Learning to Surf in Godzone

With a coastline that enjoys swells from all angles, New Zealand is a surfie's paradise. If you have always harboured a secret desire to learn to surf or just need a tune-up to help reclaim the joy and thrill in it, now is the time to do it before this amazing summer weather disappears on us and the surf season runs out in June.

Wetsuits and boards can be hired from shops or stores near, if not on, our surf beaches. You can take individual lessons, do a class, or enrol in a surf camp. Lessons range from a basic couple of hours through to a whole day and then there's a range of ‘learn to surf' camps for varying numbers of days depending on how comfortable you want to be doing it and how much fun you want to have. With beach breaks, river bars, point breaks, and reef breaks to surf, there's just about always somewhere with the right conditions if you are mobile.

Once you are comfortable on your board, there are plenty of organised surf tours ranging from just a day to 12 days. You can also custom design your own for a group of friends with some surf companies. There's holiday youth camps, and women's surf retreats, even corporate surf camps and heli-skiing for the adrenalin junkies.

New Zealand beaches are slowly coming to the world's attention. The first focus came back in 1966 in the classic surfie flick ‘Endless Summer' that showcased Raglan, which has since been rated by National Geographic magazine as one of the best surfing towns in the world. World surf championships have been held here and kiwi surfers are footing it with some of the world's best.

As the world gets smaller and smaller and we lurch towards more and more of a global village, now is the time to revel in the joy of what we have – wide, open beaches with great waves (and not too many people)!