Surf's up in Canada … in the winter

While some may choose to stay indoors during the frigid and snowy Canadian winter, Vesa Luomaranta tries to make the best out of the cold weather.

But he doesn't play pond hockey or go for a ski, or even try his hand at ice fishing. 

Luomaranta surfs. Why?

"For the love of surfing. For just the love of the waves," Luomaranta, who owns Superior East Board Shop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., told The Current host Matt Galloway.

And while the waves may not be as warm as the north coast of Oahu along the Hawaiian islands, Luomaranta says there's no shortage of places to catch some winter waves in Canada. You just have to be okay with a bit of snow and ice. 

Luomaranta's favourite spot is Lake Superior, but others take their board to places such as Tofino, B.C., and the East Coast. Surfers say winter waves hit different than their tropical counterparts, and they're the best Canada has to offer, so if they want to surf, winter is the time.

Jess Dimis wasn't so sure about surfing in cold waters, but a push from a friend got her onto the board. And even though the trip off the coast of British Columbia was a much different experience than her first expedition in Costa Rica, she was hooked. 

"Even my coach at the time, he said he saw the look on my face and knew that it was a game changer for me," said Dimis, who now teaches surfing at Surf Sister School in Tofino. 

"It's kind of changed my life since then. I absolutely fell in love with it." 

For former professional surfer Dean Petty, surfing in the cold is a part of his upbringing. While he's able to make trips to more tropical locations now, his first surfing experiences were in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Nova Scotia. 

"There's some romance to the pain of it," said