Congratulations – You’ve picked the world’s best island for your family’s summer vacation! Once you’ve booked your flight, accommodations and rental car, then next step is to book your family surf lessons! We’ve been Maui’s top surf school for family surf lessons for over 20 years, and we wanted to help answer some of your family surf lesson questions. We are called Maui Surfer Girls but our two hour surf lessons are co-ed, and as we head into the summer of 2024, we are pretty evenly split between male and female instructors. But we only hire the best! Rest assured, we assign instructors based on ages and skill, so we always set students up with the best instructors for them!! If you are coming to Maui in the summer of 2024, we recommend booking several weeks ahead of time, especially if you have a large family or have a tight schedule.
How to Book a Family Surf Lesson
If everyone in your family is age 13 or older: you can either book a Group or a Semi Private Surf Lesson. A semi private surf lesson runs at a max of 3:1 ratio of students: instructors, so if there are 4 – 6 people in your family, you’ll have two instructors. Semi private lessons are open to age 11 and up. A group surf lesson runs at a 4:1 ratio, and is open to other parties. Group surf lessons start at age 13.
If everyone in your family is age 11 or older: you can book a Semi Private Surf Lesson. A semi private surf lesson runs at a max of 3:1 ratio of students: instructors, so if there are 4 – 6 people in your family, you’ll have two instructors. Semi private lessons are open to age 11 and up.
If everyone in your family is age 5 or older: You’ll probably be booking a combination of group, semi private, or private surf lessons. Use the ‘Keep Shopping’ feature to keep all of your bookings linked, and as long as you book them all on the same day and time, your family will still all be ‘together’ – at the same area of the beach, and in the water at the same time. By booking everyone into the correct lessons by age (as listed above) you’ll get the correct amount of instructors for your family. AS A HEADS UP: If your family will need more than 2 instructors and you are booking for several weeks in advance, please contact us at the chat app on the lower left to preview availability. We often have the ability to open more instructor spaces in advance. Please let us know the ages and the specific day and time that you would like to surf and we can check it for you!
If you are interested in photos: Just write ‘photos’ in the comment section when you book your lesson so the freelance photographers know that you are interested! Scroll to the bottom of this page to learn more about the photography program and view prices.
Tandem Surf Lessons
If your Keiki (child) is 65 pounds or less, and they are new to surfing, they can tandem surf! They’ll be surfing on the front of the board with the instructor on the back! Kids need to be able to swim and comfortable in the ocean, but because they’ll be on the board with the instructor, this is the only time that we allow lifejackets or water wings. In the rare instance that they fall off the board (it’s usually because they want to!), the instructor is able to just scoop them up and help them back on the board. To book a tandem lesson, just select private lesson, and if they are less than 65 pounds, that will always be an option!
Split Private Lesson
These are only offered in rare circumstances, but it does happen! If there’s two kids that are 10 and younger (ideally, between 5 and 7), and there will be at least one adult on shore, kids may ‘split’ a private lesson. Each child ends up on the water for 40 – 45 minutes, but especially for kids under 10, sometimes this is enough! There is a $60 upcharge fee – added to the credit card on file – after the lesson is complete. We do not charge this in advance because sometimes a 6 year old decides that ‘today is not the day to surf’ and we don’t want to add any extra pressure to the situation. To book a split private, book a Private lesson, enter all of the information for one of the kids, and then list the following information in the comment section: First Name, Age, and Weight of the second child. And include the words ‘Split Private’. Again- this is only available for two young children if there’s an adult on the beach (we can’t split a lesson 3 ways).
Digital Photography / Family Beach Portraits
We are now working with Jungle Rootz photography to capture your family surf lesson memories! They come down to the beach for any lesson time slot with more than one person in it, but if you are definitely interested in photos, add the note ‘photos’ to the comment section. They get family portraits, candids during the land lesson, and as many surf action shots as they can! All of the photos on this blog post are examples of the souvenirs of your Maui surf lesson that you’ll be able to keep forever! You can preview the photos on an iPad right at the beach, and they take cash or credit cards. Within 48 hours, they will email you a link (to the email you booked the reservation with) to download all of your images, which will be active for 30 days.
Prices:
1 Surfer Pack: $55
2 Surfer Pack: $95
3 Surfer Pack: $105
4 Surfer Pack: $115
5 Surfer Pack: $140
6 Surfer Pack: $165
7 Surfer Pack: $190
8 Surfer Pack: $215
9 Surfer Pack: $235
Still Have More Questions?
If we didn’t answer your questions about family and kids surf lessons above, please reach out for a personalized surf lesson plan. Please provide:
What day (or week) you would like to surf.
How many people in the lesson and if anyone is under 13 (and include all ages of kids under 13)
For fastest response, use the CHAT APP on the lower left side of any page of our website – this works for US/CAN numbers, please only use a cell phone (responses will come in the form of a text message). For international travelers, or if you prefer an email response, you can email [email protected]
For phone calls, you can use the number on the top of our website, but keep in mind the time difference, and that we have limited office hours.
Who will you be talking with? Most of the time, you’ll be chatting with Liz, she’s our surf school manager! Liz has taught sailing and windsurfing all over the US and Caribbean, and has been living on Maui for over 30 years now. She has two teens of her own, at Seabury Hall (where she and the owner, Dustin Tester, both attended high school) and Kalama Intermediate (both in Makawao) and she loves to talk about surfing and visiting Maui!
Occasionally, Gina will be answering the messages and phone calls, and she’s one of our senior surf instructors, and a long time surf school manager!