Surfing Lessons On Waikiki Beach

Horrible experience. The instructor left my wife completely alone in the sea and looked visibly annoyed to go and help her, as well as another girl. He had 5 people in his class, and very quickly, with a monotone voice gave instructions to the lesson. He looked like he didn’t even want to be there. After bringing us out to the beach, he had us go out in pairs with the instructions “go out and to the left”… not really telling us “where” to go. He then separated me and my wife as a pair (which she was already very nervous about going out) and I went first with another girl. He then took my wife out (him and her as a pair) when I was about 100ft in front… still “going to the left”. Next thing I knew, I see him zooming by to get ahead of the party… I look back and he completely left my wife and this other girl alone as they were struggling to even turn left (keep in mind that the conditions were turbulent especially for complete beginners). When he caught up to the front of the party he started yelling to the girls that were behind to “turn left”… he was wayyyy ahead of them and I could barely hear him. This is when I first turned around to go help the both of them. My wife was in a near panic attack and the other girl was clearly shaken. He then turned to his videographer (who was randomly there not helping anyone) and said “ugh I gotta go get them”. So he turned around and showed up after I helped them… to help them? Finally we got to the area that he wanted to get to and started giving us instructions. Personally, this part wasn’t his fault since the conditions weren’t his fault, but it was extremely hard to hear him over the waves. He had us group up and had my wife try to catch a wave. After she wasn’t able to catch one (feeling extremely embarrassed and exhausted by this whole experience) she told him that she would go back to the beach. Here’s where I was the most pissed… I didn’t notice that she had started paddling back to the beach. Before she left, he asked her “do you want me to tell your husband”, which she replied “no” because she didn’t want to ruin my experience… so I had no idea. He should’ve told me anyways, especially since I was next to catch a wave. After I failed too, I noticed her paddling back to shore… the only thing was SHE WAS HEADING STRAIGHT FOR A CONCRETE WALL AND COULDN’T TURN!!! The waves were unforgiving and she was completely out of gas… where was the experienced surf instructor that was supposed to make sure all of us were safely learning? Only about 100ft away from us helping the next poor soul also not catch a wave. Realizing he wasn’t going to help (nor his videographer), I paddled after my wife as she was nearing the concrete wall. When I finally got to her, she was crying and saying she couldn’t turn and was going to ram into the wall. Luckily I was able to help her (keep in mind… I have only surfed once 15 years ago, so I also had no clue what I was doing). I managed to slowly get us to the beach (barely) and made sure she was okay. I then walked over to Big Wave Dave Surf and Coffee and explained what happened… the guys seemed super concerned, but ultimately said “we can’t give you a refund… but here’s 2 vouchers for 1 free coffee each”… These surf lessons cost nearly $300 for the 2 of us to have a near traumatic experience and the only thing they could offer us is 2 cups of joe. Absolutely ridiculous. Do NOT go here. Find a reputable surf company to take lessons from. I had found out there that the surf instructor doesn’t even work for them. He’s contracted by them. Do your research before finding lessons. And do NOT. Go to Big Wave Dave Surf and Coffee unless you wanna pay $300 for a horrible experience and 2 cups of coffee.

What an amazing experience! I've wanted to surf my entire life and finally tried it for the first time. Paulie was an incredible instructor and made me feel confident in the water. It was so much fun and I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn!

Learning to surf is fun but physically vigorous. Instructors gave clear explanations and are patient, helpful and encouraging. It was a great experience. I would do it again.

The meeting location was very convenient right across the street from our hotel but the surfing location was not great. It was a short walk across the street to the ocean but the launch point was small and shared with a catamaran tour. A boat was coming in while we were paddling in and it was very stressful. Our guide was friendly but his voice did not carry and it was very hard to hear his instructions on the water. This made getting up difficult. The waves were not great but I’m not sure if that was due to the location or just bad luck. There were four of us with two other people in our group for a total of 6. Each of us only got 3-4 waves and those opportunities were not high quality. I also question the quality of the foam boards but I don’t know enough about surfing to know if there truly was an issue. It was just a very different experience than my wife had with a previous surfing lesson. Overall, the experience was overpriced for only 3-4 bad waves.

Instructor was very pleasant and caring. A ton of fun. Will definitely schedule class with Tanner next time.