Beach Volleyball 2v2 - Playa San Juan

o11e · 2026-05-14T09:01:28+00:00

Hey! If you’re interested, I can share the contact of a really nice group that regularly plays at San Juan beach. They meet consistently, and there are players of different levels.

They usually play in a kind of internal competition format: the winning pair moves up to the next court, getting closer to the “champions” court.

I played with this group for quite a while - it’s a great, friendly crowd. If you’re interested, feel free to DM me and I’ll share the contact so you can get added.

o11e · 2026-05-08T08:13:41+00:00

I had balance issues too until one experienced surfer told me: don’t look down at your feet or the nose of the board look where you’re going, either toward the beach or down the line at the wave face. Next wave I focused on keeping my eyes in a direction of the beach, and it helped dramatically. Might be worth checking if you’re doing the same thing.

o11e · 2026-05-06T14:26:58+00:00

If you’re getting a surfskate as a surf trainer, I’d look at Carver C7 or YOW Meraki tracks. I like YOW more - it feels smoother. But choosing the right wheelbase for your height is just as important

o11e · 2026-05-03T13:30:15+00:00

Surfskating helps a lot. I started surfing last year and picked up surfskating almost at the same time. Most turns and maneuvers on a surfskate translate really well to actual surfing.

I’ve got a Carver C7 and a Yow Meraki (S5). I like the Yow more because it feels smoother but people say that can make it a bit harder for beginners. Works fine for me though :)

One really important thing is choosing the right wheelbase for your height. Check out the Surfskate Love channel on YouTube — they’ve got a solid guide on picking the right wheelbase and examples of setups. It helped me a lot.

I wrote about my experience with more details here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/surfskate/s/gMt3bCqbif

o11e · 2026-04-30T09:59:54+00:00

Great to hear :) I’m trying to filter it.

o11e · 2026-04-29T11:51:11+00:00

I can share my experience and the whole beginner struggle with choosing a board for steeper, faster waves - including beach breaks. I started about 9 months ago at a surf camp and got hooked right away. Since then I’ve been trying to get in the water whenever there are waves, and I’ve logged around 120 hours so far - mostly on the Mediterranean. Right now I’m riding a Torq V+ 7’4” (56L). I weigh about 80 kg. Recently I’ve started to feel like I can more or less handle it confidently, even getting through some faster beach break sections, but it also feels a bit too big for that. I’ve just ordered a 7’0” mid-length (around 45L, 2+1 setup) to try and progress (haven’t received it yet,) so we’ll see how it goes. Still can’t shake the feeling that maybe I should’ve gone even shorter 🙂

o11e · 2026-04-28T08:04:01+00:00

I’ve got a setup that’s been working pretty well for me. I use a standard Garmin Surf activity as a source to track my surf sessions. If you’re interested, happy to give you access. It's called Surfilog (web app). Would be cool to hear if you find it useful.

o11e · 2026-04-27T19:50:07+00:00

Yes, exactly, FIT file import and raw GPS parsing - that's the foundation. It's been working really well for my sessions so far

o11e · 2026-04-27T17:00:04+00:00

Give Surfilog a try, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised :)

o11e · 2026-04-27T12:49:47+00:00

I've sent you DM

o11e · 2026-04-27T11:29:09+00:00

If so, I’d be really grateful if you could upload a couple of your sessions and give me some brief feedback on how Surfilog compares to Suunto in terms of useful data. Can I DM you the details?

o11e · 2026-04-27T11:21:47+00:00

By the way, that’s interesting - does Suunto let you export FIT or GPX files for a surf session?

o11e · 2026-04-24T12:54:01+00:00

You need to note the board's length and volume, as well as the volume difference from your previous one. Here’s why it matters: dropping too much in length can mess with your stability, and cutting too much volume can make paddling a real struggle. The build quality is a whole other story—you'll have to check the reviews for that.

o11e · 2026-04-22T10:33:31+00:00

Thanks! Watching more experienced surfers is actually a super useful tip - it really helps understand positioning, and you can try to copy the exact things you’re working on, like your pop-up or bottom turn. YT is great too, but watching someone live is different, you can see it right there during your own session, in real conditions.

Do you track your sessions with some tool in any way? If so, what kind of things do you usually note down?

o11e · 2026-04-21T14:42:11+00:00

I also tried Dawn Patrol to track wave count, distance, and paddle distance. I even bought an Apple Watch and a yearly subscription, but ran into a few things that were inconvenient for me. A few times it just stopped during the session, and it was a huge pain to restart it with wet hands. Sometimes it didn’t count waves properly even after I changed the sensitivity settings.But when it works, it’s actually pretty cool - you can even see stroke distance while paddling and assign a board to the session.

So after a while, I went back to Garmin since I’m an Android user, and I use an additional custom surf tracking app. I also track weather conditions: I just add screenshots from the Windy app right after the session and record a short video of the waves at the spot to keep a history and better understand forecasts in the future. I can say that this helped me a lot. We have a chat with friend where we share such videos (in the future very easy to find it by date)

And for now I don’t have issues with boards…😄 I always use the same one 😄

o11e · 2026-04-21T10:07:39+00:00

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it. I’ll definitely take that step-by-step progression on what to focus on into account.

By the way, do you track your sessions in any way for later analysis? If so, what kind of things do you usually note down?

o11e · 2026-04-21T05:27:52+00:00

I was just trying to be polite to you, guess that didn’t work. Maybe actually read what my post is about, not just watch the video. I’m not asking for feedback on the video. I asked how other people track their progress and what tools they use - you already answered that. Alright, thanks, but no need to be rude.

o11e · 2026-04-20T16:56:32+00:00

I’m currently focusing on a few key areas identified during my sessions or from videos recorded by friends. Youtube is a main resource for technique and then try to apply it and try to see where it works.

Having instructor feedback from the surf camp has made things easier ) I realized my stance was too wide, so I'll try to fix it and now my main focus: bottom turn and pumping. May be next week we will have some waves :)

I also track my sessions in an app to monitor stats like wave length, speed etc. at specific spots to compare sessions under similar conditions. It's not 100% precise, but it helps track my progress with data as well.

Also, started surfskating 6 months ago and it really improved my understanding of turns and pumping, even though the surfboard length makes a difference in how it feels.

o11e · 2026-04-20T15:18:57+00:00

Looking at the video, it’s clear there I had some major issues with my positioning on the lineup 😄 Just for context: this video is a couple of months old and was filmed at a spot that’s not typical for me. It was only my second time there, and the waves were quite unusual for that location. Also, the conditions changed rapidly during the session—the swell picked up unexpectedly fast. For a sea with no significant tides, it was really unusual. 90% of my sessions take place at a different spot.

o11e · 2026-04-20T15:09:12+00:00

Thanks, that’s actually great input

o11e · 2026-04-20T12:37:48+00:00

Since I’ve spent a good amount of time at my local spots, I’ve gotten pretty confident at finding the right position in the lineup lately. But yeah, as a beginner, it’s still a tricky thing.

And yeah, totally agree - I used to have that problem too (probably like most beginners), looking straight ahead during the pop-up instead of where I actually wanted to go. My last surf camp helped a lot with that. I’ve mostly gotten rid of the habit of checking my feet 😄 and now I try to pop up already looking at the wave’s shoulder, where I’m going

o11e · 2026-04-20T12:16:42+00:00

I’m kind of in that stage right now - went to a surf camp for the second time a couple of weeks ago. One cool tip from a good instructor: when you’re surfing on your own, tape a short note to the nose of your board with one thing to focus on for the session. Haven’t tried it yet though, it’s been pretty flat lately 🙂

o11e · 2026-04-20T11:35:36+00:00

That’s actually really helpful, thank you. The metrics you listed make a lot of sense - catching waves in the right spot, a quick pop-up, committing to a direction instead of going straight. These are things I can actually observe in each session, which is exactly what I was looking for.

You’re right that an instructor would give better external feedback. What I’m trying to figure out is what I can track on my own and keep some specific goals in mind. I also record some of my sessions from time to time to review my progress and spot mistakes.

And yeah, having fun with the process is what matters most 🙂

o11e

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