Is it worth taking a Surfboard with you on your Family Holiday

A couple of days before our family holiday to Fuerteventura I scoffed at a friends remark regarding where he said ' i wish i had a free sport like surfing that I was into. ' .  It was those words 'free sport' .  It's a phrase that has always been attached to surfing;  for sure it originated as a free sport.  Back when some Hawaiians grabbed a log and paddled out.   I started listing the costs to my friend of what was needed to surf all year round here.

SurfBoards -  at least 3 to cover all conditions.

Wetsuits - winter and summer wetsuits.  Possible a shorty; if you're going on holiday.

Wetsuit boots, gloves, cap.

Leash x 2  .  just incase one breaks while your in the middle of decent session.

Car Surfboard Rack & Straps and Car!!!!

Key safe. 

Tail pads

Board Bag

Surfboard Wax

Petrol

Money for Car Parking.

And after spieling out such a list there's only one thing he could say and that's 'is it worth it?'

Its a phrase that I've had said to me a few times over this winter; due to it being so cold.  And also a phrase that was weighing on my mind while trying to decide whether to take my surfboard on our forth coming holiday.  The last 2 family holidays hadn't been successful for me in regards to getting waves.  After calculating cost it was quite possible I was spending well over £100 a surf.  After having a look at the forecast I decided to take a punt.  Being a dad and a surfer is a balancing act and never more so than when on holiday, I'd be limited to 3 or 4 days where I could surf at best.  And as it panned out it wasn't until 5 days in that I got to snatch my first session.  A shoulder high wave at Los Lobos.  My board choice had been perfect for here; not too steep a take off with some slack sections you need to pump through.  It was fun but was the price per wave count worth it? 

On my second surf day I'd opted not to go drag the family over to Los Lobos again; that in itself is 40 euros for the ferry from Corralejo.  A north easterly wind meant many other spots where extremely messy.  After an entertaining afternoon of driving through the mountains we eventually got to El Burro.  Nothing to write home about here: a 7 second period - Rocks to beach dump.  The kind of wave you wouldn't bother with in the winter at home, but let's face it; it wasn't the winter and with the water warm enough for a surf in a shortie or even just boardies it was good fun and even the search had made for an enjoyable day.  Enough for me to momentarily abandon counting the cost of waves. It is what is. Plus my board choice had been perfect for here, for the second day in row.
The following days were spent snorkeling at Caleta de Fuste and a day by the pool, as requested by the kids. 
I'd been keeping my beady eyes on the swell and the last day was looking more than promising; with a 8ft swell from the north and offshore winds for the west coast.  I had a break near Majanicho in mind but on arrival it wasn't quite big enough and Majanicho and other volcanic reef breaks along this stretch would be too big for my 5'8 wingnut.  We headed over to el Cotillo - I'd surfed there before and I knew it should be fairly good on the low tide.  There's also beaches and rock pools here that are good for the kids.  I'd lucked out; it was pumping.  And a decent barrel on set waves. 

At that moment I wish I'd packed my 6'4  .  I'd got a couple of the smaller ones as pictured here but  I wanted one of those barrels on the set waves. 


However I was getting nailed on the steep take off.  After stacking my second set wave and getting a proper drilling it seemed a good idea to take the go pro off.  The price per wave would go up drastically if I'd knocked that one off my board.  So your going to have to take my word for that fact that in the end I managed to make a couple of decent set wave barrels. 



At this point in the trip they're was no doubt in my mind whether taking my surfboard was the right thing to do, my only regret was not taking a second board.    I say 'at this point'  as a day later at 2am while carrying my sleeping 4 year old daughter out of the airport; ruck sack on my back, surfboard bag over 1 shoulder, laptop bag in the other hand and with my wife carrying the same amount of bags; that I realised at this stage of being a parent that traveling with 2 boards still isn't an option.