Richard Schmidt Surf School

The best part about traveling is trying something new. It’s even better when you get to watch someone you love experience something that you can give them. As we drove around Santa Cruz, we kept seeing advertisements for Surf schools. My son, Diego was up to the experience and challenge. We stopped at the first one we saw called Surf School Santa Cruz. He didn’t have any available time for that day however he did recommend going by Cowell’s Beach Surf Shop. So we headed toward the Santa Cruz Beach to find parking, which took some patience to park a big Sprinter van. We called Cowell’s Beach Surf Shop to acquire more information on lessons. They gave us the name of the guy in charge, Richard Schmidt. He runs the surf school and lessons. We called and made arrangements for a 2:15pm lesson. We had just enough time to trek it down the far and steep sidewalk from where we were parked to the shop. Cowell’s Beach Surf Shop is right smack in the heart of Santa Cruz Beach. It’s in the busiest intersection!! I’m really relieved that we walked because there was no way we would find parking for Pablo. Can you find Pablo in the picture?

We go inside the surf shop to rent the surf board and wetsuit. Their prices were reasonable. All day rental for a surf board and wetsuit was $40. We got the board and Diego quickly put on his wetsuit inside the changing room at Cowell’s Surf Shop. Mr. Richard Schmidt was already outside and quite a few people gathered up for the lesson. Everyone gathered up their board, and walked across the street to Cowell beach, located by the Santa Cruz Dream Inn and the Lighthouse state landmark.

The surfers headed towards a special spot called Pleasure Point Area to begin the lesson. This area is located off East Cliff Drive and 38th /41st Avenue. We parked right above this spot! What great luck because it was beautiful and the weather was P-E-R-F-E-C-T!! Plus we could watch our son learn how to surf.

Walking in Pleasure point.
Guiding surfers along.
Over looking East cliff.

They first started on the sand and were given instructions. After about a 30 minute or so on the sand, they headed out to the water. It was very exciting to watch him from above over looking Pleasure Point Area.

My son never tried this before and as you can see, they taught him well. He was able to land a few waves. I highly recommend Richard Schmidt Surf School. The guys took care of my son and taught him how to surf. Diego had an awesome and unforgettable experience. Would he do it again? Absolutely! Look at his smile!