What students gain from Summa Love:
Confidence, Self Esteem, New Friends/Connections, Environmental Knowledge, Surf Culture Experience, Physical Fitness, Yoga Experience, Lifeguard Training Experience, Open Ocean Safety Experience, Teamwork, Dedication, Compassion and Integrity.
Safety is our #1 priority. Anything can happen in the ocean with little or no warning. All students must always listen to Summa Love instructors. All beginners will be in separate groups than intermediate and advanced students. Grouping is based on age and ability level. To become part of the advanced class, the student must be able to successfully catch a wave on their own and be able to go down the line either right or left. This must be done at least 3 times. They must also have all the necessary knowledge about surfing including etiquette, duck diving, communication, paddling back to the waves in a safe matter, (If a surfer is going down the line while you are paddling back out, you must paddle the opposite way of the incoming surfer even if it means taking the brunt of the wave on your head) open ocean safety, (If caught in a rip tide, the student must know how to get out of the rip tide by not fighting it but going with the rip paddling parallel to the beach to safety) and carry all necessary safety equipment on their surfboard including nose guard, leash and rubber tipped fins (fiber glass boards). Students are not pressured to become advanced because each student is unique with their own learning curve. Instructors will be with the student to coach them and help them progress at their own pace while teaching them all their knowledge from years of surfing including everything mentioned above.
● Beginner Class – All beginner students practice all the basics on the beach first before entering the ocean. On the beach students will learn how to paddle, stand, practice surf etiquette and achieve all safety requirements. Students stay in shallow water catching white-water waves to the beach.
● Intermediate Class – Students will now be able to surf waves further from the beach no more than 50 yards and be able to catch waves on their own no bigger than 2ft. They are now learning to ride waves down the line either right or left. All safety requirements must be met before moving on to advanced level.
● Advanced Class – Students must successfully complete all levels, pass the surf test mentioned above in the first paragraph and obtain all safety requirements to become part of the advanced class. This class can go mobile in search for the best waves. Advanced class is great
for students who want to take their surfifing to the next level. Students are expected to perform cutbacks, floaters, off the lips and barrels in waves no bigger than 3-4ft. They are encouraged to compete in local contests with plenty of support from our instructors. They are also invited to help teach less fortunate kids how to surf with Summa Love Community Camps. Advanced class is the beginning of the next stage in a young surfer’s life. They are part of Surf Team Summa Love and are now accredited through Summa Love to safely surf on their own. We hope this program will produce more world class surfers from New Jersey. Next step after advanced class is Jr. Instructor. Must be at least 16 years old to work at Summa Love as a jr. instructor.
What To Bring – Warm dry clothes, extra sun block, extra water, dry towel, sandals, bathing suit, rash guard, lunch Monday-Thursday and extra water. We supply extra water, extra rash guards, extra sun block, pizza on Friday, wetsuits and surfboards.
Locations – Long Branch location: 1 South Bath Ave, Long Branch, NJ 07740
Break Time – ALL students have to remain on the beach with the remainder instructors for beach activities. Beach activities include beach sweeps, run the bases, soccer, kickball, baseball, volleyball, football, ultimate frisbee, skim boarding and body surfing. All students must also carry their equipment to the tents after surfing.
Camp Refunds – If you need to cancel prior to 4 weeks of your week beginning, we can issue a full refund with no cancellation fees. Within 4 weeks of your week beginning and at least 48 hours notice, we can put you on the waitlist for future camp dates, if space becomes available for your makeup. Please note that camp does sometimes sell out for certain weeks, so makeup dates are not always available and can be limited. We post on our website as soon as weeks sell out and will add you to a list of dates for makeups that become available. Within 4 weeks notice for cancellation if you are not available for a make up, we can issue a refund with a $100 cancellation fee. If you cancel with at least 2 weeks notice, we can issue a 50% refund. Cancellations 48 hours before your week begins, we do not issue refunds or make ups.
Scheduling – Students who sign up for a week come to camp consecutively for the week M-F. If students can not make camp everyday during the week with at least 1 week notice, we can add you to a waitlist for a make up. Please note that camp does sometimes sell out for certain weeks, so makeup dates are not always available and can be limited. We post on our website as soon as weeks sell out and will add you to a list of dates for makeups that become available. We do not issue refunds for days missed that were reserved prior to camp starting. All students should complete their enrolled camp days before the summer is over to avoid losing the days completely. No make up camp days can be carried over into the new year.
Substitutions – We do allow substitutions prior to your student starting their week of camp and we do ask for at least 24 hours notice for any substitution with new name and email. Any payment arrangements must be handled outside of Summa Love processing, we will only substitute the student and do not issue a refund. Once the student starts camp for the week, we do not allow substitutions. We do not allow substitutions for multi week sign ups or sibling substitutions once the student starts their surf camp.
Communication- When signing your student up, please make sure your email is included and accurate. We send out a weekly email with important information 48 hours before the week of camp begins. We also use email to alert for weather events, time changes, and additional important information. Please check your email regularly and always before heading to camp.
Poor Weather – We will make the final call the morning of camp. If we cancel or delay camp, we will email everyone reserved and also post on the website on the bottom left of summalove.com with at least 2 hours notice. If we cancel camp, we issue a designated make up camp on the Sunday directly after the surf camp week. *If you can not make the designated make up date, you will lose the day completely. No make ups will be permitted outside of the designated make up camp date. If thunderstorms hit 1/2 way through the surf camp, we evacuate the beach immediately and wait until the storm passes to resume surfing or we cancel completely and extend camp the next day for additional surfing time. Make ups will not be issued for thunderstorms/ weather related issues outside of our offered makeup or extended camp.
NOTE – WE OPERATE RAIN OR SHINE! Some of the best surfing conditions happen when it is raining. If rain is in the area with scattered showers and overcast skies, we will most likely be surfing with surf camp OPEN. We have plenty of wetsuits to keep the kids warm. If rain is heavy/drenching, it’s cold out and very windy with rough seas and the forecast calls for the whole day to be like that, we most likely will cancel. Year to year we only cancel surf camp due to poor weather 0-2 times the whole season! Just because rain is in the forecast does not mean we will cancel surf camp or lessons. If your student misses camp due to the weather and camp is ON, your student will not be given a makeup. Please send Summa Love and email with any absences.
Rip Tides – The ocean may also be too rough to run a surf camp with strong rip tides. We will email and post updates on the website if we need to cancel due to strong rip tides. Majority of the time if the surf is rough, we will not cancel and take the kids out 1 at a time with rotation closer to the beach with other ocean and beach activities for the students to participate in. We do not issue any make ups or refunds for rough conditions if we do not cancel camp. Camp counselors will make a collective decision about canceling camp if the surf is too rough.
