My 10 year old daughter had a lesson with Talia last week during our Hawaii vacation. The…read moreinstructor was so friendly, patient, and very knowledgeable! My daughter said that her surfing lesson was one of the highlights of our trip! Great communication, and I would recommend to anyone with kids to try in the future! Thank you!

Free parking lot for 6 hours and if you follow the lagoon, it'll lead straight to the Grand…read moreWaikikian Hotel. By 8/9 pm, the entire lagoon clears out and it's empty. Private beach to yourself with beautiful weather.

It was our first time surfing and we were comfortable and had so much fun…read more Coach and the entire team was amazing. I was the oldest in the group (including my kids) and Coach and Ryan were super attentive and ensured that I didn't get hurt and enjoyed myself. The team promoted connection that made the entire group of first time surfers and total strangers comfortable and supporting each other. From the time we checked in until the check out, every staff member was friendly and professional.

Excellent communication, rate quoting and responsiveness. Helped me with available times, getting…read morethe lesson booked and getting the payment paid, all in a time-sensitive way since I arrived in Oahu on Monday, was staying the week, but hadn't made advance bookings. Emily made sure all my questions were answered, advising what to wear (I asked), and what to bring to the beach, versus leave up at the shop. Amazing!! Some downsides: it's a BIG group! Even though we got semi-private lesson (1 instructor for the 2 of us), you're still taking the lesson amidst the rest of the "school"(...which for us, was 2 school buses filled with students. Maybe 25 people?) You're then all having your lesson in the same area of water, so imagine 30 beginners all on surf boards confined to a limited area on the water. I didn't love this part. You're assigned an instructor (and each of course has his/her own personality). The instructors were all great: coaching you through the positions, picking the waves for you, pushing you off into them to gather speed, and calling out when to "paddle" then "up". But each instructor inherently comes with a personality and if you get a less aggressive one, you might end up waiting for all the other students to get their turn before you get to go. Then (this part was unexpected)...you have to win all the way across, to get out of the "surf lane" of all 25 beginner surfers, before you can win back out to get in line for your next try. It was a lot of swimming for not a lot of surf trials which really tires you out. By 5 runs, I'd had enough. I have had one lesson before (which I absolutely LOVED!!) but it wasn't as part of a big school, it was just me, and one other student, and the instructor. And there was no 25-50 ft "surf lane" that you had to swim across after each attempt to get out of the way of the other students. this extra swimming ate into a lot of surfing time I think. Anyway, good experience, but I wouldn't do it again in this way. Actually, I'm not even sure I'd do it again at all. I ended up buying the photo footage because I'm so sure I'm off surfing now...so might as well buy the photos, as I'll probably never do it again. That's not how I felt after my 1st experience a few years ago in a different format.

Jenny is awesome! I thought surfing was going to be a pain in the butt to learn, but after 1 hour…read morewith Jenny I was ready for the North Shore, too bad its not winter, I would've been tearing it up. If your headed to O'ahu and are interested in a surfing lesson, look no further!

Amazing morning lesson with Al!! We had a 2hour semi-private lesson in great conditions for $55…read moreeach with the Yelp discount, which is an incredible deal. My boyfriend and I are both snowboarders so are familiar with balance and steering but needed to learn surf applications like popping up and picking waves. Al did a great job of teaching us based on our skill levels and making sure we could do it on our own once we left, gradually giving us less and less instruction. At the end he even taught us how to surf side by side and hold hands, which was very sweet! Al is very clear and knowledgeable, would definitely recommend

I took lessons with Al. He is amazing. Teaches safety and details with surfing for beginners like…read moreme. He is funny but serious when it deals with safety issues, getting up, and getting down from the wave. He took his time with me and made sure I was comfortable before getting out! I recommend these instructors. I did get up on 6 waves and felt confident during the experience. Thank you, Al you are amazing!!!

My boyfriend and I took surf lessons with Al in the beginning of March. We paid for a semi-private…read morelesson at 7am in the morning at the advice of my friend, and it was absolutely worth it! Very long time out in the water, and we didn't have to share our instructor's attention with anyone else! Al took us a south of the crowd, and gave great instructions on where exactly to meet up. He has a safe in his car and had all of the equipment we needed. That early in the morning it was completely empty and beautiful. Al gave really great instruction and felt more like an uncle than a commercial surfing instructor. He made sure we had fundamentals down so I could correct my positioning and form by myself. His critique after each fall were great. When I showed interest in how to read the waves, he happily taught me some things, despite that normally being reserved for the second or third surf lesson. My boyfriend and I were up on the board quickly and for most of the lesson. We were so stoked he let us know where to rent boards on our own for the rest of our stay. If we had had the time I definitely would have booked a lesson with him for another day. But I guess I'll just have to wait until my next O'ahu vacation. :)

Kierran was AWESOME!! We had a great lesson with him. We caught a ton of waves and saw sea turtles…read moretoo! Kierran was super informative and very helpful!! The photos we received were amazing too. The photographer took so many photos of us!! All of the staff were very nice!!

The waves were very far in-between today however they offered to let us reschedule but we went…read moreahead and went for it. And it was 100% worth it. Skyler was amazing with us. He made sure we were ready to go and it was worth every penny. Keith took fantastic photos of us. And this was an experience I would happily do again.

Paulo was a great coach and all 3 of us caught multiple waves. Aura farming: surf lesson at Waikiki…read moreBeach, right at the Duke statue. Great time and value!

If zero stars could be the score it would, but, alas, we're stuck with 1 star. I suppose I should…read morehave done my homework beforehand ... and certainly having Elon Musk as your background picture on Yelp would have been a big red flag .... Avoid: Kahu Surf School. My son was so excited for his first surf lesson and we had signed up with this School based on reviews on Google. I don't even know where to begin - they were late, the photographer no-showed, they didn't have a plan for who would give the lesson, and then they expected my kid - (and this was billed for 6-11 year olds) to immediately grasp it - and this is all before getting in the water (we also had to meet them at an office two blocks off the beach). The instructor told my son to "stop f'ing around" in front of us when he giggled nervously when he didn't get some something perfect immediately. We should have pulled him right there (parenting fail). Verbal abuse is never okay. The surf lesson was an absolute nightmare. The instructor swore at my child repeatedly (including f-bombs) leaving my son in tears, he was impatient with my son as he struggled to learn a new skill, and he seemed to have a little experience or willingness to work with a new-to-surfing kid. Kids need to be told things and receive constant reminders to help them learn. Instead, the instructor was verbally abusive of a child. This was supposed to be the highlight of the trip and instead my son ended up on the beach in tears. The surf instructor took off and paddled away from him as my son was attempting to learn how to navigate on a board and then screamed at him that he was f'ing terrible when my son fell. The whole thing was only 25 minutes instead of an hour. I've reached out to the surf school for a refund (they did give back the photo fee, but have refused everything else and are now LYING that my son is special needs and that I misled them . Our son does not have special needs and is not special needs in any way ... their story has changed ged repeatedly- all to justify financial irresponsibility and verbal abuse of a minor. They tried to say it was my son's fault for not learning his first time out or listening (to verbal abuse). These are kids- they deserve better- and patience is part of it..It was the most unprofessional experience we've ever had and I'm so, so sad for my kid. I would NEVER recommend them and encourage everyone to seek more appropriate options for children's beginner lessons. In fact, the instructor started out saying he would be on the beach watching my son, and he'd come in if he needed help. It was unreal and I think he saw our expressions as he did go in the water with him. Note the photo, that they offer refunds for reviews ... so, buyer beware. I don't suppose I'll get a refund for this? I have also had really strange communications via email with the person I can only assume is the owner and the author of the below response. Each email has changed the story and now he's settled on calling an academically gifted child/swim team swimmer special needs (I think there is maybe a reading comprehension issue? It's alarming and very strange. These are not people I'd want around my kid. It's a violation of yelp and Google to offer incentives for reviews.

I called the day before to ask for a lesson and they told me I could show up to the 10 AM lesson…read moreand said to pay onsite. The surf lesson was both amazing and scary. We were given a 2-minute safety and tips speech before both of us in the lesson were shown how to get up on the board. We each had one attempt to get up while the instructor held the board steady near the beach. Then we paddled out to the waves. We had to paddle far and it wasn't my hands/arms that were tired but my shoulders and neck because you have to keep your chin up to stay out of the surf on your way out. I was able to stand up on almost every wave except the one that was too small and the one I tried to do myself. I can imagine it being unsafe and not fun to try to just surf yourself without any prior experience because the one time I tried to judge when to get up myself, I immediately fell hard into the water and swallowed salt water. Highly recommend it if you are at all athletically inclined. Surfer Girl Academy was very laid back and I liked the instructor John.

Really enjoyed myself. So much in fact that I returned a couple of days later to surf again. The…read morestaff, Yuko, Shuji, Inne & Jake took good care of everyone in the group. They were very friendly, helpful & service orientated. You will get your money's worth in the couple of hours you are in the water, and believe me, if an old, fat guy like me can get up on a surfboard, most anyone can. Yuko also took great photos & video that will provide some fantastic memories of this trip to Oahu. You'll need to look for the white van in the parking lot by the water. There is a small "SGA" on it.

Our family had such an amazing experience! We booked a family surf lesson with our three kids (ages…read more4, 7, and 9), and they paired us with four instructors. I honestly can't say enough good things about the entire team. My two youngest stayed on their instructors' boards the entire lesson, which was perfect for their ages. Their instructors were incredibly patient, kind, encouraging, and so amazing with young children. My oldest had his own instructor who really took the time to teach him and build his confidence. My husband and I were with Sparky, who was absolutely fantastic. By the end of the lesson, every single one of us had stood up and ridden a wave more than once! The instructors made everyone feel safe, supported, and successful, no matter their age or experience. It also gave us peace of mind knowing everyone is lifeguard certified. We had so much fun that before we even got back to the car, my kids were already asking to book another lesson before we leave! If you're thinking about surfing, especially as a family with young kids, I can't recommend Sparky and his team enough.

I (9 year old) took an amazing surf lesson!…read more Sparky is the perfect guy for me, he was so patient! And he was always lifting my spirit with amazing positivity whenever I wiped out on a wave. I loved him so much I took another surf lesson the next day! Since I am a kid it is not too easy but with Sparky on my side the word hard never came my way! Surfing with Sparky is amazing and if you are looking for a successful surf lesson you should definitely go to Sparky's! Love Olivia to Sparky!!!!!