Sunset Suratt Surf School

The van was at the meeting point on time. They pick the exact location to surf in the morning and text you. Their team was prompt and kind. Our kids had surfed a few times already. They ran through the basics on the shore and then they were off. They both had a terrific time.

Staff were so chill, and helped me catch sick waves. Great for first timers like myself and also free watermelon after each class :)

Since moving to Hawaii my son has been dying to learn how to surf. As a mom I have to say it's kind of scary even though he can swim idk why it just is with falling off the board and potentially hitting your head or just having the board topple you over. I don't know I just worry and think of all the worst case scenarios. But being there are beaches everywhere here I had to overcome my fear. He just turned 10, is very athletic and knows how to swim so he should be fine. After weeks of looking around for the perfect place to do his first surf lesson I found this place on Yelp. After signing him up they sent a confirmation email and then texted us the location again the night before. It was easy to fin and prices aren't bad. Honestly I was expecting to pay a lot more. The instructor was very hands on but also let them get so many waves. Watching my son learn to surf was actually amazing, I'm not sure if I'd be able to get on top of the water like that. By his second try his was getting waves.By the end he was pretty tired out but loved every minute of it and can't wait to get more lessons here. Both my son and the lady who came here for lessons were catching a ton of waves. My son left smiling ear to ear.

This surfing school is great! Might cost a bit more than others places, but the instructors here are VERY experienced, patient, and helpful. We had fun for full 2 hours and our coach Chris was everything we wanted. He explained the basics very well and guided us as we were doing our runs in the bay. Your upper body will surely hurt and ache the next day after paddling like crazy, but hey, you have to earn your dinner! We definitely recommend this surfing school to everyone, so many great memories!

Still laughing from our ridiculous Secret Island excursion, and with parking lot gravel flying, we peeled out of Kualoa Ranch and headed back up K Highway to Haleiwa.Screaming up the road we flew past a roadside fruit stand. I didn't even see it. My wife did and yelled, Pineapples!!! We flipped a U and backtracked to the spot. It was such a random find, but this little roadside stand had the most spectacularly delicious pineapple I ever had in my life. We had bought a pineapple at Costco in Waipahu the first day we arrived on Oahu, and it was great. Way better than the ones we buy on the mainland. But this roadside buy was much, much better than the one we purchased in Waipahu. Best I've ever had!A hilariously bitter old married couple were on duty at the fruit stand. They were working twenty or thirty feet away from each other, on opposite ends of a long counter. Clearly, neither of them wanted to wait on us. Each seemed determined not to do one bit of work more than the other. When we were ready to pay, the man just flat out ignored us. When we went to the lady she scowled and sighed, "Why can't HE help you?" All the while I'm quietly laughing and singing Nirvana's song All Apologies to myself (...in the sun... in the sunnnn... married... buried... married... burried... yeah yeah yeah yeah).Totally loaded on fruit, we climbed back in the rental car headed for Haleiwa. The tiny Corolla engine whined for mercy as I jammed the accelerator to the floorboard. We couldn't wait to try the fruit. Because we had no utensils in the car with which to start in on the pineapple, we used our hands to tear apart a fantastically delicious guava as we hurtled down the highway. Mmmmmm.... farm fresh guava...Wifey still wanted to do some paddle-boarding so we decided to stop at this place, the Sunset Surrat Surf School, just outside of historic Haleiwa town .Now, not to put you on the spot, but I have to ask you something: Would you know a bodhisattva if you met one? Because I'm not sure, but I think Uncle Bryan, the dude that runs this place, might be one.You'll recall from your study of Mahayana Buddhism (or a simple Google search) that a bodhisattva is a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings. Can there be any doubt that surfing is about as close to nirvana a person can reach on this earth? Certainly not if you ask the question of any surfer. If surfing should be your path, Bryan could be your bodhisattva.Now in his 60s, Uncle Bryan has spent his whole life teaching people how to surf. Easily the most interesting character I met during my travels around Oahu, Bryan shared his whole life story with us before he even asked what lessons we were interested in taking. And he's a great story teller. Once he started, I saw where he was going. I grabbed a chair and settled in. I detected a little tremble of emotion in his voice as he told us the story of the day he walked into the kitchen and broke the news to his father he was going to quit school and surf the rest of his life. He was a young teen, barely out of middle school, high school graduation was still years away. Yeah, you can imagine how well his father took the news.But he did it. He frickin' did it. Against all odds, he did it. He made a living as a surfer. He's out there, every day, on beautiful North Shore. Man, I ask you, how cool is that?If you have any fears about getting in the water, Bryan will put you at ease. He tells you sometimes he paddles his 86 year old mother out and they ride in together. Incredible!I heard Bryan tell my wife he had room in his schedule for a 4 o'clock lesson. She said, "Ok that sounds great." I got up from my comfy seat in the sand and as we walked back to the car I reminded her we already had plans for 4 o'clock. "Yeah, I know," she answered, "but I couldn't say no to the guy. He was so nice." I nodded in agreement.When we got back to the condo we phoned Bryan to let him know we wouldn't be back for the 4 o'clock lesson. Bryan was incredibly gracious and took the cancellation in stride. Class act all the way. Next time we're on the North Shore I'm sure we'll hit him up. Mikey C says: mahalo, Uncle Bryan!

RIGHTEOUS surf school on the beautiful North Shore! Highly recommend this company if you want to learn how to surf on these famous beaches!PROs: Staff was experienced, articulate, and very polite. Wether you were a pro or a novice they could teach you something about surfing. Safety is the priority at all times and that is made very apparent from the beginning. As long as you can swim and are in decent shape this is an awesome experience to check off the bucket list. Make sure you are well hydrated before going out and head the instructors warnings about applying sunblock to the appropriate locations on your body. Especially your face and back of the legs. Expect a vigorous upper body and core workout! There is no reason to fear the ocean or and type of sharks while here. We felt safe the entire time. They took same day appointments as well! Only cost $80 per person for 2 hours! CONs: Zero!

Uncle Bryan was great! I called him up in the morning to see if we could get a surf lesson and he said he would check conditions and get back to me. He called back in an hour and we were set up for noon. We arrived and instantly thought i was hanging out with my uncle haha i guess the name fits! He assessed our experience and got us set up with boards, a gameplan, and our instructor gato and he was awesome. Very knowledgeable and we learned about reading the ocean and how to get out past the break. He told us ,"today we gun a paddle!" And he kept his promise haha!! kept on us and made sure we got back out to keep surfing for the whole 2 hours and that was great i like that motivation! Thanks again you guys are amazing! Highly recommend!

There are so many surf shops/schools to pick from and this was the first one we noticed on the water that was super friendly and accommodating. I think we got lucky because the owner said they usually book up quick and it was his last run for the day, so we came at a good time. The owner "uncle bryan" was so welcoming and friendly he really did feel like an uncle you are visiting. He offered a quick description of how the day goes and what they offer which was good cause it was my husbands first time surfing. He offered lounge chairs, watermelon, and water as well even to the people who weren't surfing. He provided the surf board(obviously) and a long sleeve shirt that he sized by just looking at the person. You could tell he has been running this school for awhile. The lesson lasted about 2 hours, but goes quick. it was really cool to watch as they did their lesson outside of the water first and swam out. The instructor follows everyone in the water and gives the surfers enough time to all get out and then take turns at each wave that would come in.I would sure recommend this guy to anyone looking to learn how to surf, I believe it was $80 for the 2 hours which I also believe is a good deal as we had been researching who to use.

Probably the most memorable experience we've enjoyed on Oahu.My family's first time learning how to SUP. The scenery was perfect (paddling through the bay and up the river) and our excellent teacher, Mark, was patient and taught all 5 of us, including my ten-year-old how to stand-up before the quarter-way mark of our 2-hour session. Before our trip, James set us each up with the perfect length board and paddle.Worth the money in my opinion, as opposed to just renting SUPs and trying to learn on your own.

Can't say enough wonderful things about Ina and the surf lessons we had with him. He was an awesome and patient instructor, and we caught so many waves. We also hired Heath from Life Thru the Lens to take pictures and we love them all! Seriously the most incredible, surreal experience surfing the North Shore! Don't waste your time searching for another surf school. This is the one you want to use!