Isla Surf School — Local services in Folly Beach

My fiancé and I have been wanting to try surfing for a long minute and finally booked a lesson with Isla Surf School for the Labor Day weekend. They provide boards and gear (either wetsuits to avoid cold/rash or shirts to avoid rash from the board depending on the weather). We spoke to Shane on the phone because we were booking the lesson on the road out & he was extremely helpful. Flash to surf lesson and we met on the beach (there is not a building, but you see the boards off the beach entrance at 3W, as well as a tent where you can leave stuff while the lesson is happening; leave time for parking as they mention online, as the beach is busy and parking fills up). Our lesson was with Nadia who gave excellent instruction ashore on boards before going out. She is an incredibly knowledgeable instructor whose passion for surfing is clear. We are older first timers (40 & 40+), but both caught multiple waves and had a blast. They also teach kids as young as 5. I think we’d need several more lessons before successfully catching waves on our own (we wanted a few lessons on consecutive days, but they were full by the time we called, so try to plan ahead). But it was seriously so good! Nadia had us walk our boards out toward Center St./the pier & then we surfed on for an hour and a half in a semi private lesson. She chatted with us & looked for appropriate waves for us, giving us feedback on every run. She told us when to paddle and when to pop up & I seriously had the time of my life. She swam along the shore and hold our boards looking for our waves & keeping us company until there were waves meant for us; she was excellent company & sooo knowledgeable. Keep your toes on the tags, pop up with your arms locked, don’t grab your rails and keep something locked in to surf towards on the horizon. But she/they will tell you all that & so much more. We both swallowed seawater, so maybe keep your mouth shut! But seriously, get a lesson sooner rather than later! We can’t recommend it enough & we’re definitely going back for more (both surfing & Isla lessons). Isla rocks. Nadia & Shane are the...

🏄‍♀️ 🌊☀️ If you want to learn to surf with cool dudes who are also experienced, engaging & encouraging instructors, I highly recommend Isla Surf School in Folly Beach. The owner, Peter, was very professional & responsive to questions during the reservation process & met us at the beach to introduce us to Eric, their instructor (who is also a sponsored competitive surfer). There was a big storm a few days before their scheduled lesson, & it was still extremely windy with rough surf on the day we arrived in Folly. I reached out to Peter to see if we could reschedule if conditions were not ideal for young beginners, and he made it clear that safety was a priority & he would move the lesson (with notice) if needed. My 13 yr. old daughter & her friend had a 90 minute semi-private lesson with Eric & it was totally awesome! 🏄‍♀️ Neither girl had any experience with surfing or other board sports, but they were both successfully riding waves shortly after entering the water. Eric spent the first 45 minutes getting them into wetsuits & teaching them the skills they would need once they were in the ocean; he had them practice on their boards on the beach until they had the basics down. He emphasized safety & respect for the ocean, while also making it super fun. He even got them to slather on more sunscreen without complaints or eye-rolling 🙌 Both girls got personalized instruction & feedback, and had a blast riding multiple waves during the second half of the lesson. 90 minutes was the perfect amount of time; the girls are both athletic & fit (they play Junior Olympic volleyball), but they were still happily exhausted by the time we left the beach. Thanks to Peter & Eric for an...

Did a semi-private lesson and it was SO GREAT! If you are considering this, book now! The lesson was really great. We had one instructor and they spread all the groups out so it was really just us. Our instructor, Jake, was so helpful and really helped each of us in the way we needed. We had plenty of time for learning the basics and riding the waves.

Logisitics: They were super communicative via email and text. You can park anywhere but the parking near where the tent is has a bathroom and freshwater showers which was super helpful. Parking was cheap at 2$ per hour for the public lots. Definitely bring water. They had rash guard shirts you can borrow. The surf boards are a special safer foam type that made me feel super comfortable. You can definitely take a break if needed or spend the whole time in the water!

Disclaimers of course - surfing is an activity that depends on the weather. Also, the number of people at the beach/in the water will impact your experience. If you want less people, consider an earlier time or a weekday. We went at 11 and the people were not a huge issue but we did have to bail a few times to avoid people in the shallows who were not planning to move for us.

The worst part of your experience will be that you will want to go...