 2.5 hour surfing lessons, with all equipment included

To book, you’ll need to call us on 01841 520052 or email us info@oneillsurfacademy.co.uk

A LITTLE LUXURY: SURF BREAKS WITH STYLE………UNTIL 20th JULY 2012

We know our surf lodge breaks aren’t for everyone, so if you’re looking for something a little upmarket, but without the big price then you’ve found a good deal here…..best of all, these amazing prices are available for all these break from 1st May – 20th July!!!

You can now join us for a surf and stay break with accommodation at the Kernow Trek Lodge which is a little slice of luxury within a stones throw of Watergate Bay alongside our amazing surf lessons here at the O’Neill Surf Academy. Here’s a sample of a couple of the deals, and if you’d like us to make something a little more bespoke for you please don’t hesitate to ask

Short Break: 2 Nights & Full Day Surf Lessons (Based on 2 people) £99p.p

• 2 Nights Luxury Accommodation with en-suite bathrooms (double and twin rooms available)
• 2 x 2.5 hour surf lessons at Watergate Bay, all equip included.
• Breakfast every morning (breakfasts are amazing!!)
• Parking and WiFi at the accommodation

Long Weekend/Midweek Break: 3 Nights and 2 O’Neill Intro Surf Lessons (based on 2 people) £140p.p

• 3 Nights Luxury Accommodation with en-suite bathrooms (double and twin rooms available)
• 2 x 2.5 hour surf lessons at Watergate Bay, all equip included.
• Breakfast every morning (breakfasts are amazing!!)
• Parking and WiFi at the accommodation

We’ve got even more great deals on these breaks, so if you let us know how many night’s you’d like to stay for we can give you some amazing offers!

To book, you’ll need to call us on 01841 520052 or email us info@oneillsurfacademy.co.uk

Its been a bit of a turbulent week weather wise down here in Cornwall. It seems we’ve had a little bit of everything. After the storms of last weekend it’s been a welcome relief to see some sunshine. After massive downpours everything’s been a bit soggy so now the sun is shining we’ve got lots of dry wetsuits again!

Unfortunately, with all this nice weather we’ve had to make some compromises on the wave front – it’s been teeny tiny for a couple days now. Luckily the high tide banks at Watergate have produced enough waves for our lessons in the afternoons, but it’s definitely been small. We’ve been loving how clear and turquoise blue the water is at the moment too!

With the first Bank Holiday weekend of the spring approaching this weekend we’re gearing up for some full surfing sessions, and all our crew are looking forward to hitting the beach to teach all our budding surfers. Best of all (and fingers crossed it’s going to run and that the surf is going to be big enough) some of our countries top surfers will be descending on Watergate Bay to take part in the English National Surf Championships from 5th – 7th May! Be sure to pop in and say hello to us in the downstairs of the Phoenix next to Gone Feral and check out our new O’Neill Base Camp if you’re in the area!

With so many people asking for surf hire after their lessons, we’ve always a bit worried you’re going to zip off to the nearest Hire centre and end up with an ill fitting wetsuit and a surfboard thats not suitable for your ability. As with so many sports your equipment is crucial in helping you learn and progress, and outside your lessons we want to ensure you’re on the very best equipment possible! To make sure you don’t encounter any problems with your hire and equipment after your surfing lessons we’ve now teamed up with the Gone Feral Surf Shop located right here at our surf academy to offer you the very best hire equipment at some of the most competitive rates in Cornwall.

Surf hire can be costly – especially once you start adding on all the accessories! However, here at Watergate Bay just 100 years from the sand we want to ensure that surfing cannot only be affordable but can be fun too. With an amazing array of hard and soft boards of varying lengths, and a great selection of top of the range wetsuits in our hire rack we can ensure that after your surfing lesson with us that you’re able to hire equipment of equal standard thats going to be perfect for you to make some serious progression on!

Now you can check out our hire rates and even book your hire in advance!

We hope this new service can add to our range of experiences on offer and help you all surf better this summer!

Ashleigh from the O’Neill Surf Academy has been busy lately – lots of working, surfing, and the first Longboard Contest of the 2012 calendar. Last weekend she headed North to Woolcoombe in North Devon to take part in the contest, walking away with 5th place. With challenging wave and wind conditions it was a great fun filled weekend for all the competitors. Check out Ashleigh’s Blog for the full event write up!