Maui Beach Boys — Attraction in Maui

Owner JB is rude, condescending and unprofessional.

But before I get to that, I will say that the instructors are amazing. Zach and Kai were phenomenal with my 10 year old and he was very happy with both instructors.

My poor review is directed squarely at the owner JB (John Browne). Talk about unprofessional, incredibly rude and uncompromising (in the face of a 10 year old who was crushed he would not get the same instructor as he was promised the day before). We had scheduled private lessons and had gotten Zach our first time out. My son was thrilled with him and when we came back that first day in we spoke to several people requesting Zach as an instructor again the next morning (and we were told that we would get Zach-in fact I saw it get written into the schedule). We show up the next morning on time and JB is in a rage, sweaty and yelling at all of his staff. When I ask him about our lesson, JB barks at us that we "can't have Zach" and that furthermore "there is nothing I can do about it".

Well, actually as the owner there is something you can do about it - and you could certainly have handled yourself in a more professional and courteous manner to a repeat customer (who will never be repeating again). Why couldn't we have swapped our instructor Kai with Zach who was there that morning, but mysteriously assigned to a different group? Don't you, as the owner/boss have the power to do so (I know you do because everyone I spoke to told me to ask you to make the switch). If this had been handled differently by JB, then everything would have been fine, but to hover over a client and bark in her face about a broken promise to her son is totally and utterly unacceptable.

I would actually recommend you spend $10 more across the street at Maui Wave Riders. They have an actual brick and mortar store (not two random trucks in a parking lot) and are 100% professional, courteous and everything you would expect from real business owners. We ended up going to Maui Wave Riders for the next two days instead and had an excellent experience.

And no, JB - I do not want a refund and it's actually very easy to keep customers happy. Don't throw a temper tantrum at them when they're just trying to give you their money for some surf...

I went surfing today for the first time. I took the 2 hour group package. I was placed in a group of 6 (me and a family of 5 others I did not know). We went out from Kalama Beach Park in Kihei.

I wasn't sure how much attention the instructor would give each person in a group this size or how much I would need this being my first time. It turned out really well. More-so at the beginning, there was a little waiting in line for the instructor's help to push off. Later in the lesson, I was able to catch waves by myself without as much assistance.

The instructor (Louis) gave a brief dry land training to go over safety and the basics of surfing. Once in the water, he gave feedback on my technique and made suggestions when necessary. He did a good job to identify good incoming waves and position me to catch them. I was very satisfied with his knowledge and teaching.

The conditions were good. Good size waves to learn on. The water was rather shallow so less actually swimming was necessary (this is a good thing). The surf-able waves weren't constant, but came frequently enough so there was usually no more than a minute or two wait once back in position for the next good wave. I don't know how this compares to the typical conditions at this location, but I was satisfied with it.

One other thing that was neat about this location is that there were large turtles swimming among us (2-3 ft wide). Once in a while you would see one poke its head out of the water. Neat!

I really enjoyed my first time surfing with Maui Beach Boys and would surf...

We had never been surfing before and did not know what to expect. The Maui Beach Boys truck was parked in the lot before we arrived, and they had all the necessary equipment: better swim shoes (along w/ ankle supports for our kids, ages 8 & 10) and just as importantly, long-sleeve rash guard shirts to help keep us warm enough.

Our instructor, Kyle, was awesome: a very laid back guy, no-nonsense, with nothing to prove; he wasn't trying too hard and was really down to earth. He made the lessons very simple and straightforward. We spent about 20 minutes, tops, practicing on shore, then he paddled out along with us. We were out there about an hour and a half, which is more exhausting than you may realize, even in the easy surf we rode. He was out there the whole time, facilitating. We would paddle to him, he'd turn us toward shore, and time the waves for us by giving us a push toward shore, telling us to "paddle," then "UP!" when he wanted us to stand up. Whenever we had trouble, he gave very helpful tips for staying up. All 4 of us were able to get some great rides.

Please do keep in mind that this was a first-time surf lesson. I can't recall our precise location, but we're talking south/west coast of Maui, in the vicinity of Wailea. Time frame was early March 2016, about 7:30-9:00 a.m. The waves kept steadily rolling in; these were great for first-time surfers, not for experts/pros. Had an...