Welcome to Love The Surf Life!

Hello, and welcome to Love the Surf Life!

We are Greta and Alejandro, an Italo-Venezuelan couple living in Tenerife and chasing waves around the island.

Welcome to our blog for beginner and intermediate surfers. Here you can find out more about us, why we started this blog and why you can trust us to actually help you improve your surfing. 

About Alejandro

Originally born in Lima, Peru, I was brought to Venezuela when I was 8 months old, my mother’s birth country. I was raised in this beautiful country, travelling through several states due to my parents’ work.

One day my parents decided to settle in one place which, luckily for me, was between mountains and the ocean. I started surfing at 12 years old, and since then I have not been able to detach myself from the sea and its waves. 

Thanks to surfing I have met extraordinary people, I have lived unique experiences, I have managed to obtain job opportunities that I never imagined I would have and above all, it gave me an unimaginable style and quality of life.

I have around 25 years of surfing experience. During this time I have had many jobs related to my professional career, but I never stopped being close to the sea and the surfing world. This tie to the sea has led me to combine my professional career with my sports experience, creating our first surf school together with a friend.

Before this I worked for several years with Quicksilver, where they gave me the opportunity to train with the FVS team (Venezuelan Surfing Federation), and achieve the title of surfing sports instructor granted by the ISA (International Surfing Association). 

After a few years I started my own Events and Tourism company, which led me to have the opportunity to participate in the organisation of world surfing championships together with the FVS.

The following years I had to emigrate from my country, and return to my origins where I was born.

In Peru I put into practice my experiences from Venezuela, where I was able to work in world-class events, brands and personalities recognized throughout the world (world level, of course, always in the world of surfing).

I then decided to cross the Atlantic, and by chance I ended up on another Island, which has become my home from the first day. Here I return to the water as a surfing instructor and surf coach in a school located in the south of the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, Spain. 

I worked there for approximately 4 years, and that’s when I met Greta, a travel blogger who escaped from London and the corporate world.

Personally, surfing has been the biggest door I could have crossed to achieve both my professional and personal goals.

For me surfing is more than a sport and a lifestyle, it is growth, friendship, respect, family, personal evolution, goals of life, love, but above all, FREEDOM.

About Greta

Originally from Milan, I lived in London for 10 years before escaping from the big city life and moving to Tenerife, in search of year round sunshine and waves.

I was born and raised in big cities, but I was lucky enough to always spend my summers on the beautiful island of Sardinia, in Italy. This gave me a love and passion for the sea that the bustling city life of London and Milan could never satisfy.

I moved to London at 18 to study Geography at University College London, and after a 3-year degree, I found myself working as a management consultant for a Big Four company. Needless to say, my corporate stint was pretty brief.

Less than two years later, in spring 2017, I quit my corporate job to pursue my dream to travel and blog about it.

It wasn’t always an easy learning process, but I’m proud to say that travel blogging has been my full-time job for the past five years.

Despite always being on the road, London was still my home and I used to come back whenever I wasn’t travelling.

It wasn’t until the events of 2020 that I started wondering what I was doing in London, and felt the need to find a new home that had the beaches, waves, year-round sunshine and hikes that I always searched for on my travels.

By complete chance I ended up in Tenerife, originally for a 2-week winter escape, and the rest is history.

About Love The Surf Life

A year later we decided to pool our knowledge and create Love The Surf Life; a blog where we share all our life experiences about this beautiful sport and lifestyle. 

Greta is a new surfer, but knows exactly the struggles that beginners face when first starting out, especially those picking up surfing as adults.

With his 25+ years of surfing, 8+ years teaching, an ISA certification and corporate experience, Ale is fully qualified to teach people how to start surfing and, for those who have already started, how to improve.

Love The Surf Life is specifically for beginners and intermediate surfers, as we felt there was a lack of such knowledge online.

There are many amazing resources out there, but most of them are targeted at intermediate to advanced surfers, and they often overlook the basics for new surfers.

This blog is the go-to resource for people who are starting out on their surfing journey.

Whether you want to know how to stand up on a surfboard, what surf essentials you need to learn to surf, or how to start paddling beyond the white foam, here you will find all of that and more!

So what are you waiting for, check out some of our most popular surf guides below and let’s start surfing!

How Long Does it Take to Learn to Surf?

The 4 Surfing Levels  & How to Discover Your Level!

60 Epic Surfing Quotes to Inspire Your Surfing!

30 Best Gifts for Surfers They’ll Actually Love!