Our last full day, we ventured out to Mission Beach. Initially we were going to go surfing again but I heard about the Wave House on the Travel Channel and wanted to check it out. The Wave House has two wave machines: The Flow Barrel & The Flow Rider.
The Flow Barrel incorporates and mimics waves that break over reefs and creates a hollow barrel. It was amazing to watch experience surfers flip, cut, and ride the barrel with ease. Though wanting to try, I reminded myself that I am not that young anymore and haven't surfed in 5 years. Mike on the other hand had more confident in me and inquired about the price. Get this people, for 1 hour, you get to ride the waves for $15 dollars + one time registration fee of $10. That is crazy cheap!!!
After inquiring, we were told that in order to ride the Flow Barrel, every rider needs to get on the Flow Rider. What another wave??!! Where?!! We walked to the opposite end of the Wave House and there we found a much "tamer" wave with no barrel!!! My kind of wave!!
After signing up for the session, Josephine and I, along with Marcos and Mike sat to watch the group before our session take on the Flow Rider. It was fun and funny watching people get on the board and then wipe out. The group we watched had about 10 - 12 people in it and we calculated that each would get about 5 times on the board. As 3 o'clock rolled by, I started to get nervous - mainly because I didn't want to get hurt - especially while falling (which I expected to do more than stand on the board.
To our excitement, we found out that that there was only 5 in our session - more riding time!! For fun, riders can also boogie board.

Below is one of my first attempts, after getting over the fear of falling and finding out that it doesn't hurt at all, I was more confident and focused to master the board.

Our instructor Logan was a huge help in that he would tell you how to improve on your ride; because our group was so small, we were all able to get a semi-private lesson. He noticed that I kept opening up my right shoulder and shifting my board to the right instead of going straight - which is what you need to do. So he taught me to reach down with my left hand and skim the water - actually straightening my board. I was so stoked afterwards!!!

So those of you visiting San Diego soon, this is one to put on your to-do list. And although I love surfing, I love this even more because you don't have to wait for the wave, you don't have to paddle out (which is the most taxing ) and you get the "perfect" wave each time...Did I mention it was only $15 dollars?