Surfing Canadian style in Tofino, BC on Vancouver Island. Believe it or not Tofino is nationally known for it’s surfing competitions! Our family surf lesson was fantastic! Lifelong memories for sure.
When you picture Canada, often beaches and surfers yelling “HANG TEN!” don’t readily come to mind.
Well, that’s all going to change after reading this blog post!
You can literally do it all on Vancouver Island and that means surfing Canadian Style!
On Vancouver Island there is a quaint beach surf town called Tofino on the upper part of Vancouver Island West Side. This little beach town even holds internationally recognized surfing competitions! Albeit appropriately named “Cold Water Classic”.
We have been to Tofino many times for whale & bear watching, hiking, camping, playing on the beach… BUT this time the Traveling Islanders went SURFING!!
It was our family’s first time surfing, so we felt it prudent to go for a family surfing lesson. We met up with our instructor at Tofino Surf Adventures to kick things off.
First off, in Canada you definitely need a wet suit if you are going to spend any amount of time surfing.
For kids, it is absolutely essential. One of our favourite things to do on a Tofino vacation is just to play in the water in wetsuits!
It was their first time putting on a wetsuit so it was quite the show as Gretta and I pulled, hopped, laughed and pushed our kids into their suits.
We all just giggled and giggled while suiting up. After the kids were all ready to go, they declared themselves surfing ninjas as they ran and bounced around the parking lot.
I loved this adventure already and we weren’t even at the beach yet!
Our Tofino Surf Adventures instructor chose Chesterman Beach on the South End for our surfing lesson.
It was a gorgeous beach with fantastic waves to learn on. I can’t believe this is Canada!!!?
I kept thinking to myself. Pristine beach, beautiful ocean waves, and I’m about to go surfing with my family! This is so awesome!!!
After a quick lesson on the beach with our instructor we all felt confident we were ready to surf the waves. Our Tofino Surf Adventures instructor was very kind and patient with the kids, it probably helped that he had a very laid pack surfer mindset.
We always felt safe, relaxed and ready for more!
My kids are 8,6 & 5 and have never surfed before, so I was really wondering how this was going to go.
My 5 year old shocked us all as he surfed right by me catching the very first wave! I couldn’t believe it!
My 6 year old was definitely the pro by the end as he was standing up on pretty much every wave and was riding all the way to the beach. He loved surfing and can’t wait to go back.
My 8 year old… well she tried and tried and couldn’t quite get it at first. After a little quality time on the beach with our Golden Retriver, she decided it was time to try again. As you can tell by the satisfied smirk on her face, she felt pretty good about herself.
We were warned before heading out to surf that kids learn much quicker than adults.
In Gretta and my case… that turned out to be VERY true. Although I’d like to think having a taller and slightly larger body standing on a surf board has something to do with it.
We did eventually get up and loved it, but what a work out!
Gretta and I spent some time trying to help our kids surf as well, but our instructor Will was definitely the favourite. It may have had something to do with me trying to help my boy catch a wave one time, and instead he careened off the front of his board, did a couple summersaults under the water and got a taste of salt water up his nose! I yelled out “all part of the experience son!”
Yes, our Tofino Surf Adventure instructor had a little bit of a different approach.
We are so glad we went with Tofino Surf Adventures!
I’m confident we all had a fantastic first time surfing experience because of it.
If you are an Islander or vacationing on Vancouver Island you definitely need to add Canadian surfing to your bucket list!
I need to find some surfing gear. I foresee some more surf trips in our future.Especially if we are going to keep playing in these Tofino waves.
Tofino Surf Adventures
450 Campbell St,
Tofino, BC, Canada
Use Discount Code “Islanders 10% Off” and save some dollars!
Phone: 1-855-725-3119
Web: www.tofinosurfadventures.ca
email: i[email protected]
Book your lesson: www.tofinosurfadventures.ca/book
Notes:
• Tofino Surf Adventures took care of all our gear needs! All we needed to do was follow our instructor to the beach, park our car and help carry the surf board. Arrive early for your lesson so you don’t miss a minute!
• Lots of different surf lessons to choose from. We enjoyed the Family Group Lesson, specially designed for young families.
• Bring a snack and water for reenergizing, you will need it! Its customary to leave everything on the beach.
• There was a bathroom and freezing showers to wash off salt water by the parking lot.
• We surfed at South Chesterman beach close to Tofino.
While our family’s experience with Tofino Surf Adventures was complimentary, you can rest assured that our thoughts, opinions, and findings are our own as always.
I have been to Tofino a couple of times but haven't surfed there yet. I will definitely try it one time! -
You should totally try it, Katie. The instructors make it do-able and the wetsuits help the frigid Canadian water bearable! It was so much fun! -
I think you guys are really brave to try surfing for the first time in Canada. I'd imagine even with a wetsuit the water must be pretty chilly. I'd like to be brave enough to try it someday but for now, I'd like to start with stand up paddle boarding. I think it is awesome that you do some many active adventures with the kids. -
Stand up paddle boarding is pretty fun too, Tamara. It's much more relaxing than surfing and actually quite peaceful once you get the hang of it. The cold water with a wetsuit truly isn't that bad. Maybe the sunny day helped us out too. I will say, though, that taking OFF the wetsuit is when it got really cold. :) -g -
Never been surfing in my life Jay, it does look so much fun but I always feel a little intimidated when thinking about the possibility of surfing! I don't know why, I'm a strong swimmer so I've no fear of drowning, I think it must be not wanting to look like a moron when I fall off haha! I will happily drive a 4x4 through a sugar plantation, ride on a 400ft zip line travelling at 50mph, and swim with stingrays, but I am too much of a coward to surf!!! Tofino looks like an amazing place - Glad you and your family had such a good time surfing. -
You are an adventurous one, Paul. Don't sell yourself short. Surfing really isn't too hard...especially if you have the right instructor. And you do eventually get to the point where you just don't care what anyone else thinks. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when trying to catch a wave I could still touch the ocean floor, so I never felt like I really had to swim. I could always just put my feet down! It was great fun. Since you like crazy fun stuff, you should let us know whenever you are on the island and we'll make sure you go with Tofino Surf Adventures and you can try it! -g -
This looks like so much fun! Who knew you could surf in Canada? I've never tried surfing but would love to someday. Although, I probably have some of the worst balance and coordination, so I don't know how successful I'd be. Sure looks like a lot of fun, though! -
I have pretty horrible balance and coordination too, Amy, and I could do it. It was fun. So I think that if I can do it, you can too! Come to Vancouver Island and get an instructor like we did and give it a go. You'll love it. -