I'll take cold and uncrowded waves over warm and crowded any day. Been a surfer for almost 30 years. It took me about five years as a single guy in my 20s to feel comfortable and strong and confident in the water. Keep paddling and paddling and swimming and swimming and it'll come. Becoming a strong paddler is the single best thing one can work on without actually surfing that will make surfing easier. Chile is on my bucket list for surf and fly fishing. One day I'll get there. Maybe a crazy road trip from the U.S down through Mexico and Central America and into South America when the kids are on their own.