First time learning how to surf and it was the best experience. My instructor, Justin, was super helpful and friendly. He was a great instructor and taught me what I needed to know to stand on a board and surf. Wee! He always had answers to my questions and gave great feedback. As we waited for waves, he was a great conversationalist- gave me some food recommendations and places to hike that were around the area. read more

Jack was fantastic. He was instructive, attentive, and relaxed. Would highly recommend SBSS as your go to.

I really wanted to learn to stand up and Ally got me up my first try! I got a good foundation to keep practicing, which is what I wanted. It was super easy to book last minute, there was good communication between booking and the lesson to make sure I came to the right place prepared, prices were good for the area, and the 1.5 hr ween by in a flash! Definitely recommend! read more

I had a great experience with Owner/Instructor Greg Lewis. It's a small outfit, but he provides all the gear you'll need, a pre-beach lesson, and a gaurantee you'll stand up and actually ride a wave. Before my lesson, I warned him that putting me in the ocean was like trying to bathe a cat, but that I really wanted to take a lesson...and asked him if he was honestly up to it. He said, "No Problem!" And kind of chuckled. During the lesson Greg was very present, and very patient. In a nutshell: If I can do it, you can do it. read more

My kids 16 and 9 had a lesson with Daniella today and she was amazing!!!!! The boys had so much fun and stood on the board quite a few times. Highly recommend this surf school! Thanks daniella!!! read more

This is the second summer in a row, our kids (now ages 12 and 10) have taken lesson from SBSS and they are AWESOME. Both kids surfing good waves at Mondos and catching them on their own. Their instructor Daniela is kind, patient and just all-around awesome. Thank you!!! read more

So my sister and I took our very first surf lesson, and i'm so happy we chose to take our lessons with Santa Barbara Surf School! Will was our teacher for the afternoon and he was so helpful and we had a blast! Will went over safety, form, and answered any questions we had. We will definitely be coming back for another lesson! I just wanted to update! I've taken two more lessons (with Daniella and Abe) and I've literally had the best time. Everyone here is so nice, kind, and helpful! They really want you to have fun which makes the time out in the water even more enjoyable! read more

Awesome time.... Griffin is da bomb. He taught me and the fam how to catch some serious rippers!!!! Awesome teacher of the shred! Highly recommend Super fun for us first timers!!! Thanks Griffin read more

Awesome company and very awesome instructor, Kaitlyn G. I treated my son and his daughter (7 years old) to surf lessons Father's Day 2017. Fantastic experience and Kaitlyn rocks ! read more

Santa Barbara Surf School - Coach Kaitlyn and Layla from Beverly Hills, June 2017 - Surfing Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Had an incredible first-time-ever surf lesson here! I'm 36 and had never been on a board. So I was definitely nervous that I wouldn't be able to pop up and ride. But Elias took me out and helped me catch wave after wave. That dude is steadfast and supportive and even when I'd wipeout hard, he'd coach me on what went wrong and how to catch the next one. I'm hooked now. Planning to get my own board. And can honestly say, there's nothing like the feeling of catching a wave. Wouldn't have been able to do this without the lesson. Honestly, it changed my life. Couldn't recommend these guys more! read more

Nick was my instructor and this is my 3rd lesson with this surfing school. Nick was a great instructor. He encouraged me all the time made me feel comfortable. I was able to be on the wave by myself. Highly recommend!! read more

We couldn't have asked for a better first surf experience for our 9 year old twins. Carson and Ally were both amazing, fun, knowledgeable and focused on safety. You can tell they love surfing and love their job! They had them standing up right away and they caught so many waves. We live in the Bay Area but will definitely be back for lessons and/or surf camp. read more

I booked a two-hour lesson with Jeff and it was well worth it! He's super positive, extremely knowledgeable, and helped me gain confidence as a new surfer. I even caught a few waves! read more

Santa Barbara Surf School - Jeff taught me techniques and then we got out in the water for the real lesson! - Surfing Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Tony and Nick are super cool and helpful instructors. Helped me catch my first wave! Highly recommended.

My son and I surf all throughout OC and San Diego and we are looking for some new spots to check out this summer. Instead of calling a local surf shop I thought I would call the guys who help people ride waves for a living. Thank you to Mitch for helping me with a few spots to check out in the Santa Barbara area for the summer of 2018 read more

My 15 yo son has had a few surf lessons and his experience with Nate was the best so far - he literally said "5 stars" once his lesson at Mondo's was done. He was so stoked, he kept the board for the day and he wants to get a board when we get home! read more

Nick took my 13 year old nephew out to surf for his first time ever...and he was so great that we're going back tomorrow. My nephew said that Nick was "savage" and the "lesson" was lit. read more

John was my instructor and I had an awesome time today. I'm new to surfing and had been out once with an experienced buddy before and several times on my own. Those times, I never got up on my feet and felt wobbly in the water. After about 30 min of instruction today, I was on my feet and riding waves. It was an awesome experience and I would highly recommend this surf school to everyone. read more

Patrick and Randy were great in their instruction of my 2 teenagers. Neither one of my kids had been surfing before and were a bit nervous going into it, but after getting the wet suits on and talking with the guys from Santa Barbara surf school they were ready to go! They were up on their boards in no time and had an absolute blast. The location they picked and the time for the perfect waves made it super easy for them to learn. Would definitely recommend them to anyone who wants to learn how to surf! Thanks for the experience guys! read more

Santa Barbara Surf School - Surfing Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

My husband and I chose Santa Barbara Surf School to try out surfing for the first time on a trip to California. Directions to their van were easy to follow. They had all the equipment ready to go when we arrived including wetsuit (necessary for November). Abe made our lesson easy to understand and fun, especially for two novices. He helped get us in the right spot in the ocean to be able to catch the best waves and instructed us on when to stand up. We had a great time and hope to return. read more

Amazing group of people. Had Brody has my instructor and he was awesome. Super nice, helpful, and fun. Got up multiple times during my first lesson and am hooked. Will definitely be renting a board and suit from these guys moving forward. read more

Took surfing lessons through this company and our experience every step of the way was top notch. Nick, our surf instructor, was one of the most, knowledgeable, positive, understanding and upbeat people I have ever met. He really made this an awesome experience for my family and got us all hooked. He not only cheered for us when we caught a wave, but cheered for people around us who were surfing and not part of our group. His passion showed through and I could not give a better account of our experience with the Sabra Barbara Surf School than the one I had. Thanks guys! read more

Greg and his guys are great. My wife, my two teenage daughters and I all were riding the waves almost immediately, and spent the rest of our lesson falling in love with surfing. Highly recommended. read more

Kaitlyn was a great instructor! I was there at the end of July and it was a very baby wave kind of day with lots of beginners so I was nervous it wouldn't even be big enough to get anything. But it ended up being a super fun day and she had such a great attitude the whole time. Highly recommend! read more

I tried SB Surf School because of all the good reviews and I'm happy to write them a new one! We went as part of a bachelorette party and almost no one had surfed before but, under the experienced instruction of Patrick, we all managed to stand up on the board and surf on our first day! I set up the surf lesson with Randy and he was friendly and very responsive. The whole operation was professionally run and clearly very concerned with customer satisfaction. I wouldn't look any further if you're looking for a fun day on the waves. read more

Went today to learn with Greg and Heather. It was a group of four so there was a good amount of one on one time. We had about ten minutes of on the beach instruction then hit the water. I was able to pick it up quick so after a bit Greg let me do my own thing and threw in some pointers as needed. At first I was worried that the 90 minutes in the water was going to be on the short side, but it felt like just enough after the lesson was over. Price was $65 each, which is more than reasonable considering the board and wetsuit rental would be about 2/3rds of that somewhere else. Also, we were able to call Greg around 915 to set up a lesson for 1100 which was super convenient. Overall a great experience! read more

My friend and I spent 2 hours with Randy from SB Surf School & we were pleasantly surprised to find that although never having tried our hand at surfing before, we were both able to catch waves & experience the fun & thrill of surfing for the first time. We found SBSurfSchool to be very helpful, personal as well as occomidating to our schedule in order to help squeeze in a class for us. It was loads of fun & we'd definitely use them again. read more

This is the worst school/company I've run across in 7 years surfing. Hopefully this review will help protect someones safety as well as credit identity as they do not manage information well at all. I arranged with Connor to have a 10 ft board and wetsuit for the next day. Indicated I was giving a card as security but would pay cash as out of country is a big hit in exchange/transaction costs. I was told no problem. I received an email right away with directions to where to meet at Mondo's a picture of the van etc. I drive an hour and a half from inland to surf, Mondo's is definitely a great place to surf I had been there the week before. The two instructors (guy and a gal) are finishing with their lessons and I let them do that. It seemed the guy was new as the woman was very careful to extract an email address from their customers that felt like a strange premise as it was presented to them. So after all that was done she's explaining to the other instructor it's really important to get that email from them. They finally get around to me and they don't have any longer boards in the van and can't make change for a $100 bill, some cash was actually exchanged on the previous group but ask yourself do you want to trust a business that knows your paying cash and can't change a $100 on a $45 rental. She goes I have your credit card showing me here phone, can I just charge that (a well over 30% hit to me if they do that). Or I go to Ventura to figure out change for them. I suggested we wait to see how the rest of their day went. I get my stuff I thought the 10ft board might be just at the beach from a lesson already. Turns out no they just couldn't be bothered to spend a few minutes loading it, or can't tell the difference between an 8 ft and 10 ft board. Ask yourself do you want to trust the safety of yourself and maybe kids to people that can't tell the difference between 2 boards or don't have the attention to detail to load the correct ones out in the water with you? I'm stuck with an 8 ft which is just not suitable for how I surf and what I normally ride in conditions like at Mondo's. As I headed to the beach frustrated as I knew what was in store for me out there with the wrong board. I was still bothered by why an email address was super high as a priority but trying to help me wasn't. I get rentals are secondary thing for them but there isn't a need for second class citizen feeling like it's a burden for them. I thought about my reservation the confirmation was sent by email the school has the email address. She's collecting the emails to then sell follow up lesson around the school with someone wanting to maybe do another, and training the new person to do the same is the only explanation I have. I struggled with the board for an hour and 45, saw them heading back up to the van asked about the 10 ft I reserved, did they have another size? I was told the best line of the day I'll have to get back to you after we check in the van to see I don't know if we have one, it's a big board you pretty much know if you have one or not it's not like you find it hidden in a corner. Ultimately they didn't return to get back so I walked up to call Connor and tell him how the day was going so far. walked by the van and saw them looking my way but there is likely a rule they can't talk to second class citizens only renting a board trying to get the correct one they organized. I called I'm told by Connor It's strange they have no change, wrong board etc we'll figure something out later. I go back to struggle with the board some more to try and salvage what's the worst day in 7 yrs but right gear makes a difference. I go to settle up at the end with a new totally new person they still have no change have some text about the card that ultimately they just need to charge the full amount to and additional hit I have with currencies, that presumably what the text told them to do even though that wasn't what Connor had talked about on the first call, but then nothing promised on the first call to them was true either so they are if anything consistent. Now to charge the card he needs it physically to key it, which is cool. Earlier in the day the lady already had the number I'm guess email/text as it was on her phone. Ask yourself are you comfortable having your credit card info emailed? Especially when you know that person is quite likely selling around their employers already? I've already called the credit card company to alert them this business could be a source of credit card fraud which means it will be extra fun every time I buy gas or food for the rest of the vacation. I know these guys claim to be the "best" experience in Santa Barbara if so everyone else must be super bad, I'd say book something in Ventura as they are surfing the same beaches and meeting you there anyway. read more

I arranged a surf lesson for 5 relatives who had never been on a surfboard. SB Surf School sent out two instructors and insufficient equipment. Both instructors (only one was competent) initially attempted to "launch" my family members on blue water faces instead of queuing them up in the white water so that the challenge of popping up would be limited. Their oversight resulted in a log jam. At least one relative on soft top board bull dozed another relative in the impact zone after take off. It was a real flea circus. I, with many years of experience, waded out and began launching in the white water with good results. Equipment: the adult boards were all the same size. The adults were not! This was a no-no. One adult in particular would have surely benefited from a longer board with more volume. He was unable to pop up on the one size fits all board provided. I requested a larger board for him, none was available. Long story short, I would not use Santa Barbara Surf School again. These people need to really sharpen their game. read more

My husband and I took a lesson with Randy. I get cold easily, so I was nervous about the colder water temps, but they provide wetsuits, so it wasn't cold at all. Randy was there on time and ready for us. He was so easy to learn from and answered all our questions. I had never been surfing before and had a great time. If we're ever in the area again, we'll take another lesson for sure. I would definitely recommend them to anyone wanting a surf lesson. He even took pictures for us and emailed them to us. Awesome!! :) read more

I found Santa Barbara Surf School in a Google search and after viewing the website I emailed about my first surfing lesson (at 50) and my just turned 9 year old daughter doing a semi-private lesson. Greg promptly got back to me and his attitude and outlook sold me immediately. I really wasn't nervous about it at all. They provide all the gear and first do a lesson on the sand so you know how to get on the board in the water. Matt was our instructor and Greg had another family. We had a great time, my 9 year managed the maneuvers based on the clear instruction and got up time and time again! She LOVED it and although her anticipation was to be living "Teen Beach Movie" she really came close :) We had a great day and they use a nice beach that is manageable with other surfers. Highly recommend the experience. read more

My eight year-old son and I took a lesson with Greg and he made us both feel so comfortable in the water. He broke down the steps and voila, we both stood up and caught waves our first lesson. We had one of the best afternoons we've had in a long time. My son said I looked good, "for a mom." Thanks Greg! read more

We booked a private lesson on 4/13/17 for my three kids (ages 17, 16 & 11). Communication was excellent and immediate for location, directions & time to arrive. When we arrived the instructor Sean was already there and got them in their wetsuits. They had instruction time at the beginning out of the water and then they went in. This was the kids 2nd time to surf (last time was Hawaii) and it was awesome! Each of them was able to get up multiple times and Sean was constantly assisting, helping them improve. An hour & half lesson was perfect for these beginners. The kids are already asking when we can go back! We will definitely use this company again. Sean was fantastic! read more