Sunrise Surf Academy Venice — Hotel in Los Angeles

Sunrise Surf Academy is truly magical. Our son has been surfing with them for years, and what started as zero experience has turned into real confidence and skill in the water. He’s grown so much—not just as a surfer, but in his independence and connection with the ocean.

What sets Sunrise apart is how deeply dedicated the team is. The owners and their team (shoutout to Conor and Mika!) are incredible—super engaged, in the water with the kids the whole time, and always making it fun, safe, and challenging in the best way. The student-to-instructor ratio is also spot-on—there’s always someone looking out for each kid, pushing them just enough while keeping everything super safe and encouraging. You can feel how much they care.

Another huge difference is that the kids are actually surfing the whole day. At other camps we tried, most of the day was spent playing games on the beach or waiting around with long breaks in between getting paired with an instructor, and the kids might catch one or two waves total. At Sunrise, they're in the ocean catching wave after wave. It’s active, immersive, and everything you’d hope for in a surf experience.

There’s a genuine sense of community, and it’s clear the vibe is about more than just surfing. It’s about building confidence, having a blast, and spending real time outside. Our son always comes home totally worn out in the best way—happy, salty, and proud.

We tried a bunch of other surf schools before this, and nothing even comes close. Sunrise Surf Academy is hands-down the best around —no comparison. Conor, Luc, and the whole team are phenomenal. Can’t recommend Sunrise Surf Academy enough. We feel lucky to...

I didn't give them a mark of 0 because I have to say that the lesson was great. But in mid-June, I booked a 2-hour lesson at Del Ray at 4pm. The surf school tried to contact me several times during the day (I'm only on vacation in the U.S. for 2 weeks, so I don't have a cell phone plan for texting and calling in the U.S.). Once I arrived at the parking lot at 3:45pm, I changed my clothes in my car and checked my email (with my 5G cell phone internet plan). That's at this moment then I saw an e-mail from the surf school telling me that the waves are better at Pallissade and suggesting we do the course there instead of Del ray. I quickly set off for Pallissade and replied to their e-mail saying that I was on my way to Pallissade and should be 5-10 min late. The surf school then writes back to me (I'm driving so i saw the mail when i was arrived at the palissade parking) telling me that because they hadn't heard news from me during the day that the course was FINALLY going to stay at Del Ray ! .... When i arrived at Pallisade, i checked my mail again and headed back to Del Ray it was now 4.45pm. I'd lost 1 hour of my lesson. The school wouldn't reimburse me for the hour I'd missed. At no point in the booking did they ask me to reconfirm the location. I'm able to take the blame for not checking my email first. So I was ready to take under my responsibility the first 30min missing from Del Ray to Palisade BUT never in his e-mail it is said that if I did not give news that the course would stay at Del Ray so this part is THEIR...

My partner and I took a lesson this week - both of us are in our 30s and signed up for private lessons. Garrett was our surf guide and he was super fun, helpful and never made us feel self conscious for how new we were. We laughed a ton even when we couldn't pop-up and perfect our stance. We loved our lesson so much, we decided to book another lesson the next day, we wanted to keep improving our pop-up and ride more waves! We spent just about the whole time in the waves and got to take a water break when we needed. Garrett was super helpful and we'll probably keep going back until we're ready to get off these soft tops lol. Connor and the whole crew who runs this are awesome people and I highly recommend no matter how old you are. You're never to old to learn how to surf and Venice/MDR has a great shallow break to learn. We Love Sunrise Surf and I can't wait to see these guys out in the water next time we're out there. We highly recommend Sunrise Surf to anyone/any age/any gender. You'll feel right at home and when you catch your first wave, there're no better feeling. We're gonna keep practicing our pop-up and we're looking forward...