North Shore Oahu Surf School — Attraction in Oʻahu

Overall, I had a good and fun experience. The instructors are awesome, friendly, knowledgeable and serious about your safety while making sure you are making the most of your time in the water. If you are a beginner or even new to surfing, a fun, safe and successful experience in the water is 100% guaranteed.

There are a few things that need some improvement so I'd like to provide some feedback, but it's important to mention that this is a review based on my experience. Yours could be very different. For context, I took a 1 on 1 advanced lesson with Lawrence (thanks a lot!)

1- Communication prior to the lesson wasn't the best. I had a couple of questions regarding the forecast, weather conditions, gear and spots. I sent them a couple emails asking these questions but I never got a reply. In the same email I suggested using WhatsApp, since I didn't have a US SIM card and thus I couldn't call them directly. Luckily I was able to find a way to call them and they suggested using WhatsApp but then they only used SMS and Calls to tell me where to meet up, so if you don't have a US number you are going to have a hard time getting in touch with them.

2- VERY LIMITED board choices. They mostly use 10’ to 12’ longboards. They are decent quality boards but a little bit hard to maneuver with. I understand these boards are great for beginners. But for people who surfed before I wish they had more options to choose from in their quiver.

3- The lesson was alright. I have some surfing experience, I'm not very good at it but I am definitely not a beginner. I was hoping to find someone from the area to give me a couple of pointers and improve my technique.

Sometimes things felt a bit rushed. My instructor Lawrence had set a goal of catching 20 waves in 2 hours, which sounds reasonable, but I feel there was that mentality of “more is better” vs “quality over quantity”.

I feel this was done this way in order to hit that 20 mark wave count. Maybe I'm wrong here but at least that was my perception.

So here's a suggestion for the school:

For people booking beginners lessons, the 20 wave count and the paddle assistance is great.

For people booking advanced lessons, it would be great to do some sort of assessment beforehand and ask them which areas they want to improve (i.e. paddling, reading the waves, maneuvers, positioning in the peak, etiquette, style…) There are a lot of things to improve, so if you offer Advanced lessons, talk to the students, listen to their request and see what you can offer to them.

On the positive side, Lawrence was great explaining safety procedures, talking about the board itself, the spot we surfed at and he was also very flexible with my requests too. He would listen to my questions and give me very useful tips. He is a great instructor, he helped me a lot and I had a great session. Thanks again Lawrence!

4- Price: There are a lot of surf schools and lessons all over the North Shore on O'ahu. North Shore Oahu Surf School lessons are more expensive than other schools like Haleiwa Surf School for example. One of the main reasons why I decided to go with North Shore Oahu Surf School is because of the reputation of their instructors and also because I wanted to support North Shore O’ahu local scene as much as possible. I understand that Kala and the rest of instructors are very high quality experienced surfers and I am very happy supporting their business. But it is possible to find other cheaper options for lessons easily. In fact, you’ll notice most surf lessons will happen in the same spots (Chun’s Reef or Puaena) regardless of who you are booking with.

I hope North Shore Surf School can take this rant as constructive feedback and put some effort in the areas that need work. I also hope this information is helpful for future people who visit the North Shore for the first time.

I want to reiterate that I still had a great time at the end of the day and I am sure that anyone taking lessons with them will be...

I cannot recommend this group enough. They are incredible! This is my second time back visiting, and I specifically prefer booking with North Shore Oahu Surf. I don’t get to go surfing back home in Washington state, and even with no surfing in between my first lesson with this school (May 2024), Kekai was able to still help me pop up on the first wave, and catch multiple waves. The team stands out to me as very seasoned and attentive instructors. I love the genuine passion they have to teach their customers the art of surfing, and you can tell they want you to walk away from your session feeling accomplished. I’ve booked lessons in Waikiki as well during both stays, and I have to emphasize that this group is still my #1 pick. The booking process and communication even before you start your lesson is easy and reliable. And the actual session itself, you learn all of the proper core skills, you get more education and attention compared to some other schools (in my experience) that maximize your time with your instructor, and they also teach you surf etiquette. When you’re out there you’ll see how the instructors here respect the other groups and surfers out on the water to make sure everyone can catch their wave and get the experience they came for. If you are looking to get into surfing for the long run, etiquette is very important, and they are one of the few who try to enlighten you. I cannot emphasize enough how much I recommend you book with these guys. You don’t feel like just a number to them, and you get the experience from instructors who come from generations of talented surfers. Thanks again Kekai! I’ll be booking with you guys every visit...

What a fantastic experience! My kids and I decided last minute that we wanted to go surfing. After looking at our options I decided that lessons would give everyone the best chance of a good experience in the short time that we had on the island. I'm SO glad we went that route. Our instructors James and Evan were outstanding! Super chill and friendly, very knowledgeable and experienced, and just totally engaged and present. They made sure everyone was in the right place at the right time and we all got tons of waves. Everyone in our group got up and rode waves several times, I was so pleased! I can't say enough how worth it it was to have someone out there picking the right waves, lining us up in the right direction, giving us tips and feedback, and just maximizing our time and experience. The only thing I wish I did different would have been to bring someone along that wasn't surfing to take pictures of the kids from the beach. I just wish we had time to go out and do it again. This was a first-class experience and it really added to our vacation. ...