Montañita – Day 2: Chasing Waves
MONTAÑITA
Day 2: Chasing Waves
October 19, 2025
I woke up feeling ready and excited for a new day. After an hour-long yoga session with Pedro, I felt prepared to take on my next surfing lesson.
Since Carlos thought I was ready to try a smaller board, I was handed one that I could actually carry without making as much of a fool of myself as I had the previous day. We walked a few minutes to the beach, laid the surfboard on the sand and went through a few dry runs once again. I did far better this time round. Sleeping on a newly learnt skill always seems to help me consolidate it more quickly.
The same couldn’t quite be said for what followed. We would be attempting the same thing as the previous day, only now I’d have to do everything by myself. I’d have to paddle out against the oncoming waves. Then, once I’d reach the wave zone, I’d turn the board around and wait for the perfect wave. Then I’d have to get up, get into position and balance on the board till the wave takes me back to shore. Simple in theory, though not quite in practice.
The paddling had me feeling exhausted and so, so sore across my shoulders. The waves I’d choose would either be too big or too small and, more often than not, I’d try and get up too early or too late. Not to mention, every time I’d try to get up, my feet would slip and I’d fall straight off the board. It happened so often that Carlos eventually suggested switching it for one that was slightly wider. For what it was worth, I still suspected the surface grip was more of a problem than the board’s size, but either way, I seemed to be failing miserably.
Twenty-One Metres of Glory
Considering that wider boards are generally more stable, I conceded that perhaps Carlos had a point. Already dead from all the paddling and the constant tumbling, we made our way back to the surf shop and got a wider board.
And lemme just say, it was infinitely better with this one. Even so, having to select the wave, position myself, paddle fast enough and get up without any assistance made the entire process considerably harder. By the end of the session, I had only managed to catch three waves, with the longest ride measuring approximately 21 metres according to my Garmin watch. And those 21 metres? They more than made up for all the paddling and falling. It was 21 metres of exhilaration, freedom and sheer joy at one go.
As incredible as that felt, I can’t say the same about the terrible cramp that suddenly seized my left calf right at the end of our lesson. It left me unable to walk properly for several minutes until I managed to gently stretch and massage the muscle. Even after the worst of the pain had passed, I could only limp my way back to the guesthouse.
Cake Over Waves
I wanted to return to the water and practise on my own, but with my leg temporarily incapacitated, that hardly seemed like an option.
While missing out on an afternoon of surfing was not the worst possible thing, I was worried the cramp might compromise the following days. I only had two days left, and I wanted to surf as much as possible. Mind you, I was fully aware that I wasn’t gonna improve drastically within such a short time, but I wanted to get as much training in as possible. But for now, that would have to wait.
Instead, I spent the rest of the day journalling, chilling and chatting with Patricia – a Venezuelan pastry chef who had been living in Cuenca for around eight years. She had come to Montañita for a couple of days to celebrate her birthday. We talked about anything and everything, including Venezuelan politics, cuisine and the places she thought were worth visiting, as well as her work as a pastry chef. Her skills were something I could personally attest to. The walnut and banana cake she had made left my mouth watering!
Perhaps I hadn’t spent as much time surfing as I’d planned, but good cake and even better conversation made for a pretty decent consolation prize.