With about two weeks left of school, summer break is just around the corner. There are several activities to partake in during the summer, there is no activity that screams summer more than the beach. However, once on the beach, there are still a ton of things to do, so which one should you spend your time and money on? Well, the answer is surfing, and we’ll throw body surfing and boogie boarding in there, too, since they are rungs on the same ladder.

Starting with the first rung on the ladder, boogie boarding is the easiest of all three types of surfing and even children can manage to catch waves on them. Thee little board is easy to carry and to pack, making it an easy item to bring to the beach and can be great fun when in the water. The concept is to take the board out to about chest height in the ocean and wait for a good wave to crest practically on top of you.

Then you jump away from the wave and hold on and hope that the wave catches you. If you catch the right wave, the current will take you all the way back to the shore. Boogie boarding is very quick and one can fit several runs in within a trip to the beach, making it a great way to pass the time and spice it up just a little bit.

Next, we’ll go over surfing since, unlike body surfing, it has a board. When you go surfing for the first time, don’t expect to be riding waves by the first day. It isn’t even guaranteed that you will stand up on the first day either.

It took my sister three days to finally be able to stand up on a board in a wave and I only stood three times before I had had enough salt water in my nose, called it a day and dug a hole for my six-foot three friend.

The trick to beginning surfing is to first figure out how to get that motion in the ocean and catch a wave without actually standing up. Learning what waves are the best to catch, when to start swimming away from it and how to stand up on the board are all difficult to describe and are best experienced and practiced, much like driving a manual car it is all in feeling the car and learning its quirks.

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Different surfboards have different balances and require their process to learn how to ride, so the best way to learn how to surf is to just go out and do it rather than hear about it. When you do catch a wave though, it is very hard to want to come back to shore since the thrill of the ocean is strong and difficult to resist. Surfing is a must for any beach aficionado.

The final kind of surfing is that of the body variety. This version requires no board, no floaties and only your body. The objective of body surfing is to catch a wave so that it lifts your head up to the top of the wave and you can see the shore getting closer while the wave is surrounding the rest of your body. The trick to catching a wave this way is like a combination of boogie boarding and surfing. About chest height is a good distance, waiting until the wave is cresting like boogie boarding and then you need to swim away from the wave as fast as you can like when surfing.

When the wave hits, you will end up closer to shore, regardless of whether you caught it or not, so make sure you can hold your breath because it will thrash your body around a bit. Without a board, this is probably one of the more dangerous versions and can probably lead to drowning, but if you are smart about it, you should be fine.

Just be ready for all the salt water that will go up your nose and for the waves to have their way with you for a little bit. However, if you can fund the right balance and ride the waves with nothing more than yourself, it make a case for being the most fun of the three.

So the next time you go to the beach for the summer break, look up the local surf rental shops and rent some equipment. The best way to experience the summer on the beach is by riding the waves, so go out and catch some gnarly waves, bro.