I recently took a beginner wing foil lesson with Josh at SF Wing Foil Academy! Going into the lesson, I was nervous about being out on the water in a boat in windy conditions, but Josh immediately put me at ease. His instruction was clear, organized, and easy to understand. He has a great way of breaking down complex skills into simple steps. I especially appreciated his tips for remembering how to flip and position the wing, along with his coaching on surfer stance, foot placement, and how to steer and control the board using your feet. The boat-based lesson in Tiburon was fantastic. Josh provided a helmet with radio communication, so I received real-time coaching and encouragement while on the water. That constant feedback helped me build confidence and make corrections immediately. He started me on a wide, stable board that allowed me to successfully stand up and focus on wing control without feeling intimidated. By the end of the lesson, I had a solid understanding of wing handling, surfer stance, board control and did my first jibe! Josh was positive, patient, supportive, and genuinely invested in helping students succeed. I went from feeling nervous before the lesson to being completely stoked to get back on the water. I can't wait to return and start practicing on a foil board next! read more

See all

I spent a lot of time trying to learn wing foiling on my own and barely made any progress. With Josh, I was up on foil within the first 30 minutes, and within an hour I was comfortably staying on foil. The boat-based instruction made a huge difference. Later, with just a few simple cues about my arm positioning, I was able to get up and stay on foil with the wing too. Lessons aren't cheap, but the ROI is massive compared to grinding it out on the water alone. If I were starting over, I'd skip the solo trial and error entirely and optimize for lessons from day one. Having an experienced instructor like Josh, with a boat, who can read the wind and put you in the right spot, accelerates everything. Highly recommend. read more

I highly recommend Josh and his academy if you want to learn wing foil or improve your skills on wing foil. Before getting deeper into why, let me tell you my situation. I had been thinking about starting to wing foil for a few years now, but it all seemed a little intimidating: the gear, the spots, the safety, the athleticism. Even when I have kite surfed, windsurfed, and sailed quite a bit. I didn't know if I should just go for it by myself or invest in classes. And I'm so glad that I did invest in classes. I thought of going to Ventana in Mexico or even Maui. But then reality and the busy life hit and I was back to square one. Then I found SF Wing Foil Academy online. First, Josh is very professional and also very cool. He'll both teach you very important techniques and he'll cheer you on (which is also important after the many wipeouts). Second, Josh has a great teaching system down. He has built and gathered special gear to make learning easier, to be more about progress and fun rather than suffering through the learning curve. For instance: - Josh is always close enough on his boat, and he's always adjusting the exercises based on what he sees you do, from boat towing so you get a sense of the foil to bringing different wing sizes if the wind changes. - The helmet you use has a microphone and speaker directly tied to Josh at all times. Real-time commentary is especially helpful and funny. - Josh's beginning foil board has been specifically designed by him to make it easier for beginners. - Josh ensures you understand all the safety procedures and gear and makes you comfortable with it. Because foils can be dangerous if you don't do things with respect. Third, Josh's SF Wing Foil Academy is run at his home in Tiburon. This is an optimal location to learn. It has a great lawn area to practice on land, it's in a marina with the boat right in front, it's a 2-3 minute boat ride for you to get in the water, and he even built a nice outdoor shower for after the sessions. It's easy and accessible. If you want to try winging it by yourself you maybe might be able to do it - with some long trial and error. But if you go learn with Josh, it's just more comfortable, safer, and process-driven. And a big plus is that he's genuinely nice. I've taken 4 lessons with Josh - my coach Sensei now. I'm not that great at all yet, but I can see the path to getting decent. I'll surely take a few more lessons here and there with him to keep improving. He's an amazing resource to have in my Wing Foil Council - and should be for you too. read more

Josh was great! He has all the gear for any rider and wind condition- and helped me progress a ton in one lesson with his coaching. It's also such a luxury having the boat and not having to worry about where the wind or tide takes you, and the warm shower afterwards was icing in the cake! Would recommend and I'll be back! read more

I highly recommend Josh's Wing Foil Academy! I had no experience wingfoiling prior to the class & after one class I have an understanding of the basics, and was able to make solid progress throughout the lesson riding the wingfoil. Josh did a great job communicating the key factors in a simple & easy to understand way while preparing on land, and while riding the wingfoil in the water. read more

Just getting back into windsurfing after not doing it for for quite a while a Rebecca & Kipps really took care of me. Got me the equipment that worked for me and the way I like to sail and took the time to make sure I understood how to set it up. Highly recommended if you do wind sports in the bay area. read more

Zero to hero!!! Josh is an amazing instructor. Perfect balance of teaching and coaching. He got me from "this is how to hold a kite" to foiling in a few hours! (Albeit measured in milliseconds). The walkie-talkie equipped helmet is a game changer. read more

SF Wing Foil Academy - Kite foiling - Kiteboarding Near Me - Belvedere Tiburon, California

Josh at SF Wing Foil Academy is awesome! He breaks everything down so it's easy to understand, keeps it fun, and makes sure you're progressing every session. Highly recommend for beginners or anyone looking to improve fast! I booked multiple sessions with Josh and had a breakthrough each time. I can now get up by myself and foil using the wing/wind. Looking forward to booking another round of sessions to practice staying upwind and eventually get out on my own. Trust me, this is not a sport you can just pick up by watching YouTube videos. You need the hands on experience with someone who knows what they are doing at every step. Josh breaks down the steps and then puts it all together. The best part is that you are wearing a 2 way radio helmet. He coaches you in real time, helping you make the adjustments you need to get that breakthrough. You get what you pay for, and his sessions are worth every penny. read more

See all

Took an intro lesson for my birthday this year and Josh was a fantastic teacher. He has an amazing setup and is very efficient in teaching what is needed on land and quickly getting you into the water to begin learning. He is constantly coaching you and giving the tips you need to succeed. I would highly recommend Josh to anyone looking to get into the sport or to improve on their current progress! read more

Awesome to have high quality repair here in the Bay Area. Highly recommend for repairs and coaching.

Had my introduction session with Josh and it's been great! first learned how to manage the foil behind a boat (with a rope). then took the wing for a few runs in the bay. read more

SF Wing Foil Academy is based out of his home in Tiburon, his boat and dinghy are docked in the backyard. When I arrived, I was greeted by a female who let me into the backyard and I carried all my gear back and forth from my car into the backyard. As I was bringing my board and foil to the backyard, he came out to greet me and grabbed my foil, brought it to the backyard, and then set it down in a pile of dog poop on his lawn. Once I pointed this out to him, he removed the dog poop from the lawn but didn't bother wiping off my foil. He has dogs, so be aware. Once I set up all my gear, he had me inflate my smallest wing and wanted me to show him how I get up on the board and flip my wing. This is where the lesson got a bit frustrating, right from the start, as I already know how to get on my 85L board and how to flip over my wing, but he insisted I learn how to do it his way. That is fine, I will try it his way, and maybe I will learn something useful and new. Nope. He has me turn over my wing once I am on the board. This actually doesn't work for me because I am fun-sized (short), and trying to turn over the wing while on the board is difficult. When I tried it on the water, the wing ended up getting stuck under my board. I wing in chop/swell and it requires more balance to be on the board in those conditions, trying to flip the wing over while on the board adds to the difficulty of turning the wing over. Flipping the wing over in the water, swell or no swell, it's a quick flip, it requires no balance, you won't accidentally fall off trying to flip your wing, and it won't get stuck under your board. I bring the wing to the side of my board before I get on my board, and he told me I don't need to do that. However, when I was learning and struggling to get on my board and stay balanced, a previous instructor suggested this technique to me to add additional stability by using the wing for balance. In really choppy conditions you can place your hand on your wing to steady yourself out. I spent a lot of time when I was learning finding what works for me and I felt like he didn't even listen to the reasons I do it the way that I do, he would simply cut me off and say just try it this way. One of the reasons I wanted to take a lesson was for boat support, please note he doesn't use the boat pictured on the website, he uses a small inflatable dingy just enough to fit two people and your gear. We went out to a flat-water spot near his house only a few minutes away. I liked the flat-water part, it makes it easier to learn anything, but the problem I found with this spot, in my opinion, is has a very narrow area of wind. Both sides of this area are no wind zones. This is probably fine for beginners because most can't stay on foil for that long, but the wind was very light during our lesson and I ended up slogging most of the time. **VERY IMPORTANT, NO kiteboarding/wing foiling instructor, can control the wind. The wind conditions have no reflection on my rating of this review.** Once the wind did come up at almost the end of the lesson, I finally got to work on what I came to learn which was to ride toe-side and jibe. As I was talking it through with Josh, I asked him where I weight the board in order to transition. The reason that I asked this question is that when I was learning to kiteboard I took several lessons to feel comfortable riding on my own through some amazing kiteboarding schools and I also took an intermediate lesson on how to jibe on a direction which I actually learned in 1 lesson from a fabulous kiteboarding school on the delta, those schools provided me with detailed instruction on where to position the kite, where my feet should be positioned, and where to strategically weight the board. These instructions helped me to succeed to reach my goals. However, Josh's response was to shuffle my feet, that's it. The problem with this instruction is in order to move your feet, you need to know where to weight the board to stay foiling, when I would try to move my feet, I would just crash because I obliviously wasn't weighting the board properly to keep it foiling. We also talked about when to change your foot position. He told me that in a "real jibe" you switch your feet first. However, when it comes to jibing, I know people that switch their feet before, during, and after the jibe. I have also noticed that some people switch their feet before in one direction, and after in the other direction. I don't think there is one "right" way of doing it, I think it is a personal preference and what works for one person, might not work for another. Overall, this instructor wasn't right for me. I needed an instructor that could customize the instruction for me and not just use their methods without considering my individual needs. read more

Went out with Joshua from SF Wing Foil Academy. He took me to an amazing spot with great wind and flat water. With his expert advice on a two way headset I was able to get up and foil: what an amazing experience!!! He was able to get this 68 year old novice going in this exciting new sport. read more

I've taken lessons from several different instructors and Josh is by far the best. He helped me get up on foil on my first lesson with him- something I hadn't been able to do in all my previous lessons. He was just a 15 min drive from my apartment in S.F. and located at a picturesque marina in Tiburon. He brings you out to The Bay on his boat (and picks you back up when you get too far down wind, which in my case is a few times per lesson so it's nice avoiding the "walk of shame" up the beach with my gear, which is typical for me in all the land-taught lessons I've had!) Amazingly the wind was good just 5 minutes from the school so we wasted no time running to a flat water spot w nice consistent wind. Another huge benefit is that he coaches you through 2-way radio helmets as soon as you get in the water and throughout the experience. If you wanna learn to wing, and you want to progress quickly, Josh is your guy! read more

I've taken two lessons with Josh and it as amazing. Josh is such a good guy and his setup is the best you can have for teaching. I've been meeting him at his home where we did at first some dry drills in his garden. He has a private dock at the end of his garden with a motor boat where he took me and my girlfriend out to the bay. It's in Tiburon, so easy to get to from SF and give him all the access to the good parts of San Francisco bay. If there was not enough wind in the protected cove with flat water where he lives, he just took us to parts of the bay with more wind. He gave me a helmelt with a 2 way radio so we were always in communication and him live coaching me on the board. Even if I had my own board, I ended up renting his super wide board for a day that is so big that I could really focus on the foiling part without having to worry about balancing myself on the board. Best board to get out of the water at first. And once I had the wing in my hand, the board lifted out of the water it was like magic!!!! read more

Finally, a good alternative to Airtime in the Bay Area. Tear in the canopy of my wing was taped, stitched and ready in a few days. Easy pick up and delivery and with a reasonable price. Josh is very plugged into the Bay Area wind sport scene and is providing many services that will allow us to take advantage of the great conditions here. read more

Great instructor and took the time to get me dialed on a few things I was struggling with. Took some extra time on the boat with me

Joshua did a great job, and helped me get comfortable wing foiling in both directions. Great spot for wing foiling on the bay and the boat support is the best part. It helped me get some good long runs with a lot of practice, and gave me confidence that I could be rescued at any point. read more

Josh is my go to guy for wing repairs. Quality work done in a timely manner. Highly recommended!!!

I've had two lessons so far. Thanks to Josh's skills as a teacher and the safety/security of boat support I was up and foiling (albeit for short stints) on lesson one. Lesson two saw remarkable improvement, with much more foiling. I've still got a long ways to go but I'm confident that I'll get there with his help! read more

Had a great session with Josh yesterday in perfect San Francisco conditions. Josh provides informative instruction in gorgeous part of the Bay Area. Highly recommend learning to wing foil with Josh! read more