At Safari Surf School, we host surf travelers of every level, from total beginners to experienced chargers. No matter what level of surfer you are, we can help you improve, whether you’re a total novice who wants to catch your first wave or an advanced surfer looking to perfect your cutback. If you’re an intermediate or advanced surfer, a surf trip to Costa Rica is what you need to take your surfing to the next level. Read below for some of our favorite intermediate maneuvers in Intermediate Surf Maneuvers 101.

Intermediate Surf Maneuvers

Floaters

What is a Floater? A floater is an intermediate surf maneuver where the surfer rides over the top of a breaking wave. It’s a stylish move that requires timing, balance, and control.

How to Perform a Floater:

1. Approach the Section: As you ride down the line, look for a section of the wave about to break.
2. Bottom Turn: Perform a solid bottom turn to generate speed and angle your board towards the top of the wave.
3. Ride Over the Lip: As you reach the lip, lift your board’s nose slightly and let the momentum carry you over the breaking wave.
4. Stay Centered: Keep your weight centered over your board and your knees slightly bent to maintain balance.
5. Re-enter the Wave: As you come down from the floater, guide your board back down into the wave and continue riding.

Tips for Success:

• Timing is crucial; aim to reach the lip just as it begins to break.
• Keep your eyes on the wave ahead to anticipate the next section.
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Cutback

What is a Cutback? A cutback is an intermediate surf maneuver that allows a surfer to turn back toward the pocket of the wave.

How to Perform a Cutback:

1. Generate Speed: Start by generating speed down the line with powerful pumps and bottom turns.
2. Initiate the Turn: As you reach the open face of the wave, shift your weight onto your back foot and initiate the turn. Begin the turn by rotating your leading hand in the path of the turn, followed by your head / Gaze. In surfing, your head is essentially the steering wheel; your body will follow where you turn and look. Once your head turns, rotate your shoulders and then hips.  
3. Carve Back: Lean into the turn, using your shoulders and hips to guide the board through a smooth, arcing motion.
4. Hit the Foam: Aim to hit the whitewater or the pocket of the wave, which helps to maintain momentum and sets you up for the next section.
5. Re-engage the Rail: Shift your weight forward slightly and re-engage the rail to continue down the line.

Tips for Success:

• Initiate your turn with your leading hand.
• Use your arms to help guide and balance your turn.
• Focus on smooth, controlled movements rather than forcing the turn.

Snaps

What is a Snap? A snap, or re-entry, is a quick, explosive turn off the top of the wave. It’s a dynamic intermediate surf maneuver that allows surfers to carry speed down the line.

How to Perform a Snap:

1. Gain Speed: Generate speed down the line to set up for the snap.
2. Coil Your Body: As you enter your bottom turn, pre-coil your body in anticipation of the approaching lip.
3. Approach the Lip: Perform a bottom turn to angle your board towards the lip of the wave. As you come out of your bottom turn, immediately spot the section of the lip you aim to hit.
4. Explosive Turn: As you rise up the wave, initiate your turn so you complete the turn when you reach the top of the wave. Quickly shift your weight onto your back foot and pivot the board sharply back towards the wave.
5. Kick the Tail: At the peak of your turn, use your back foot to kick the tail of the board out and generate spray.
6. Recover and Continue: Re-center your weight and guide your board back down the wave to continue your ride.

Tips for Success:

• Timing and speed are critical; aim to perform the snap at the steepest part of the wave.
• Keep your movements quick and precise to execute a clean snap.

Mastering advanced surf maneuvers like floaters, cutbacks, snaps, and more will improve your comfort and confidence in the water. Practice makes perfect, so spend time refining each maneuver, and don’t be afraid to push your limits. Nothing is better for your surfing than taking a surf trip and surfing every day. Head to our website to book your next surf trip.

When you’re learning to surf, the pop-up is the first thing you’ll learn, whether you’re taking lessons at our Costa Rica surf school or elsewhere. A good surf instructor, like those on our team in Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador, will walk you through the step-by-step mechanics of a proper surf pop-up on the beach before you paddle out. While it may seem like something you can learn on the fly or develop as you progress, mastering proper pop-up techniques is vital to your ability to improve your surfing. Your pop-up dictates how your ride will go. An improper pop-up typically leads to missed waves or, at minimum, an inefficient ride. To find out how we teach our students to pop up, continue reading below for the Safari Surf Guide to Mastering the Surf Pop-Up. 

Position Yourself to Catch the Wave

Before you pop up and begin your ride, you have to catch the wave. It’s no secret that surfing is 99% paddling and paddling effectively and positioning yourself correctly will ensure you have the best opportunity to catch and ride the wave. As we have mentioned in previous surf tip blogs, catching a wave at its peak is critical to ensuring a successful ride. The peak of the wave is the highest point of the incoming swell, where the wave first begins breaking. While it’s tempting to try to catch a wave on the less steep area of the shoulder, it’s far more difficult. Catching a wave at its peak will ensure you have the best opportunity to get into the wave early and take the easiest drop possible.

Paddle Hard

Once you position yourself at the peak of the wave, paddle hard to match the wave’s speed. A lot of surfers struggle to paddle hard. Dig deep with each stroke, and once you feel the wave lift you, paddle a few more strokes to ensure you’re fully in the wave.

Start Your Surf Pop-Up by Raising Your Chest

The first step to a well-executed surf pop-up is to raise your chest like you’re performing the upward dog yoga pose. Place your hands under your chest like you’re going to do a push-up, and then raise your chest off the board. When you raise your chest, your weight will shift toward the back of your board, stalling you high on the wave’s face, allowing you ample time to get to your feet and drop into the wave.

Look Down Line

With your chest raised like you’re in the upward dog yoga pose, turn and look down the face of the wave in whichever direction you aim to ride. If you’re taking off on a right, look to the right before initiating the rest of your pop-up. If you’re taking off on a left, look to the left before getting to your feet. In surfing, the direction of your gaze will dictate where your board goes. If you turn your head and look down the line, your shoulders and hips will follow.

Bring your Back Foot to the Tail of Your Board

With your chest raised off the board, bring your back foot to the tail of the board, bending your knee over the board’s rail.

Push through Your Back Foot & Bring Your Front Foot Forward

Once your back foot is placed on the tail of your surfboard, push through your foot and raise your whole body to a pushup position with your back foot on the tail and your hands firmly on the deck of the board. Next, bring your front foot forward, plant it under your chest, and rise into a crouched, athletic position. Before rising fully to your stance, look down at your feet and make sure your stance is slightly wider than shoulder width.

Stay tuned to the Safari Surf blog for more surf tips. If you’re a new surfer or an intermediate who wants to brush up on your technique, visit our Costa Rica surf schools and learn from the best instructors in the business.

At Safari Surf School, we teach hundreds of new surfers every year. For many guests, surfing becomes, not just a lifelong hobby, but a passion. We have guests return year after year to further improve their surfing. Playa Guiones isn’t just the ultimate beginner wave, it’s a great wave for progression, where intermediate surfers can learn to generate speed, carve, and turn. If you’ve learned to pop up, bottom turn, and ride cleanly down the wave, it’s time to take your surfing to the next level. Our team at Safari Surf School has put together a list of surf tips to help you achieve your goals in the water. Whether you’re gearing up for a surf trip, prepping for winter swell season at home, or just looking to improve your overall surfing, continue reading below for How to Take Your Surfing to the Next Level with These Intermediate Surf Tips. 

Intermediate Surf Tip #1 Surf the Right Board for Your Skill Level

One of the worst things a surfer can do for their progression is to ride the wrong board. Our number one surf tip is for surfers to spend ample time learning before changing boards. While it may be tempting to jump on the latest shortboard model once you have mastered the basics. You still have a long way to go. Shortboards lack the float and stability that new surfers need. We teach our new surfers on beginner-friendly soft top surfboards. Eventually, those students progress to traditional longboards that allow them to trim, turn, and carve. If students have a desire to downsize further, they then progress to a mid-length, which has plenty of stability and float with increased maneuverability. Once a new surfer has learned to generate speed, carve, and turn on a longer board, they’re ready to move to a high-volume shortboard.

Look Down the Line

Intermediate surfers who struggle to ride on the upper portion of the wave’s face can do so by looking down the line. This surf tip will help surfers who struggle to make fast-breaking waves. When you’re surfing, your head and shoulders essentially act as a steering wheel. Where you look while riding dictates where you go. So, as you get to your feet during your pop-up, turn your head and shoulders and look down the line. Where your head and shoulders face, your hips will follow, and you’ll be riding cleanly down the line.

Surf With Your Whole Body

As you progress as a surfer and begin to ride shorter boards, you’ll need to learn to generate speed. Surfers generate speed by climbing up and down the wave’s face, finding pockets of speed in the wave’s steeper sections. The most effective way to pump for speed is to utilize your entire body. As you drop into a wave and come off your bottom turn, throw your weight towards the wave’s face by extending your body and arms up towards the wave. This shift in positioning and weight will pull you up the wave face. As you rise up the face, compress by bending your knees to lower your center of gravity and descend the wave face with ample speed. 

Lead Your Turns

Just like when generating speed, turning requires our whole bodies. Doing a proper cutback requires several steps. Step 1: compress and shift your weight towards your back foot. Step 2: Start your turn by leading the turn with your hands. Move your leading arm in the direction you want to turn by rotation at the hips and shoulders. Step 3: Follow your lead arm with your gaze, turning your head as you rotate. Step 3: Engage your outside rail as your board rotates through the turn. Step 4: rebound off the white water and continue surfing in the packet.

Surf on the Top Two-Thirds of the Wave  

The top two-thirds of the wave contains 90% of the wave’s speed and power. As an intermediate surfer, you want to increase your time riding on the top two-thirds of the wave. When you surf on the lowest third of the wave, you can’t generate speed or climb the wave face, and the wave will often outrun you. Surfing on the top two-thirds of the wave allows you to use the wave’s power and steepness to generate speed and set up maneuvers.

Whether you’re new to surfing or an intermediate surfer who wants to continue improving, our surf coaches in Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador have what it takes to help you accomplish your surfing goals. Nothing is better for your surfing than an immersive surf trip to a world-class wave. Head to our website to book your trip today!