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The 12 Best Surf Towns for People Who Can Barely Stand Up Yet

You don't need to be good at surfing to have the best week of your year in a surf town. You need mellow waves, cheap board rentals, and a place that won't smirk at your wipeouts. Here are the 12 best surf towns for beginners who can barely stand up yet.

Here’s the thing nobody tells you about learning to surf: the wave matters less than the town. A gentle, forgiving beach break is great, but if the lineup is full of glaring locals and the only board rental wants $60 a day for something built for an expert, you’ll have a miserable time and quit by Wednesday.

The best surf towns for beginners are the ones where the waves are soft, the foam boards are cheap, and absolutely nobody cares that you fell off seventeen times in a row. I’ve fallen off in all of these. With great enthusiasm. Here are the twelve where falling off was actually fun.

1. Sayulita, Mexico

A scrappy, colourful little town on the Pacific coast near Puerto Vallarta with a long, slow, sandy-bottomed wave that practically apologises for existing. Boards rent for next to nothing right on the beach, the lessons are cheap, and the town itself — taco stands, string lights, dogs everywhere — is a good time even on flat days. My pick for a first-ever surf trip.

2. Weligama, Sri Lanka

The name literally means “sandy village,” which tells you everything. A wide bay of soft, rolling beginner waves on Sri Lanka’s south coast, lined with surf schools that are cheerful and dirt cheap. Warm water, no wetsuit needed, and a turtle or two might paddle past while you’re flailing about. Genuinely one of the friendliest places to learn.

3. Taghazout, Morocco

Just north of Agadir, this old fishing village turned surf town has a beach break called Panorama that’s perfect for beginners and a string of board-rental shops at honest prices. The water needs a light wetsuit, but the sun’s out, the mint tea is endless, and the whole place runs at a pace that suits someone learning slowly.

4. Canggu, Bali, Indonesia

Yes, it’s busy now. But the Batu Bolong beach break is a beginner classic for a reason — slow, gentle, sandy, with surf schools and cheap rentals every few metres. Get out early to beat the crowd, then reward yourself with the café scene that’s made Canggu famous. The water’s warm enough to surf in a swimsuit.

5. Lagos, Portugal

The Algarve has beaches for every level, and the smaller bays near Lagos give beginners a sheltered, manageable wave with cooler but very surfable water. Plenty of camps will pick you up, kit you out in a wetsuit, and stay with you in the white water. Plus you get the whole gorgeous Algarve coastline on your days off.

6. Raglan, New Zealand

Famous for a near-perfect point break that the pros chase, sure — but the Ngarunui Beach out front is a soft, sandy beginner zone with a dedicated surf school and patient instructors. The town is tiny and laid-back, the kind of place where you’ll get to know the café owner by your second flat white. Wetsuit weather, but worth it.

7. Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

A jungle-meets-ocean town on the Nicoya Peninsula with consistent, beginner-friendly beach breaks and a relaxed pura vida attitude that takes all the pressure off. Board rentals are everywhere, lessons are reasonable, and the road in is so bumpy that only the committed make it — which keeps it from getting too slick.

8. Ericeira, Portugal

A whitewashed fishing town north of Lisbon and a World Surfing Reserve. The famous waves are for experts, but tucked between them are gentle beaches like Foz do Lizandro where the schools take beginners. The town is charming, the seafood is unreal, and it’s an easy day trip’s distance from Lisbon if you want city time too.

9. Byron Bay, Australia

The wave at The Pass can get crowded, but the long, mellow beach breaks around Byron are made for learners, and the town is built around an easygoing, barefoot energy that makes flailing in the shallows feel completely normal. Wetsuit optional in summer. It’s not cheap, but the beginner setup is excellent.

10. Montañita, Ecuador

A small, ramshackle, party-adjacent town on Ecuador’s coast with a forgiving beach break and some of the cheapest lessons and rentals you’ll find anywhere. The vibe is young and loose. If you want to learn to surf in the daytime and not be precious about your evenings, this is your spot.

11. Tamarindo, Costa Rica

The other great Costa Rican beginner town, on the northern Pacific coast, with a gentle river-mouth break and a wide, sandy beach perfect for learning. More developed than Santa Teresa, so easier to get to and more to do — lots of schools, lots of rentals, warm water, and reliable small waves most of the year.

12. Bundoran, Ireland

For something cold and characterful: Ireland’s surf capital, with a beach break at Tullan Strand that the local schools use for beginners. Yes, you’ll need a thick wetsuit and a strong constitution. But the craic is unbeatable, the lessons are well run, and there’s something brilliant about warming up in a pub after a freezing flail in the Atlantic.

Town	Country	Wetsuit?	Cost
Sayulita	Mexico	No	$
Weligama	Sri Lanka	No	$
Taghazout	Morocco	Light	$
Canggu	Indonesia	No	$
Santa Teresa	Costa Rica	No	$$
Bundoran	Ireland	Thick	$$

How many lessons do I actually need? Two or three to get the basics — paddling, the pop-up, ocean safety. After that you can rent a board and practise on your own in the white water, which is where the real learning happens.

What should I rent? A big foam-topped board (a soft-top). They float, they’re forgiving, and you won’t hurt yourself or anyone else when you inevitably lose control of it.

When’s the best time to go? Shoulder season, usually. Smaller, more manageable waves, warmer-than-you’d-think water, cheaper lessons, and instructors who aren’t run off their feet.

Will the locals hate me? Not in these towns. They’re chosen partly because beginners are normal there. Just learn basic lineup etiquette, don’t paddle out into the expert break, and you’ll be grand.

Rent the big board, surf the dawn, and wipe out with your whole chest. The people having the most fun out there are almost never the best surfers.

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