Excelling at water sports, like aging gracefully or enjoying dried fruit, requires acceptance of pruney fingers. Outfit yourself for aqua play with today’s Groupon: for $49, you get a two-hour surf lesson at Whitlock Surf Experience in Carlsbad (a $99 value). Today's Groupon also includes board and wetsuit rental for the full day.

Led by lifelong surfer Rusty Whitlock (RW) and his sons Cory and Ricky, Whitlock Surf Experience draws on generations of wave-riding wisdom to help surf students find their webbed wings, year-round. The shop's CPR-certified instructors emphasize safety and fun as they turn the Pacific Ocean into a practical classroom, keeping the student-to-teacher ratio at a five-to-one maximum to ensure individualized attention and prevent doubling up of Marx Brothers nicknames. Students will gain an introduction to all critical surfing skills, from paddling out and standing up to catching waves and evading errant seaweed, setting them on a path toward eventual ocean mastery and a new career as a courier to sea turtles.