All good surfers go to Devon
Steve Keenan finds that surfing has become a big holiday business.
Ben is very cool. I know this is the case because he is lithe, has a dazzling smile and peppers his conversation with “solid" and “having a laugh". He is also a 24-year-old surf instructor who spends summers on the beach in Devon and winters in Costa Rica and else-where abroad, teaching Britons to surf.
And it is a lifestyle I knew little about until a visit to Croyde last month, which fundamentally changed my perception of the North Devon seaside.
There were 16 surfers in Ben’s group, mostly young women, sharing the waves at Croyde with nearly 100 others. It was clear that surfing has gone mainstream, just as skiing did two decades ago.
Ask Ben. “Surfing has just boomed, man," he laughed. “It has gone from an individual thing to being a sport everyone is doing. You can enjoy it on so many levels. By the end of the course, most are riding in, maybe on their knees. If you’re standing up, solid."
It’s all part of a trend to make use of Britain’s chilly but blessed coastline with kite surfing, coasteering and sea kayaking other ways to enjoy the sea. But surf is the thing.
The British Surfing Association has seen membership quadruple in the past two years, to about 10,000. When Darren Burrett started Southwest Surf School at Croyde in 1996, he hired one other instructor. Now there are eight, including Ben, who joined from an outdoor adventure centre across the estuary at Westward Ho! Darren, a wiry, bronzed 50-something, said: “Most people worry about whether they can surf in this country because they are thinking of 20ft high waves in Hawaii. Also, surfing had an exclusive image and people found it intimidating."
Not any more. As we speak outside the surf school just off Croyde’s mile-long beach, we are constantly approached by holidaymakers seeking lessons. Two girls from Tasmania are first-time surfers, as is a 20-year-old German and two Brummie lads, aged 23. A mother and her 10-year-old son tell Darren it’s their second year at Croyde and they are loving it. “He’ll be your ambassador in London," she smiles, looking on proudly.
In Ben’s group of 16, most are girls in their late teens. When the school started, boys outnumbered the girls two to one. “Now it is close to 50-50," says Darren, “and on a lot of weekends, the balance is tipped. Women like to learn properly."
No surprise then that Carve, one of nine surfing magazines, has introduced Surfgirl, a regular supplement geared at the female market.
Most new surfers book one day’s tuition split into two lessons, plus another lesson the following morning. “There is no average age – we get all ages from eight to 80," says Darren. “But we get a lot of inquiries from families." Which was my reason for visiting Croyde. My sister, Caroline, first told me about her great holidays in Croyde six years ago when her children were 13, 12 and 10. Liam, now 17, was hooked on surf and was back for another visit when I joined them last month.
He bought a second-hand Custard Point Mini Mal board for £220 (£500 new) on the Isle of Wight two years ago, “The bigger the waves, the smaller you want the board," Liam tells his unsavvy uncle. A wetsuit, costing anything up to £300, is also essential. The surf school includes hire in the price of the lesson. As Darren points out: “You have to keep moving to keep warm – but whatever weather it is, you can always go in the sea."
Liam joined Ben’s group for a refresher lesson, as much as you would after learning bad habits in skiing. One lad, no more than nine, says: “It’s my first day – and I can already stand up." Liam kindly listens. It is low tide, so Ben explains that the waves roll in quicker. “Watch out for the nose dives," he says, which is when the board catches the wave and tips over. The group spends 30 minutes on the beach practicing how to stand up in the surf, and signals for distress. Then they’re off, in summer’s foot-high waves, to crest, glide and usually fall off – but with a great sense of achievement.
Surfing has revolutionised Croyde and nearby Woolacombe, the main holiday resorts – along with Newquay – for surfing in the UK. There are now a dozen surf schools in the area and, on the beach at Croyde that day, the Ocean Fest surf and music festival sponsored by Intel was under way. In the village, still chocolate box with thatched cottages, The Little Pink Surf Shop, Redwood Surfshop and LeSport nestle alongside ice-cream and candyfloss shops. Quiksilver, Billabong and Rip-Curl logos compete for holiday makers’ money alongside those for Mivvis, Cornettos and Flake 99’s.
The Blue Groove restaurant is popular and Home House Hotel has just been refurbished with a contemporary feel. And Damien Hirst has opened a restaurant, No 11, up the road at Ilfracombe. The story is being repeated in Woolacombe where a sea front hotel caters exclusively for surfers. The Red Barn, a huge bar which hosted the opening party of the European Surf Championships in the spring, is decked out with racks of old surfboards in the timbers and next door, Westbeach has had a makeover into a cool bar and restaurant, with studios to rent.
Says Darren: “For the first couple of years, we marketed Croyde as an attractive place: now we don’t have to do much. It has a reputation. We have taken the Australian aspect of outdoor life and added a few patio heaters."
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