We all have to start somewhere. It’s the one experience every surfer shares — yet it’s the one that seems oh so easy to forget. We asked surfer/writer Lisette Drew to remind us of how it happens. Here in the first of a four part series, an adult Lisette dives back in to the thing she fell for as a kid…

Before the summer of 2022, I could count on one hand how many times I’d surfed in the last 15 years. Now, two years in, I can’t imagine my life without it.

I grew up in Newcastle, a surfing mecca. Like many young surfer girls my age, I dreamed of becoming the next Layne Beachley. After begging my parents, I eventually received a 6’4” Guru Shapes thruster from Swansea Surf Shop for Christmas and I couldn’t wait to get out there. I joined the surf squad for school sport and it was a thrill hitting the water and catching whatever I could.

Days at the beach with family and friends. Just a regular weekend growing up in Newcastle! Lisette is the last one on the right – white hat, polka dot top.

Swansea Surf Shop – where Lisette’s parents bought her first surfboard. It’s still thriving today.

But being a young woman in a lineup of experienced male surfers was extremely intimidating. Every time I paddled out, I felt I was being watched, scrutinised and judged. Like I wasn’t allowed there. That pressure, on top of the usual teen angst, kept me from fully embracing the sport.

At 18, I moved to Melbourne to pursue a career in the arts, which further distanced me from surfing. It wasn’t until 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world upside down, that I reconnected with the ocean through open water swimming in Port Phillip Bay. That regular salt water cleanse got me thinking about learning to surf again, but the 5km travel limit meant the closest surf spot was, literally and legally, out of reach.

In 2022, with the pandemic passing, I looked for a way to release the stress from the day-to-day. I had heard about Urbnsurf Melbourne – Australia’s first wave park, an oasis in the wastelands near Tullamarine Airport. It piqued my desire to surf again, so I convinced my friend Xani to come along to a learn-to-surf class.

Girls paddle out for a full female take over of Urbnsurf Melbourne. Photo: Ed Sloane

Learnings: There’s never a bad time to start surfing.

They say you should take this wild thing on as young as possible. Lisette wanted to have a go when she was a kid, but she didn’t feel like she belonged. Fifteen years later, with some adult confidence, she jumped back in…and she doesn’t sound any less stoked for the wait.

Pre-surf smiles at Girls Go Urbnsurf Surf and Sip. Photo: Ed Sloane

Urbnsurf generates waves through a central cylinder, creating separate areas for rights and lefts. Waves shoot out at the point where surfers wait eagerly to catch one. From the shore the waves looked big, and all those teenage feelings of intimidation flooded back. But as we collected our boards and wetsuits, my nerves turned to excitement.

We began in the bay, surfing 8’0” softboards in the small white waves that a surfer out the back had already carved up. Our coach helped us get into position and take off, but it took a few wipeouts for me to finally get to my feet. When I stood up, my grin was as big as the board I was riding. Surfing after such a long hiatus, even just in whitewater, was the most ecstatic feeling.

Re-learning to surf as an adult is like starting fresh. Now in a full-grown adult body, the feeling on a surfboard is different to what I remember. When I was young, it felt like I was flying across waves, but now, in my 30s, it feels more like a dance.

Lisette’s first cruiser session, getting a feel for the waves. Photo: Ed Sloane

As luck would have it, that afternoon at the park was a Girls Go UrbnSurf event, where the wave pool was booked out for an all-female takeover. Initially nervous to stick around (since I just started surfing that morning!), all my worries disappeared when I was greeted by 50 enthusiastic women. After some group yoga stretches, we took to the water together. The first wave I caught I was up on my feet and I couldn’t believe it. The beginners class really did help, not just my skills but my confidence too.

Cheers of encouragement were heard from all around the park with women scoring waves left and right, all with smiles on their faces. Just sharing in that joy made me paddle out again and again. Looking out into the ocean of women, I thought: I have never seen an all-female lineup. This was the opposite of intimidation. If I’d had this kind of support when I was a young surfer, I wouldn’t have hesitated to get out in the water.

Yeah the girls – a community can start from anywhere. In this case the Girls Go Urbnsurf Surf and Sip day. Photo: Ed Sloane

Learnings: Catch as many waves as you can.

Lisette’s early re-start experience is telling — she did it in a pool, where you can catch a bunch of waves from your first surf. Doing this is the only thing we know that for sure works, to improve both your surfing and your enjoyment of it — no matter your age, skills, or whatever spot you’re keen on riding.

Q&A with Isabella Nichols, Coolum board riders Brisa Canina and Livy Corvisy, and the writer of Surf Life Gill Hutchison. Photo: Ed Sloane

I had women to chat to all afternoon about surfing, all at different levels of experience. I talked with pro surfer Isabella Nichols, who had joined us for the day. She gave some stoke advice about just getting out there, never feeling judged in the water, embracing the bruised ego and keeping at it.

There began my renewed love affair with surfing. I didn’t know how much I missed the feeling until I was out there. I began going to weekly classes at Urbnsurf, building my confidence up with the excellent coaches there, and swimming every other day to work on my paddle strength. I soon graduated to surfing green waves out the back on the cruiser setting, the most gentle and mellow wave at Urbnsurf.

Not bad for their first wave of the day. Photo: Ed Sloane

It’s cool making new friends, there’s so much to talk about. Lisette post surf debrief. Photo: Ed Sloane

Those first few green waves were a revelation to me. I was really doing it. I was really surfing. Learning to surf in later years is a humbling experience, embracing the wipeouts, the sunburn, the chaffing, the bruises and discovering muscles I never knew existed. But it’s those moments on the wave, those seconds of joy, that have me paddling out every day I can. I’m not trying to be Layne Beachley anymore, I’m just trying to be myself.

The question remained though – would these skills in the wave park translate to the ocean? I was about to find out when I moved to Queensland that summer.

There is something vulnerable about being an adult learner, but it’s also empowering. Photo: Ed Sloane

*** Big thanks to Nick Carroll and Hannah Anderson who have been so supportive in getting my story out there in the surfing world! I’m so excited I can share it with you all! This is one of four stories in the journey! Read the journey here: https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/ecstatic-feeling-learning/213546