A surfboard with an engine: you need no wave and no paddling, but you do need a while to get the balance right.
It is a surfboard with an engine: no wave needed, no wind needed and no paddling. You control it with a handset and with your body weight.
It is harder than it looks. The first minutes go on learning to stand up and shift your weight, so the fifteen-minute slot is almost all learning; the second slot is the enjoyment.
You always go out with an instructor nearby and inside the authorised area. No licence needed.
Just about the session, and that is exactly why the slots are short. A powered board uses a lot at full throttle, and the slot is set to what the board can manage with a margin.
That is why jet surf is not hired by the loose hour like a kayak. You book a slot with an instructor, the board comes out ready and it is refuelled between sessions. Anyone who wants longer on the water runs two slots back to back.
None beforehand, but you do need balance. Anyone who has surfed, wakeboarded or snowboarded picks it up in five minutes, because the stance is the same and what changes is that here the push comes from an engine rather than a wave.
Anyone who has never stood on a board needs the whole first slot to get up and stay up. That is not a failure, it is normal: the hard part is going from your knees to your feet without the board shooting away in front of you.
It is like it in the stance, in using your body weight to turn and in the feeling of gliding. It is not like it in anything else, and that is the point: no wave needed, no wind needed, and no paddling to get into position.
On a coast like this one, where surfable swell is rare, that is the whole difference. On a flat sea — the worst possible day for a surfer — is exactly when jet surf works best.
Considerably heavier than an ordinary surfboard, because the engine is inside it. On land it is not something you tuck under your arm and walk off with: it is carried between two people or on a trolley, and that is the staff's job, not the customer's.
In the water that weight stops mattering as soon as the board picks up speed. What you do notice is the start: until the board planes it sits low and feels heavy, and that is why the first seconds are the clumsiest of the whole session.
It makes a sound, although considerably less than a jet ski. That is why the activity is done in the authorised area and away from swimming zones: it is not only about safety, it is also about not turning a quiet beach into a racetrack.
That compulsory distance has an advantage for whoever is on the board too. Away from the shore the water is clearer of swimmers and small craft, and you can build up speed without checking either side every two seconds.
Flat water is when the board works best, so a chop complicates the learning far more than it does on a jet ski. On a board, every wave is a loss of balance you have to correct with your body.
With a swell running the slot is postponed or moved, usually to first thing in the morning, which is when the water tends to be stillest. Going out in a poor sea on your first session means spending the slot falling off without ever getting the feel of it.
It is a powered activity that needs balance, so it is not designed for small children. Under-18s can only take part with the authorisation of a responsible adult and provided they have the size and strength to handle the board, which is assessed on the spot.
For teenagers with previous experience of surfing or wakeboarding it usually works very well. For the youngest, the alternative in the same marina is the towed kneeboard or the kayak, which give the same fun without asking anything of them.
| 15 MINUTES | FEE |
|---|---|
| 1 person | ask us |
| 2-3 people | ask us |
| 4-5 people | ask us |
The price is confirmed when you book. Call us and we will tell you on the spot.
If it is not here, call us: two minutes on the phone and it is sorted.
A surfboard with an engine. It needs no wave, no wind and no paddling: you control it with a handset and with your body weight.
It is harder than it looks. The first minutes go on learning to stand up and shift your weight, so the first slot is mostly learning.
No. You go out with an instructor nearby and inside the authorised area.
If you are coming keen, two. The first is for getting the feel of it and the second for enjoying it.
Leave us your number and we will call you. In July and August it is worth booking ahead.
Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola, local 367. You can drop in and see the boats before you book.
At no charge. Going out to see what happens is never worth it.
Life jackets for everyone on board, included in the price.
