Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy — Local services in Maui

I organized my post into sections, so you can go straight to the things you care about.

Overview: The best. I have traveled to Hawaii several times, and this was the all-around best experience from booking to actually doing the activity. This company is locally owned, so your money goes straight to supporting local. That being said, sometimes local is not so good. Royal Hawaiian Surf Company was exceptional, however, and was worth every single penny. I would do this again and recommend it to all my friends traveling with kids or just wanting to try surfing. I would especially recommend it if you are like me and learned swimming and water activities as a grown up.

Booking: Their calendar online looked full, so I called them. They made more space for us and were very nice the entire time. Don’t go by the online calendar. If they look booked up, call them, especially if you don’t have much time left in your trip like us.

Reminders/ Instructions: They sent email and reminders, which helped a lot. The email instructions were easy to follow and had enough information.

Location: The shop has the most perfect location for parking and places to eat and things to do afterwards for all budgets. There’s a park nearby if you want to eat your own sandwiches but also lots of shady restaurants and shopping within five minutes walk. There’s a shave ice place in walking distance, so you can get some sweets afterwards.

Coaches/teachers: They were so patient-supremely patient. I am a teacher, and I love my own kids! But they can have a lot of personality! The coaches/instructors handled my kids so well and stayed patient but pushed them, too, in a kind way. As a teacher and mom, I highly recommend them for my friends who are bringing their children for lessons. I say this especially because I overheard some other instructors with some other groups and they were not so patient with their words and tones. Our coaches also paid attention and noticed the things we needed to improve, so each time we rode the waves we each knew what to work on to do better. They were also watching for safety, so I felt relaxed with them. Sometimes these activities stress me out because of all the safety troubles, but I could just have fun and actually relax. It was so great for all of us.

Beach location & lesson setting: This was perfect for us. As a mom, I was a little worried about being in water too deep and us getting tired and being unsafe, but they took us to a location where we could practice almost non-stop and not get too tired. There were nonstop waves that ranged from tiny to big, so all of us could do our own levels. I have zero experience and am still kind of afraid of the water (but worked hard to learn how to swim), and they got me up on the board many times. My kids who are fearless swimmers-they taught them tricks and had them doing special moves.

Afterwards, I asked my kids what they will tell their friends about this trip, and they said surfing, turtles, and the Luau (Old Lahaina). I can’t thank Kaimana and Lee enough for the good memories they gave us. We would do this again no doubt. Thank you, Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy for...

My brother and I took a semi-private (just the two of us) lesson with Josh. It was INCREDIBLE!!! It was my first time surfing and my brother has surfed a handful of times. Two adults with very different skill levels!

Cost. The cost per person for the semi-private lesson ($83 each) was only $10 more per person than the group lesson and the same as the per person cost of a group lesson on Kaanapali Beach. It was worth paying an extra $10 per person for a lesson with just two people!

Instructor. Josh was fantastic! I appreciated his calm, happy demeanor. I was nervous to surf but Josh's relaxed and "have fun" attitude helped to qualm my fears. He provided specific, easy-to-follow instructions.

Lesson. The lesson is the perfect amount of time. 2 hours provided time on the beach learning skills and then ample time on the water to practice... caught more than enough waves. I couldn't believe it... first time and rode many waves without falling! Ok... I also fell many times too. Josh tested out my ability by putting me up on waves that were more level two, which I appreciated trying out. It's great to know where the line was, even if it was scary getting out on that wave! Prepare to be EXHAUSTED at the end, but the good kind of exhaustion. The kind where you get to sit by the pool with a mai tai after.

Soreness. For the accident prone, I hear you. But I am happy to report that I got out a mostly unscathed! Royal Hawaiian offers booties, which I recommend because of the rocks. It was nice to not have to worry about at least those. If you are a first timer, I recommend only signing up for one lesson at a time (aka not two days in a row). I almost signed up for day 2 to hone in on my skills but I was glad that I didn't. My ribs were sore the next day and I suspect I would have been grumpy lying on my stomach trying to paddle day 2

Busy Area. Be aware that lessons take place in an area with multiple other lessons and schools. Our instructor, Josh, did everything he could to ensure that he spread us out before letting us loose on the waves, but I did have to dodge many other people on the water, which is hard to do when you don't know what you are doing! I was also hit a few times by other surfers. That being said, it wasn't a big deal! And remember, that is coming from an accident-prone, nervous nilly. I took my lesson during what my instructor described as the busiest time of year (February through April). I suspect it's less busy other times of the year

Thank you for a great lesson!! I will send all of my friends to you for...

My wife and I wanted to do surfing lessons here while we were on Maui. We had K as our coach, and he was great. He started off our semi-private lesson going over the basics of surfing before we got in the water. Both my wife and I do yoga, so we were able to get the hang of it fairly quickly, thanks for K's teachings! He even helped me out to bigger waves to try and catch bigger and faster ones after getting the hang of the smaller ones. We also got personalized photos of our attempts to catch these waves too by the photographer for a reasonable price that you pay for at the surf academy (not available online).

At the end of our surfing lesson, we began paddling back along the shoreline. I'd recommend paddling back to the location a little further away from the shoreline in the future. My wife was exhausted by the end of it and thats when a wave swept her onto the beach, bruising her legs up a bit afterward because the board kept hitting her. That made me sad to see as I rushed over to help her out. All in all, I would do this again with this company but I hope the owners consider this recommendation in the future. After we got back, we got coupons for gear at the surf academy as well as for the local restaurant, Down The Hatch, which I...