Growing up in Bermuda (yes, like the triangle), I’ve always been drawn to the ocean. In fact, I spent nearly every day at the beach for my first 18 years of life.
For me, fear of the ocean hardly ever existed. Well, maybe at some point it did. But for as long as I can remember, I have respected, admired, and appreciated the ocean.
The ocean was too familiar to be feared. We knew each other well. I loved it, and it loved me. I cared for it, and it embraced me—a reciprocal relationship.
In Bermuda, we’d go to the ocean for school field trips and to celebrate birthdays and holidays. I took a boat to school every day. The ocean was a beautifully unavoidable part of my life.
Despite all of this, I never learned to surf (in any form) until very recently.
Fearless to Fearful
And then BOOM! I moved to the Pacific side of Costa Rica and learned to surf.
While learning to surf, the ocean was no longer a comfortable refuge for me. Paddling out made me nervous. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I belonged in the ocean. I didn’t feel safe.
I’m not saying that learning to surf has to be some big, scary journey—for many people it’s actually the opposite. But my newfound fear confused and upset me. To be honest, I was disappointed in myself. How could I claim to be deeply connected to the ocean but also afraid of it?
Granted, it was not the thought of the ocean in general that scared me. It was this new activity that I was doing in waves that were more powerful than me.
As my surfing journey continued, I certainly learned to enjoy it. I’ve even become a half-decent surfer over the last year or so. And I need to give surfing some credit. Surfing pushed my boundaries and expanded my comfort zone.
I now know the magical feeling of getting up on a wave and riding along the face until completion. But surfing altered my relationship with the ocean, and not necessarily for the better.
Back to Fearless
I’m not sure why, but I eventually decided to give bodysurfing a try. One day, Spencer (founder of The Bodysurf Blog) took me to the beach with a group of other bodysurfers and put on a clinic.
Spencer taught us bodysurfing theory, why it’s crucial for surfers to know how to bodysurf, and how to do it. We started bodysurfing in the white water. Simply catching those small, crumbling waves gave me a unique thrill—it felt so good!
Bodysurfing felt a lot less like surfing and a lot more like frolicking in the ocean—what I spent my adolescence in Bermuda doing. As I continued to practice bodysurfing in the white water, my swim technique greatly improved. Eventually, Spencer and I decided it was time for me to swim all the way out to the green (breaking) waves.
It was there that I learned to glide across the face of breaking waves using only my body. For me, this is one of the most insane feelings in the world—like flying. As I sit here typing, I’m having a tough time finding the words to describe this feeling. Words don’t do it justice.
As my bodysurfing journey progressed, I started to prefer swimming out in big waves rather than small ones. I now feel much safer bodysurfing big waves than surfing them with a board. When bodysurfing, I don’t have to worry about nosediving, falling, or getting hit by my surfboard.
Swimming out to the green waves, like paddling out on a surfboard, often involves passing through a couple set waves. Sometimes BIG set waves. But this doesn’t scare me anymore. I now swim toward these bigger waves with a smile on my face. The fear is gone.
Lessons from Bodysurfing
Bodysurfing taught me that powerful waves don’t always signal danger, especially when I’m able to stay calm and relaxed. Bodysurfing quelled my fear of being out in big waves with a surfboard.
Having reconnected with the ocean, I now trust it again. Bodysurfing has reshaped the way I approach surfing and how I feel while doing it. I can grab a board, paddle out, and face up to some decent-sized waves with the same joy I had growing up in Bermuda.
For that, I give bodysurfing all the credit.
Written by George Frost.
George Frost is a proud Bermudian who loves sharing his culture with anyone he meets. Before moving to Costa Rica, George lived and studied tourism management in the United Kingdom.