Surf HNL: Ala Moana Surf Lessons!!!

Jon and his crew were incredible. My three kids (7,8,10) hadn’t seen the ocean until the day before their lessons, but they all were able to stand up right away after the quick tutorial. I knew my littles were in good hands with their experienced instructors so I could relax and focus on my own lesson. We did a private lesson for each person and I’d highly recommend that. The kids fell in love with surfing and thought they were pros (not knowing how much their instructors were enhancing their experience by helping tow us out, teaching us about the waves, and - most important- a BIG push to send us on the wave when it was time). I am so thankful for the kindness shown to my family by all the awesome people we met through SurfHNL. If you are on the fence about booking this experience or which company to choose to surf with, I’d encourage you to choose SurfHNL. The kids weren’t even out of the water before they asked me if we could do it again (and we did)!!!

To the team- thank you for helping me realize a life goal of surfing beside my children. I am beyond grateful. See you next time!

These guys were AWESOME! I grew up boogieboarding in Cali and wanted my teenage nieces and nephews to have a similar experience while we were in Hawaii. We had a BLAST! They provided the boards and the knowledge, and we all had such a great experience. Definitely recommend.

This was amazing! I stood up on the first wave! Great instructors! One-on-one help and guidance. The Ala Moana location is great, the waves are just right for beginners. The instructors were friendly and helped us in the water. It was so much fun!

Nate and the rest of the team were awesome. My kids enjoyed having them as their instructors. My kids were up and surfing within 10 minutes

Great time as a family! Very nice staff and also accommodating. Picked us up from our lobby, made great conversation, and pointed us to some fun activities while we're here.

Nate and his buddies are all amazing.My husband and 2 daughters really enjoyed the whole experience very friendly and accommodating to our needs

Sam and Ridge made this experience turn from fun to amazing! They are rock stars that did everything to make this surf session just amazing. So much so we booked again! This is hands down a must try!

Nate made sure to give us an amazing experience!!! Picked us up and dropped us back off, provided all of the gear, and actually got us surfing!! My hubby stood up on his board on his 2nd wave! Would definitely recommend!

The instructors were really awesome and super helpful! It was one of the coolest things I’ve done in Hawaii! Highly recommend!

This lesson was absolutely amazing. The instructor, Nate was superb! I would definitely recommend this company for your lesson!

Great experience, the instructors are super nice and helpful. Our whole group was able to get up and ride waves. Very safe and professional. Great time!

We took a 1 hour class in Ala Moana. I was able to book it for next day and they were super responsive. We were worried it would be too crowded but we had the water almost to ourselves and managed to stand up on our first go! Great lesson and patient instructor. For women, if you have a one piece swimsuit, I'd recommend wearing that - they do lend a rash guard but mine sometimes moved and my stomach got irritated.

We did an exclusive (semi private) group lesson yesterday at Ala Moana and had the best time!! Our group lives around the area and wanted to try surfing for the first time- Jon and Surf HNL staff were professional, friendly, and fun- made it a fantastic experience overall. Highly recommend!

Excellent. My instructor picked me up from my hotel and took me to a uncrowded beach. After some instructions he took me out. I got up and rode several times. Had a blast. My instructor was great.

My 3 kids had a wonderful time in their surf lesson. The instructors were very nice and made sure the kids had on rash guards and booties so that they were comfortable. All three (ages 8, 12, 16) were able to stand up and surf a few waves by the end of the hour. Got some great pictures!

I reserved a 2 hour group lesson for 8 people. The reservation process was smooth, and we were asked to constitute 2 groups of 4 and asked for our weights and shoe sizes, and we informed of the pick up time, provided with a voucher and were all set. Pick up was smooth and on time.

When we arrived, we were provided with rash guards, reef shoes, boards and had a good dry land introduction. We took to the water, and that is where, as they say, it all went off the rails.

There were no "groups of 4". The teenage girls and one of the adults got up and seemed to receive proper instruction. This is what I was told after the fact as I did not see any of this. Myself and one of the other adults were adrift and received no instruction at all. The staff blamed us for this, and told us it was our own fault because we drifted. The other adult (not I, thankfully!) fell into the water and required 90 minutes of medical attention as she was incapacitated from swallowing sea water. Thankfully, as I am physician, I provided the supervision and EMTs did not have to be called. If I wasn't there, the situation was of such severity that intervention would have been required. The staff was nowhere to be found.

The staff came to get me out of the water after one hour to tell me the lesson was over. I had been paddling about for an hour without supervision. I informed them that it was booked for 2 hours, and they told me I was wrong. They had not bothered to verify the voucher at check in. When we were out of the water, I showed them the voucher. They told me the voucher was wrong.

When we returned to our hotel, one of the staff asked to come in to speak to our concierge who did the booking. He accused our concierge of making Surf HNL look bad (within my earshot) and offered no apology of any kind. All of this was our fault.

The only "remedy" was to offer us a refund of the difference between a one hour and a two hour lesson. The staff failed to check the voucher at initial presentation. If they had, the 1 vs. 2 hour issue would not have occurred. They would have given us 2 hours then, offered to reschedule to 2 hours another time, or had us agree ahead of time to one hour. Next, out on the water, there would have been adequate supervision of all 8 of us. With respect, the job of Surf HNL. Next, when the mistake was noted, Surf HNL abdicated all responsibility about it. This is both unprofessional and unethical. I gave management of Surf HNL a whole week to respond to this before posting this review. They claim to have behaved in an exemplary fashion, and lay all the blame on the hotel concierge (who, in their words, requires "education") and myself, who does not appreciate everything that was done for me. I was also accused of being rude to the staff. After asking politely for redress repeatedly, I will admit to a single swear word, for which I apologized in real time.

The market for surf lessons in Waikiki is crowded. even if we limit it to those that pick up at hotels, provide shoes and rash guards and offer a range of lessons (surf/SUP, private/semi-private/group), it is still crowded. Surf HNL is problematic in at least three respects:

1. When, according to them, a mistake in the booking was made, they did not offer proper redress, and engaged in an immediate blame game.
2. In the water, they did not ensure proper safety of the students in their charge.
3. When given a chance to address issues after the fact, they doubled down, and ramped up the blame game. I do believe they do not think they did anything wrong.

Please consider other vendors for your surf lessons in Waikiki. If you decide to go ahead with Surf HNL, I strongly advise you to ask all the hard questions ahead of time and call out any issues quickly so that you do not run into the same problems our 3 families did.

Instructor was very helpful! I got up a few times and had a ton of fun, would definitely recommend this company.