My 10 year old daughter had her first surf lesson with Starr. She had the best time and asked to schedule another with her for later in the week. Starr was an amazing instructor. She had her up and surfing waves within minutes. I think having a female instructor was very empowering as well. We come to Maui every summer-& hope to sign her up with Starr again!
We had two experiences with this shop, one great and one disappointing. Negative first-- we paid for a private lesson for our family of 5. Calvin started out great with his on-land instruction. We have had two other surf lessons in the past, so knew a bit. But, when it came time to get in the water, he asked 4 of us to stand in the surf, while he took only one person out at a time to catch waves. That meant that all of us were just sitting around 80% of the time. That was very frustrating for the money. I think he did it that way because it was crowded with the holiday, but still very inefficient and not what we expected. In the past, our guides helped all 5 of us surf at the same time. But, here is where the positive came in. Kyle was super helpful in setting us up to rent boards the next day. he loaded them on our car, got us the booties and the rash shirts, then gave great directions for where to surf on our own down the street at a public park. that was a great day, and we learned way more on our own that we did with Calvin the day before. I would still recommend this shop, but just beware of the private lessons on busy days.
We had a really great experience with MWR! Freddy was an excellent instructor. My two teenage children and I had a great time. I would highly recommend
Our daughter had a surf lesson with Star from Maui Wave Rider and it was the highlight of our trip for her. Star was an amazing instructor for her and also put us (worried parents) at ease with her expertise and knowledge of the water. Thank you! Totally recommend this business in Lahaina. Only disappointment is hubby and I didn't give it a try.
I agree with Mark B's review that the instructor (probably also RenTen) spent too much time talking about issues not related to surfing. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the beach because he kept stopping along the way to chat about all sorts of topics. Anyway, when we finally got to the beach where he did show us how to paddle & get up on the board. After we got into the water he did spend time with each of us by helping us catch some waves. There were (4) of us in our group and after 2-3 times of surfing with the instructor, I went on my own a few times. Surfing takes a lot of energy so be prepared for that, and I was very tired after several runs. Overall I'm glad I experienced surfing but I could have done without all the delays in getting to the ocean and getting back to the office. The person in the office was very nice. I also strongly recommend having your pictures taken by their professional photographer as they came out great. Definitely worth the extra $25 for that service.