I’m Gaspard, a French surf instructor and the creator of The Pocket Surf Guide.
Before teaching surfing, I spent much of my adult life abroad. I lived and worked for nearly a decade in Beijing, where I eventually supervised a team and trained new employees. Designing and delivering clear, practical training sessions for new employees was one of the parts of the job I enjoyed most.
I later spent two years travelling and working across Australia, before continuing through Portugal, northern Spain and the Canary Islands — three regions with strong surf cultures and very different conditions.
When surfing became a bigger part of my life, I naturally brought that training experience with me.
From training people to teaching surf
I’m an ISA Level 1 certified surf instructor. I have taught in Somo, on Spain’s northern surf coast, and in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, and I have also worked within a surf camp in Portugal.
Along the way, I have surfed in France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey, experiencing different waves, conditions and surf cultures.
Teaching beginners reminded me of something I had already learned in my previous career: good instruction is not about showing how much you know. It is about understanding what the other person needs, breaking things down clearly, and giving them the tools to become independent.
Why I made The Pocket Surf Guide
After teaching many beginner surfers, I kept seeing the same questions, the same misunderstandings and the same mistakes.
Most people do not need more information. Too much information kills information. They need the right information, explained simply, at the right moment.
That is why I created The Pocket Surf Guide.
I wanted to take the explanations I found myself repeating during surf lessons — technique, positioning, common mistakes, safety and small details that make a real difference — and turn them into something simple enough to carry with you and use again and again.
Not a textbook. Not a replacement for time in the water. A practical companion to help you understand what you are doing and progress with more confidence.
Respect · Joy · Freedom
Respect
Respect the ocean and the people around you. But also respect yourself. Learning to surf takes time. Some sessions will feel easy, others frustrating. Progress is rarely linear. Be patient with yourself.
Joy
Surfing should be fun. Improving matters, but so does enjoying the process, sharing waves with other people and appreciating the simple fact of being in the ocean. If progression takes all the joy away, something has been lost along the way.
Freedom
My goal as an instructor is not to make someone dependent on lessons. It is the opposite. I want to share what I know, explain why things happen and help surfers gradually make their own decisions. The goal is autonomy.
自在 — ZIZAI
Zizai expresses an idea of freedom, ease and being at home in what you do.
For me, that is the long-term goal of learning to surf. Not perfection. Not performing for other people. Not trying to control an ocean that can never truly be controlled.
It is reaching a point where you understand enough, feel enough and trust yourself enough to move through the water with greater freedom.
You never completely master the ocean. But you can become more at ease within it.
Discover the guide →