Surf Shack — Local services in Maui

Learning how to surf has always been on my list of things to do. We were staying in Kaanapali and drove here, which took us about 45 mins on a Thursday for a 10:30 session.

The activity was for 2 hours. Keep in mind that time on the water is limited with walking boards to the site, learning fundamentals, waiting for waves and navigating through the crowd of other lessons. We left wanting more, kind of unsatisfied. The location was about knee to waist deep high and there were many rocks. Our family left with cuts from it so be careful.

Our instructor was Juan and he was a great instructor and very friendly and encouraging. The kids needed this. I left a tip.

The main thing that disappointed me was the pictures. I paid $100 ($20/person) for photos but the photographer forgot to take pictures of my youngest daughter. We discovered this when reviewing the pictures at the site and was convinced that they were there and that we should see them in the provided link later. So we paid and didn't complain only to find out that she wasn't in any of them.

At this point I could've taken pictures on my own with my smartphone and probably would've gotten better and variety of shots and video. I usually like taking pictures and video to capture the moment, whether they look good or not. When we first arrived I was told not to bring my phone (in a water protective sleeve with lanyard) due to it getting in the way. I've done many similar water activities with it and was able to get wonderful shots and video, so thought I could do it here too, I wasn't given the option. I think they do this to force you into paying for the photos.

All in all fun activity, pictures a disappointment. Now that we know the fundamentals of surfing we can go on our own, on...

My dad, brother, and I all got private surfing lessons from Camila, she was absolutely amazing, she greeted us as soon as we arrived to the beach, she was extremely friendly and helpful the whole lesson, it was later in the day and we got lucky that the conditions were still really great. My brother and I typically pick up athletics pretty quick, however it was harder than I thought and I was struggling at first. Yet, by the end of the 2hr lesson I really felt I learned everything I needed to know to be able to do it on my own in the future. She corrected our mistakes and walked us through every step while we were in the motions. You can tell Camila knows what she’s doing. Even my dad, who I was expecting to have a lot of trouble was getting it down by the end. The owner Mark was also super easy to arrange a time with, considering there were no spots for 3 originally. He helped us work out a plan in a very short amount of time. The whole experience was awesome and Camila made it a really fun time, I would recommend The Surf Shack to anyone looking to learn surfing in Maui no matter the...

DON'T MISS OUT!!! Surf Shack made learning how to surf for this uncoordinated gal feel like I was a local wahine. Our instructor, Sophia, was so patient and gave the best tips that had us all up on our boards on our first try. Best deal in town and we even got a photo package that landed us some pretty awesome photos to remember the experience by. We went with a couple who had surfed a few times before and they even said that was their best experience. Paddling was def my weakness but no worries, there was no judgement for walking my board back out to catch the next wave; in fact, the spot Surf Shack uses is ideal for beginners because its more shallow towards the shore with rocks that helps us shortys to push off of to get back out there. The guys had such a great experience, they ended up coming back to rent boards and give it a go on their own; deal came with a board, shirt, and shoes for 4 hours! The team member there was so kind he even lent us (the two gals) shoes to get out in the ocean which was perfect because we got to see fish and even spotted a...