Is Paddleboarding for you?

Are you a frustrated surfer girl?

All of you surfer girls who never have had the time, patience or balance to ride the waves like a pro may fall in love with a new sport to hit the waves - paddleboarding.

Standup paddleboarding has all of the fun of surfing but requires much less finesse and agility. First of all, the platform of the board is much wider and longer than a standard surf board making it more stable. This translates to easier usage in terms of getting up on your board (and staying up). You carry a long paddle with you as your ride and this serves to made balancing and manuevering much easier. You can glide through smooth water or ride a legitimate wave. It really makes for a fun new experience.

But first of all, you have to get to the waves. If you want to try this fabulous need sport head to Hawaii. On Oahu, Turtle Bay Resort (www.turtlebayresort.com)offers lessons through Hans Hedemann(www.hhsurf.com). Hedemann also has lessons on Waikiki. If you're stateside, try Santa Barbara (see, our Adventure Woman University Travelology class on California's Galapagos Islands). Contact Blueline Paddle Surf. (www.bluelinepaddlesurf.com). Lessons are going for $75.

Have you paddlesurfed? If so, let us know what you thought of it!