Two hours, a soft-top and somebody who knows the break. That is a first wave.
What a lesson costs in Bali against what it costs at Bondi. Which beaches hand a beginner a chest-high roller, and which hold you under. Reviews of surf lessons, coaching and board hire worldwide.
Four surf lessons that make a first wave close to certain.
Four coastlines, four ways in. What each session costs, and what the people who took it say about the instructor.
01The all-levels oneSurfing Lesson for All Levels, Photos includedPlaya de las Américas turns out warm, waist-high water most of the year, and the photos come back with you.
02Bali on a budget2-Hour Surf CourseTwo hours at Canggu for the price of lunch at home. The sand bottom is forgiving and the whitewater runs a long way in.
03The Australian oneBondi Beach: 2-Hour Surf Lesson Experience for Any LevelBondi at the southern end, where the beach breaks are gentler and the instructors have been doing this for decades.
04Where it startedBeginner-Friendly Waikiki Beach Surfing LessonWaikiki rollers are slow, long and shallow, which is why the sport learned to stand up here in the first place.
Six coastlines that teach a beginner better than the rest.
Warm water and long whitewater in Bali and Morocco, forgiving beach breaks on the Portuguese and Spanish Atlantic, year-round rollers in Hawaii, and the Australian east coast where half the world learned. Six places to start, and the session to book in each.
An American surf lesson means Waikiki, a Maui bay or a Californian beach break.
Hawaii gives beginners the longest, slowest waves anywhere and charges accordingly. California is colder, cheaper and closer to a city. Three coasts, what each one costs to get on the water, and who each suits.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Two Hour Beginner Group Surf Lesson in Kihei
Waikiki, OahuWaist-high rollers that run for a hundred metres. Nowhere is easier to stand up.
MauiLahaina and Kihei, small groups, and reef a long way from the beginner zone.
KauaiPoipu and Hanalei Bay, quieter water and instructors who take two people at a time.
Los AngelesVenice and Santa Monica, a wetsuit in the price, and a break you can reach by bus.
All 259 surf lessons in the United States →
The surf lessons more travellers book than any others.
Every surf review on the site →The sessions that sell out in season, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Surfing Lesson for All Levels, Photos included
Learn to surf at Playa de las Américas with certified instructors, small groups, gear, photos, snacks, and a two-hour beginner-friendly lesson.
From · $50
Read our review →
2
Group Surfing Lesson at Playa de las Américas, Tenerife
from $43
3
2-Hour Surf Course
from $23
4
Legian Beach, Bali: Beginner or Intermediate Surf Lessons
from $16
5
Playa de las Américas: Private or Small-Group Surf Lesson
from $41
6
Two Hour Beginner Group Surf Lesson in Kihei
from $98
7
Bondi Beach: 2-Hour Surf Lesson Experience for Any Level
from $70
8
Surfing Lesson with Equipment
from $35
How a surf lesson is taught decides more than the beach it happens on.
Eight people to one instructor means you get pushed into a wave and told well done. Two people means somebody watches your feet and fixes them. Book the format first and the beach second.
What a surf lesson actually costs, coast by coast.
Every session on the site, grouped by price. Board, wetsuit and instructor are almost always in the number.
Two hours in Bali, Morocco, Sri Lanka or Portugal, with the board and the suit thrown in.
Australian and Canarian group lessons, most Hawaiian sessions, and small groups almost anywhere.
One-to-one coaching, private boat access to a quiet break, and multi-day camps.
- 1Private Surf Experiencefrom $199
- 2Kona Surf Lesson in Kahaluufrom $169
- 3Oahu Private Surfing Lessonfrom $226
Bali is where the cheapest good surf lesson on earth happens.
Kuta and Legian break over sand into warm, waist-deep water, which is the whole reason the island became a surf school. Canggu is a step up, Uluwatu another one again. Nowhere else costs this little to learn in.
Three other ways to be out there on a board.
A surfboard is one answer to flat water and small waves. Here are three more, and where each of them is worth booking.
Stand-Up Paddleboarding
A paddleboard is wide, stable and about three times the volume of a beginner surfboard, which is why almost nobody falls off one in the first hour. It works where surfing does not: river mouths, lagoons, harbours and the glassy hour after dawn. Most operators run the same route every day and will take a complete beginner out on the first session.
- 1Guided Paddle Surf Cliffs and Maro Waterfall★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 400 reviews
- 2Paddle Surf Route and Class★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 346 reviews
- 3Discover the best corners of the island in paddle surf★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 250 reviews
Bodyboarding
On a bodyboard you are lying down with fins on, so you catch waves a surfboard cannot get into and you catch them in the first ten minutes. It suits heavy shorebreak and steep sand banks, the exact conditions that make a beginner surf lesson miserable. Bring the fins or check that the price includes them, because they matter more than the board does.
- 1Family, Private & Group Bodyboard Lessons in Waikiki★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 106 reviews
- 2Surf and Bodyboard Classes in Sintra★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 5 reviews
- 3Surf or Bodyboard and Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 4 reviews
Surf Camps
Two hours will get you standing. Five consecutive days will get you turning, because the muscles that hold a paddling position only build with repetition. Camps stack two sessions a day around the tide, feed you between them and put a board within reach for the rest of the week, and the price per session drops well below a one-off lesson.
- 17 days All Inclusive Surf Package★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 96 reviews
- 2Stellar 3 Day Surf Package★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 83 reviews
- 32-Night Byron Bay Surf Camp★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 68 reviews
What actually decides a surf lesson: your level, the ratio and the water.
Beginner sessions run on long soft-tops over sand, in whitewater that is already broken, and the beach matters less than the board. Coaching assumes you can paddle into an unbroken wave already and will not slow down for you. Check the instructor ratio, check whether a wetsuit is in the price, and check whether the photographs cost extra.
By coast
Six steps between a rented soft-top and a board of your own.
First lesson
Second session
One-to-one
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