Will your surfing days stay the same now that you have settled with your lifetime partner and a couple of kids? Of course—it could! With some little adjustment here and there, you can enjoy a fulfilling surf holiday with the family. We’re not gonna lie; it’s going to be a bit stressful. The surf trip won’t be as carefree as it was back in your bachelor days. There are gonna be lots of clothes to pack, lots of surf equipments to track, fragile surfboard to taken care of, and accommodation to arrange. That kind of accommodation that suits for both you and your non-surfer member of the family.
Don’t worry. We have made a comprehensive list to help you survive the preparation of family surf holidays to successfully have one.
Gather All the Surfing Essentials for Family surf holidays
Do you have a customised board you cannot surf without? If not, great. You can leave the hassles of dragging huge and heavy surf bags and rent some instead on the destination. If you have a special attachment to the board, be ready for some complicated packing (and bringing it to the airport). However, with or without a surfboard, you definitely need to pack the surf essential items to use in the destination. Here are the things you definitely can’t leave without on family surf holidays.
- Reef-friendly, heavy duty sunscreen
- Wetsuit for every surfer in the family
- Rash guards every surfer in the family
- Lightweight and quick dry towels
- Beach towels
- Surf wax
- Surfboard repair kits
- Leashes (and leashes for your kids, if they surf)
- Duct tape
- Packing with Surfboard On
First of all, you need to check whether the airlines take surfboard or not. If they do, great. You can move to the next step. Remove the fins, remove the old wax, duct tape the pipe insulation to the board, and protect fragile area of the board such as the nose and the tai with clothes and bubble wrap before sliding it to the board bag. You can save up space and protect the board even more by duct taping all wetsuits—yours, your partner’s, and the kids’—to the ding prone areas. Stuffed the surf bag with all the towels for extra protection.
Does Your Kid Surf?
If your kids share the same enthusiasm for wave riding, you are one lucky parent. But that also means you need to do extra preparation for these little surfers. You might need to enrol them to surf camps for the kids during the family surf holidays. They might have more fun surfing with their peers on the surf camp. That also means you need to buy and pack their own surf essentials—such as wetsuits, rash guards, and child-friendly sunscreen.
Check Waves and Currents of Surf Destinations
When you are going with the family to surf holidays, you want to make sure that the destination is family friendly. You want the coastline sunny, the waves easy, and the water warm. Basically something that suits for beginners and non-surfers all together. Someone in the family—maybe your spouse or the kids—might express an interest to wave riding and the surf holidays can be a perfect occasion to introduce the fun of surfing to them.
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The Holiday Essential Packing
Just like any holiday, you don’t want to leave without packing your holiday essentials. It’s varied from family to family depend on the holiday style and tradition, but the basic should cover the following.
- Enough clothes to last for the holiday (consider laundry too)
- Toiletries for adults and kids
- Deodorants
- Enough cash (for taxi and small shops that don’t accept credit cards)
- International plug adapters
- Camera and its waterproof case, it there’s any
- First aid kids and medicine for the family
- Mosquito and insect repeller
- Chargers for your mobile devices and laptops
- Wet wipes
- Aloe vera gel for sunburn remedy
- Reusable water bottles
- Everyones’ passports
- Important documents (visa, ID, etc)
- Insurance for everyone
The list can go on and on, but you know what’s best for your family! Just make adjustment to what the family might needs on the surf holidays and you are good to go!