White Water Surfing in Kissamos, Crete
This morning the bay of Kissamos presented itself with the best conditions to learn how to surf. Big white water lines were steadily rolling to the beach. It was the second time surfing for Sakarias and Mimmi with Kalo Surf and they were already learning how to turn today! Arne, Halazy and Frederik were the first time in the water with a surfboard and learned the very important board handling, positioning and catching waves. Steven has had surf lessons before and he got the chance today to further work on his skills.
What are white water waves, one might ask. We surfers speak of white water and green waves. Green waves are unbroken waves which experienced surfer catch at the right moment when the wave releases it's maximum power. White water is the broken wave that rolls to the beach. When the wave is big, for beginner surfers its safest and easiest to catch white water. The goal is to have the highest wave count as possible in one session in order to practice catching waves an popping up as many many times. This allows building up strength in your torso, shoulders and arms & builds up your confidence in the water.
Catching green waves takes more experience. It takes a lot of practice observing the ocean, spotting the right waves and estimating when and where the wave will break. You will not catch as many waves in one single session. A classic beginner mistake is to try to paddle into a closeout wave. Those are particular waves that build up high and crash abruptly onto you and your board. Those waves are board- and back breaker waves.
