Buy a Boogie board, under $100.  Go out and use it a lot, and you'll learn most of the things you need to know about being in the surf.  When you feel like you've mastered your Boogie board, you can try a surf board.  With the surf board, you should practice popping up while you're on the beach, because you need to get that part down and in muscle memory before it's going to work in the water.

Some tips:

- Even in warm water, you can get hypothermia.  Invest in a half-suit at least if you're going to be in the water for any length of time.  In the winter, you need a full-length suit.  Real surfers all wear suits, and for a reason.  Swim trunks are fine if you're only going to be in the water for 30 minutes or so, but you won't ever get out that fast.

- Never, EVER turn your back to the ocean.  You can be sitting on flat water for 5 minutes with no wave in sight, but if you let your attention wander, you will quickly find yourself being worked by a big wave you didn't see.  Trust me here: doing gymnastic floor exercises under water when you can't breathe or see is NOT fun.

- The basic principle of surfing is this: the water forms a wave, and the wave has a sloped front.  Surfing is when you are riding the front of that wave so that you are "sliding down the front slope" at the same speed that the wave is moving forward.  On a surf board, this usually means that you'll start out going straight, but as you pick up speed, you have to turn and ride sideways down the wave.  The fins on the bottom of the board are what allow you to steer.

- When you are riding out to catch the waves, you need to duck-dive under the waves that are coming towards you.  This means you push the nose of your board into the base of the wave and dive through it.  If you try to go over the top of the wave, you'll get worked.

- Wax goes on TOP of the board, to give you a surface you won't slide right off of.  It's always fun to watch newbies wax the bottom of their board.  Also, boogie boards are not waxed.

- Finally, the best places to surf are DANGEROUS, meaning they can very easily maim or kill you.  Don't try to surf there.  Find a nice sandy beach with some decent but smallish waves and learn there.  Until you can steer yourself exactly where you want to go everytime, you need to stay away from rocks and reefs.

-Troy