Paddle boarding in San Pedro, Belize

My friend Cindy has a cool boyfriend.  He bought her a block of hours of Paddle Board rental in town.  She being both chicken and generous simultaneously, she asked me to join her for a try.  The weather today was perfect for newbies like us.  Cindy once paddle boarded up at Xtan Ha for about 5 minutes, and I’d never tried.

We arrived and “Mike” told us we didn’t need to sign anything, and he didn’t care that the actual certificated Cindy had received had been ruined.  Mike plopped a rather old board in the water, held it there as you sprint across the scalding hot floatation platform (it’s black and baking in the sun).  As you get to the spot where the board is, he hands you the paddle and walks away.

Mike didnt say a word.  There I sat with a paddle in my hand floating out to sea.  Fortunately Cindy had 5 minutes experience more than I, and she instructed me to start on my knees, then pop up to my feet.  You hold the paddle close to the board.  It took me several tries to figure out how to stand up.  I lost my nice sunglasses on what turned out to be my last failed attempt to stand.  I lost my sunglasses, and then was able to stand up, and stayed up for a good long time.

Conclusion:  Paddle Boarding is fun and easy.  However, you will not receive so much as a word of instruction, so practice before you get out past the docks.  The water is nice and shallow, so it’s easy to get back up on the board…a lot.