I was just thinking back to our California vacation that we did a short while back. One of the biggest highlights from our trip was our surf lessons. My son and I joined with some friends to get a group lesson from Barry at "Making the Drop". To help out, Barry brought his good friend Tyler Fox (pro surfer - how cool is that???). So, for a couple hours, these two guys helped us figure out the basics of surfing - paddling out, looking for the right wave, getting on the board, etc. They were both SUPER patient and some of the friendliest guys around. To this day, I'm still positively affected by Barry's laid-back take-it-as-it-comes attitude. I'll always remember him saying, as we're floating out in the water with dolphins watching for waves, "how can you hate your job when your office looks like this?". I can see how Barry is an effective life coach as well as top-notch surfing instructor. Whether you are a strong swimmer or not, love the ocean or not, I would highly recommend some lessons here. Learn something about yourself as well as life, in general, with just a few hours on the water with Barry. It'll change your life. read more

Barry is an amazing coach. This is not just a surf lesson, but a relationship with someone who will help guide you through your surfing progression. I cannot recommend Barry highly enough. read more

Why I chose Making the Drop: I bought my first board a month ago, and have gone out 2-4 times a week since then. Another surfer, after seeing me struggle with catching waves, suggested a lesson. She has surfed for 5 years, and still takes lessons from Barry when she hits a plateau. That recommendation carried a lot of weight since she caught a lot of waves when I was out. In addition, the reviews on Yelp and other places were top notch. The Surf Lesson: Barry doesn't follow the cookie cutter approach, but instead looks at a lesson like that of a coach in any other sport or discipline in life, as a long-term relationship to improve one's craft, and in this case, it's surfing. I wanted to focus on wave selection, my paddle technique, and catching waves primarily, with wave riding being secondary. Barry taught how to read the waves, the lineup and how to maximize the amount of waves, paddle technique, pop-up technique, and would give feedback after each wave. He found several things I could work on to improve catching more waves, and gave very helpful and positive feedback. Overall Barry is a great guy who loves what he does, and is very good at getting results for students. The Day After: I think the best way to judge a coach or a lesson is based on the results you get the next time when the coach isn't there. In my case, the results were stellar. I took the lesson yesterday, and I went out today for an hour because that's all the time I have. I caught at least five waves with solid rides, one of which was definitely the longest of my life, all at the second bowl at The Hook. I would definitely recommend Barry, and I intend to call on him for another lesson when I hit a plateau. read more

Barry is an awesome surf instructor, and a really high quality person. I took a group of friends (6 of us) down from SF to get a group lesson. Barry was really responsive (via email) throughout the planning process, all the way up to the morning before we met at the beach. He took care of all the gear (wetsuits / boards) that we needed. He met us at the beach on time, ready to go with his boards. Our group was mostly first timers and beginners. He was super attentive and patient with all of us - he really had a good balance of working with us individually and as a group. He really crafted the whole lesson to teach us all about the mental/spiritual as well as physical/technical things we needed to know in order to get started with surfing. The spot he chose for us was also beautiful - we even got to surf with some dolphins! After the lesson, he offered us his contact info in case we wanted to shoot him questions or get advice on gear. Barry is a genuinely awesome guy that wants to share his knowledge of surfing with you. Without a doubt, Barry is your man in the Santa Cruz area for surf lessons. read more

My boyfriend and I recently took a 2 hour semi-private (aka just the two of us) lesson from Barry. While it was my boy friend's first time surfing, I had been a couple times. Barry was wonderful at teaching to both our levels. We found each other a little before the lesson; Barry was scoping out the waves to see wear we would go. It was great to learn about wave choice and about picking your spot among a crowd. We then suited up and went down to the beach, walked along the shore till we got the desired spot. In the sand we learned proper methods to stand up. (SO HELPFUL!) Once in the water we played on some smaller waves for an hour - an hour & a half. Once my boyfriend was tired, Barry took me out to a different spot with bigger waves. He helped me snag my biggest wave yet. Overall I would highly recommend Barry. He gives great advice and helps build confidence. read more

Making The Drop in one word - Awesome !! Barry and his team continue to deliver an amazing surfing experience each and every time we hit the surf. The team at (MTD) Making the drop are true professionals that take the time needed regardless of your comfort level in the water to ensure you have the best surfing experience possible. With out fail the MTD team has been able to get even the most novice of my friends up on a wave their first time out !! The MTD team is amazing with kids !! From 4 yr to 14 yr the MTD team makes the ocean adventure a fun and educational event for the kids. If you are looking for a true surfing experience with real professionals you have to surf with Making the Drop !! read more

My feelings for Barry can best be expressed by an Electric Light Orchestra song: You're sailing softly through the sun in a broken stone age dawn. You fly so high. I get a strange magic, oh, what a strange magic, oh, it's a strange magic. Got a strange magic, got a strange magic. You're walking meadows in my mind, making waves across my time, oh no, oh no. I get a strange magic, oh, what a strange magic, oh, it's a strange magic. Got a strange magic, got a strange magic. Oh, I'm never gonna be the same again, now I've seen the way it's got to end, sweet dream, sweet dream. Strange magic, oh, what a strange magic, oh, it's a strange magic. Got a strange magic, got a strange magic. It's magic, it's magic, it's magic. Strange magic, oh, what a strange magic, oh, it's a strange magic. Got a strange magic. Strange magic STRANGE MAGIC oh, what a strange magic STRANGE MAGIC oh, it's a strange magic. Got a strange magic. Strange magic STRANGE MAGIC oh, what a strange magic STRANGE MAGIC oh, it's a strange magic. Got a strange magic, got a strange magic, you know I got a strange magic, yeah, I got a strange magic, oo-o-o-oo, strange magic. read more

I took my 15yr old daughter and her best friend to Santa Cruz for surf lessons with Barry this past weekend. Neither of them have any surf experience at all and were scared of the waves at first. Barry was a great instructor. He's calm, patient, and explains everything thoroughly. My daughter commented that she liked the fact that he had confidence in them and it made them feel less scared. It also helped that he found the perfect spot to surf! They were both surfing by the end of the lesson! We paid for a two hour session and he didn't waste a single minute. Both girls were dead tired by the end of the two hours and had to ask him if time was up. lol. We're already planning our next trip back to Santa Cruz and plan on calling Barry for follow up lessons. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! read more

Barry is the best - I planned surf lessons with him as part of a bachelorette weekend for 5 people; this was our first time trying to surf (all of us, total novices). He was very responsive in the planning process, really professional & on time, gave great advice, made a 5 person lesson feel really personal and overall made sure we all had fun. I think we all ended up standing up (which I was convinced was impossible) and actually surfed!! Amazing. I think we all want to quit our jobs and take up surfing! Or at least go back for more lessons :) Book with Barry, you won't be sorry! read more

Barry was rad. I wanted to get my girlfriend into surfing and she wouldn't do it without lessons, so we went to Barry. He did a good job at making her feel at ease and comfortable in the water. I'm a beginner but had surfed a little before, and was super helpful for me as well. He's prepared, attentive, and overall just a cool dude. Will be going back for more, hopefully can coax the GF into buying surf gear :) read more

Making the Drop made me look at Memorial Day in a whole new lease. Barry was so optimistic about the wave energy that we all stood up by the end of the day. read more

Barry was great with our 2 kids. They both got up on the board several times, had a great time and had a completely positive experience with Barry. I highly recommend Making the Drop Surf School. Great, Great Job giving them confidence and a fun experience. read more

Barry was a great coach. He gave immediate feedback and when I made the adjustments I was able to ride a wave and do a little turning too. This was my first time surfing and I would recommend Barry to anyone wanting to learn. read more

Awesome! We were standing up by the 2nd wave. They were professional, punctual, they prepared before going in & took great care of us!

Barry is an awesome teacher. This was my second surfing lesson, but first one with him. I really like his style - feeling the waves and getting secure with standing/positioning myself on the board. I also got more familiar with reading the waves in order to utilize my time and energy more efficiently. Highly recommend him! :) read more

We recently had Barry take out our 9 year old for a surfing lesson. We'd just gotten back from a trip to Maui where our son had taken some lessons and got bitten by the surfing bug. We had a great experience with the guy teaching him in Maui (ironically a Santa Cruz transplant) and a bit worried we'd not find someone as good back home in CA. The worries were for not, our son loved going out with Barry and can't wait to go again. Barry puts out a great vibe and IMHO does well to teach surfing "the right way." In Hawaii they just want you to stand-up so they put you on a board the size of a garage door and teach to you to pop-up by getting to your knees first, which I think is cool to get you excited about the feeling of riding a wave, but if you do it longer term, there's obviously more to it. Our brief experience with Barry is that he's exactly the right guy to help our son get more out of it. Can't wait to get him out there with him again. Thanks Barry. read more

Barry and his team are great! We took our kids to surfing lessons a couple years ago in Maui and they were eager to surf again. I found Barry on Yelp. He was quick to respond and was available for us on a Sunday. He and a helper took our 4 kids (13, 12, 10, and 8). They did such a great job with the kids. They were all able to stand up and enjoyed their time! I will definitely be contacting Barry again! read more

I found Barry on the yelp site and had high expectations based on the reviews. Our experience surpassed expectation. He had a great read for my 10 year old son, my boyfriend, with some surf experience, and me, mom, just hang'n to have some fun. Beach lesson was great, water safety right on, sense of timing and success ...perfect. I will recommend without hesitation and my son now aspires to make surfing a part of his life and so do we! read more

I cannot say enough good things about Barry. My friend and I went down to Santa Cruz for a private lesson - she had been a few times, it was my first time. Barry was great with both of our levels. His style is very relaxed, encouraging and fun! I felt comfortable right away even though I was nervous in the beginning. His instruction was so helpful and I even rode a few waves! The location Barry chose was perfect for beginners and it was an amazing experience. I will definitely go back to Barry for another lesson! read more

Had a great time almost catching waves that I would have gotten no where near without Barry's expert guidance and positive vibe!

I haven't even had a lesson with Barry yet, but he is deserving of five stars for being an incredibly honest businessman. I had a lesson scheduled with him today, and he emailed me this AM saying the waves are small and I could reschedule if I like. That kind of honesty in any business is so unusual these days. Thank you Barry. read more

I recently moved to California and had friends visiting from Wisconsin. We decided to spend a few days at the beach in Santa Cruz and decided to take surfing lessons from Barry at Making the Drop. I cannot say enough great things about him and his friend Tyler, who also provided lessons for us. We had two adults, a 4 year old and a 10 year old taking lessons. They took time with each of us to make sure it was a positive and wonderful experience. They didn't stick to a rigid time line or rush us, we all received personalized attention and amazingly all got up on a surf board (well I stood for a nanosecond before blocking my nose and chickening out). If you are looking for lessons, you want to hire Barry at Making the Drop. Both he and Tyler were amazing with our children. Have fun surfing and choose Making the Drop, you won't be disappointed!!! read more

If you want to improve your surfing fast, take a private lesson with MAKING THE DROP! I caught more waves and progressed fast with the pro instruction of Barry. I was seeking a one-on-one lesson with an accomplished instructor to maximize my time on the water, and that is exactly what I got with MAKING THE DROP. I already knew how to paddle out and catch a wave, but Barry helped me tune my paddling stroke, set up in the pocket, and read the water to find more ride-able waves. Barry took time on the phone to understand my current level of surfing, what type of boards I was riding, and what I was looking to improve upon. He set me up with his board "The Magic Carpet", we hit the water, and I was up and surfing better than ever. I borrowed Barry's board the next day to practice what we had covered and found that I was lining up and catching waves all by myself by following his instructions! The third day I surfed with Barry again and found for the first time that I could surf three days in a row by practicing good technique, which reduces fatigue. Barry brings excellent attitude, patience, and skills which translates his love for the ocean and surfing directly to you. Bottom line; get more by choosing Making the Drop over a "big numbers" surf shop lesson program. read more

I've taken several surf lessons before, but none have been as helpful as Barry's. I was looking for someone who could address the specific problems I was having as beginner but not a novice. I didn't want to just be pushed into waves, I wanted to figure out a thing or two about catching them myself, and Barry had me catching more waves in my hour with him than I had all year. I was worried that my new knowledge wouldn't translate to my more tricky home break back east, but I saw a noticeable difference in my abilities upon my return. The way he grounds his lesson in a philosophy applicable to life in general is a great bonus. If you are from out of town, stay in his sweet place too! read more

Barry has helped me and SO many people that I have referred to him. I came to Barry after just surfing for the first time in Hawaii. He is such a great teacher for beginners and more experienced surfers. He is also great with kids! My 7 year old nephew came to visit from Missouri with zero experience, and he had such a great time and did great riding the waves. Barry is a nice guy and super reliable. You will definitely have a great time if you paddle out with Barry. Anytime someone asks me for a recommendation, I give them Barry's number without hesitation. read more

I went surfing with Making the Drop a few years ago, and the reason I'm writing the review now is because I am still telling the story to my friends---about how great it was. I surprised my friend for her birthday and we had a semi-private class. But no one else had signed up so it ended up being private :) I was in touch with Barry via email to set the whole thing up and he was always very quick to respond and accommodate us. Barry wasn't our instructor....our instructor was this guy in his 20's...I think his name was Adam or Abraham? Something like that. He was SO good and got us on some waves in a little bit. We struggled quite a bit at first but he told us he won't let us leave until we each surf a wave. It was amazing. Solid good memories from that experience and I am still telling people how lovely it was :) They never made us feel bad about being so terrible, everything was lighthearted, humorous and fun. read more