Learning to Noseride: My First Attempts with a Nose-Mounted GoPro Rig | Surf Diary 9/13/25
- Laura Day
- Sep 23
- 5 min read
Welcome to my Surf Diary ✨ I keep a surf journal after almost every session, and here I share those entries — the lessons I’m learning, the waves I’m chasing, and the memories I never want to forget. Each diary connects to what we’re exploring inside The Surf Société, where I’m learning from mentors alongside an amazing community of women surfers. 🌊 Follow along on my surf journey — and if you’d like to learn with me, join Surf Société.
🌟 Intentions
I created a GoPro rig that allows me to mount the camera off the nose of the board. I wanted to free up the space on the deck so I could practice noseriding. Today my intention was to take the new set-up for a spin and see how it would work for both GoPro surf footage and improving my noseride attempts.
🌊 Session Details
Date: 9/13/25
Spot Description: North County San Diego break known for multiple reef/sand combo waves that can go left and right.
Wave Height: 2–3 ft
Wind: Low wind
Crowd: Weekend crowd, more crowded than I anticipated!
✨ Reflections
I’ve been a bit nervous about taking out the new GoPro mount. People can be judgmental in the lineup, and having a custom camera mount off the nose of the board is too obvious. Without the mount, my friends say I’m very easy to spot in the lineup. Even from a distance, they can’t miss my bright green board with a big yellow and red swirl on the deck.
I hesitated the last few sessions, but finally decided today would be the day! I must take this mount out and give it a go, no matter what other surfers might think. If not now, never!
At the end of the day, the GoPro is here to:
Give me feedback so I can improve my noseriding technique.
Allow me to document my session so I can share the journey.
The latter is particularly important to me because I want to show others that learning to noseride is not this elusive trick. When I finally get there, I want you to know that with the right tools, guidance, and support you can do it too!
Before today, the GoPro was mounted on the deck. Now the GoPro extends off the nose on a small boom rig I dreamed up and engineered.
As I approached the break I watched the waves come in. My mind was in noseride mode—scanning the sets for a steep open section that might allow a noseride. In order to achieve the noseride, wave choice and setup strategy are key.
Inside our Noseride Blueprint Series in The Surf Société membership, we learned all about what type of waves and sections give you these opportunities and how to take advantage of the wave shape to set yourself up. I could see an inside section forming that had great noseride potential!
That got me excited. My intentions for this session were formed: set up for the noseride and give it a go!
I had a few attempts. No success, but as our mentor Erin "Worm" Ashley said in The Noseride Blueprint, “The way to learn which waves to noseride is to learn which waves not to noseride.”
I boiled this down to FAFO—Fuck Around and Find Out. My quest for the day: look for the noseride setup and section, then run for the nose and hopefully get some GoPro footage of me failing.
🏄 Attempts
Attempt #1: Angled Takeoff to the Nose
One of the strategies for a noseride setup is an angled takeoff. Once you pop up, you run straight to the nose. Our mentor Tessa Timmons mentioned that this is probably one many people have the skill to do—in parts—but executing takes guts and good timing.
A wave opened up for me and it was steep, I would have to angle my takeoff no matter what. As I paddled I strategized: I would pop up and make a run for it. I did just that! The wave did not stay open and I totally wiped out.
Note to self: That is not a noseride wave.
Attempt #2: Noseride Hunting Mindset
Some may not consider this an attempt, but I’m counting it. I took a last-minute left that a girl missed. The wave stayed open. As I rode, I hunted for a potential noseride section, doing little turns and working on setting the board. I was trying to find comfortable trim that would allow me to take a cross-step forward.
I didn’t find it and I think I would have needed more strategy from the takeoff, which I didn’t have time to evaluate. If I did, I perhaps would have had a takeoff that gave me a quick chance to run to the nose at the beginning of the ride. Either way, I was noseride hunting, and I’m proud of going into this wave with that mindset.
Attempt #3: Cross-Stepping Off the Nose
I took a right and did not have a noseride strategy from the takeoff. I don’t remember exactly why or what happened. As I rode I did get 2 cross-steps in and I found myself in good trim. I took 2 more steps and just ran right off the nose!
Success! This is one of the things you should be doing when you’re learning to noseride—take yourself to the end of the board and jump right off.
Lesson/Takeaway:
I learned a few things from this session:
Check your GoPro mode. Unfortunately, it was in timelapse so I didn’t get video of these attempts, but I did get a few still frames.
Why an angled takeoff works for noserides. I had only seen it done before. With the pictures, I was able to see that the angled takeoff puts the board in the collapsing part of the wave, and also probably collapses the wave over it. That’s what causes the tail pressure needed to run up and balance on the front.
Expand your awareness while wave reading. In Attempt #1 I didn’t know what the wave was going to do after the takeoff. That’s ok because I was in FAFO mentality, and you need to be able to fail to confront the things you don’t know. I later brought this up to Worm in our last workshop in The Noseride Blueprint, and she was able to give me some tips on how to better identify an open section before paddling into the wave.
A new way to read waves: unlocked!
🏄♀️ Surf Tip
Next time you paddle out, pick one FAFO wave: commit to an attempt, even if it’s a wipeout. You’ll learn faster about what works—and what doesn’t—when practicing noserides.
💌 Want to learn more about the art of noseriding? Come learn with me! 🌊
Inside The Surf Société, we’ve created The Noseride Blueprint — our workshop series that demystifies surfing’s most iconic maneuver, the noseride. You’ll get access to expert workshops, practical drills, and insider tips to bring you closer to the nose.
Not ready to join yet? Grab our free resource: The Surf Lady's Guide to Noseriding: 10 Mentor Backed Tips for your noseride journey — 👉 Download the free guide here
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