One woman’s experience at a Todos Santos surf camp
By Wendy Rains. Published in the November 2012 issue of San Diego Magazine

“I felt excitement and outright fear: I’d come to a week-long surf camp for women. I’m 64 years old. I grew up along the California coastline, and spent my life around surfers. But I never understood what makes surfers surf. My friends Bryan and Sergio Jáuregui own an adventure travel business in my current home town of Todos Santos, Mexico, and thought I might like to join a group of women coming to town to learn to surf. I’m game for just about anything, considering that I also celebrated my 50th birthday by getting a tattoo and jumping out of an airplane. But surfing? Now that’s a whole other thing. Even though I am a certified scuba diver, I am totally intimidated by the power of the ocean and waves. My Surfari mates were Aimee, 40, and Paige and Cathy Ann, both 49. I tried not to dwell on how much older I was. In wet suits and rash guards, we practiced and practiced on boards on the sand, hands gripping the boards just right, springing to our feet. I’ve known surf maestro Mario Bercerril for years and I have often heard him claim that he could get anyone to ride a wave in the first hour of instruction. Bunk, I thought. But Mario guided me out, picked just the right moment to push my board in the right direction… and I did it! I stood up and rode that wave all the way into shore! After standing up on my first try, I was anxious to do it again… and again… and again. I was starting to understand the phenomenon of surfing addiction. This was just what I needed to feel: more passion, more excitement, more fun. The other girls felt it, too. At our farewell dinner, our instructors handed out graduation certificates. I was the only one on social security to receive one! But I thought that was totally bitchin’.”