Learn Surfing in Waikiki, Oahu

What you can realistically reach: A week of daily coached sessions can take a true beginner to reliably catching and riding unbroken waves on a green face — a real milestone. Confident turns and bigger surf are seasons away.

Week-Long Multi-Day Surf Lesson Package

A multi-day package on the gentle Waikiki rollers where surfing was born, run by the school of former pro Hans Hedemann. Each progressive session builds on the last — paddling technique, pop-up and stance, timing, trimming and turning — with board, leash and rash guard provided and instruction scaled to your level. Lessons are taught daily on the same beachboy waves that have served as Waikiki's learning ground for a century. Note: this is a structured lesson package rather than a formal instructor certification course.

A multi-day, progressive, hands-on programme on the birthplace beach of modern surfing — at the genuine source even though it is not a certification course.

Masters & lineage

• Duke Kahanamoku (lineage)
• The Waikiki Beachboys lineage

Why Hans Hedemann Surf School

• ★ 4.7/5 · 1350 reviews on TripAdvisor ↗

— don't take my word, check it yourself

Founded by Hans Hedemann, who competed on the world professional surf tour from 1978 to 1990 and reached a #4 world ranking in 1983; reviewers consistently credit the instructors' patience and clear coaching for getting first-timers standing and riding waves within their first lesson.

Schools in Waikiki, Oahu

Checked by hand against each school's own course pages. No school paid to be listed.

• Hans Hedemann Surf School
  Week-Long Multi-Day Surf Lesson Package
  A multi-day package on the gentle Waikiki rollers where surfing was born, run by the school of former pro Hans Hedemann.
  https://hhsurf.com/waikiki-multi-day-surf-lesson-packages/
• Waikiki Beach Services (Beachboys)
  Private and group surf lessons with licensed Beachboys
  Operating on Waikiki Beach since 1955, this outfit teaches private and group surf lessons with licensed Waikiki Beachboys from beachfront stations at the Sheraton and Royal Hawaiian hotels.
  https://www.waikikibeachservices.com/
• Faith Surf School
  Private, semi-private and group surf lessons
  Founded in 2000 by Hawaiian professional surfer Tony Moniz and based fronting the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, it offers private, semi-private and group surf lessons plus board rentals and outrigger canoe rides.
  https://faithsurfschool.com/

The room

• Group — Small groups in the water — a few surfers per coach — plus video review on land.
• A normal day — Two tide-timed sessions a day with theory and video between; you rest when the surf is flat.
• Who comes — Mixed-ability travellers, often solo or couples, teens to 50s.

Want the rest — a normal day, first hour to last? Ask the school; a serious one answers in two minutes.

The credential

ISA Surf Instructor / Coach Certification (Levels 1-2) · Certifying body: ISA (International Surfing Association)

A recognised qualification an outside body stands behind is not the same as a certificate a school prints itself. We name which it is — you should ask the school the same.

Also for Surfing

What I check before I send you anywhere

I'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.

• The craft is actually alive there. A working scene, with people who do this every day — not a demo put on for visitors.
• There's a real teacher behind it. Named, still practising, and certified where the craft has certificates.
• The credential is what it claims to be. A state diploma and a certificate a school prints itself are not the same thing. I check which, and I say which.
• I tell you how sure I am. Most pages here are verified by hand. A few say "still checking" — I'd rather admit that than pretend.
• Nobody pays to be here. No commission, no selling the trip. The order on this map is the strength of the community, never the size of the wallet.
• If I wouldn't send a friend, it isn't on the map.