Surf Academy

This program is designed to maximize Marion’s wallet. Do your homework and find parents who have experience with the true value of what you are getting versus what you are paying for. Marion is often out of town and the instructor to student ratio is designed to be as slim as possible to meet the legal minimum requirement. Marion’s passion for surfing is undeniable. Students don’t like her hectoring and her mercurial nature, lack of focus with respect to running an efficient program will become clear after a little while.

My fiancé wanted to try surfing, so I decided to get us surf lessons for his birthday gift. I was really nervous since this was our very first time surfing.
The day we were planning on going didn’t end up working out because our instructor said the waves were too high/​strong for beginners. So we ended up rescheduling for another day. I’m really glad they take conditions into consideration when teaching beginners because it wouldn’t have gone as smoothly if we tried to do it that day.
Our instructor was Marion. She was an amazing teacher! We started off by going in the water, and swimming in a few of the waves to get used to the timing. We then went on land and practiced getting up on the board. Then we went out with the boards. I came into this lesson thinking I’d be happy if I got to stand up on one or two. and I ended up getting at least 6 or 7 in! The most exhausting parts were getting into the wetsuit, and getting out in the water. We had so much fun! Highly recommend this for beginners!

Great instructors, great value on private lessons

I was recently in the LA area and had a great experience with Marion and Emma. I called Marion on Wednesday, left her a quick message, and she got back to me within the hour– I was able to book a session with Emma in El Porto in Manhattan Beach for that Friday morning. Marion was super friendly on the phone and my instructor Emma was the best– she was upbeat, fun, and gave me really great instructions. I even was able to catch a couple of waves :) It was the perfect start to a great mini-​vacation. I would definitely recommend Surf Academy to any beginner surfer!

We’ve sent both our kids (now ages 10 and 13) to Surf Academy for the past three summers. We had tried a few other surf schools, but none are on the same level as Surf Academy. The head of the school, Marion, is one of a kind. She’s bright, energetic, knowledgeable, loves working with kids, and puts her full heart and soul into every day. The other instructors are equally as devoted. The group puts a big emphasis on safety: Not just making sure the kids are properly supervised (they are), but stressing to the kids the importance of ocean safety. Their instruction is clear, well organized and well planned. Our kids have learned to surf and have had a great time in the process.

My kids (8 and 6) have spent the last couple of summers at the Surf Academy in Santa Monica. I surf and so making sure they were safe in the water was a priority. I can’t say enough about the camp. The councilors are young and enthusiastic and really invested in making sure the kids are safe and have a great time. The camp is pretty low tech in all the right ways. A nice big tent provides shade, they have a couple balls, and a host of bodyboards /​surfboards. The drill is to play games on the beach, spend time in the water, and repeat. Most importantly, they’ve got a great water safety strategy, so the kids can spend a lot of time in the water, but always well supervised. This summer, they did 7 weeks and would have gone the whole summer if we hadn’t broken it up with a vacation and another camp. Best of all, both my kids are really comfortable in the water and (this summer especially) the light went about how fun it is to ride waves. I can’t say enough about the camp. It’s the best…

I searched high and low for a surf school in my area and happened to take a gamble on the surf academy. I had a great lesson with Marion. She was knowledgeable and patient and showed me a lot. They also teach in Huntington Beach and Santa Monica. I would highly recommend them.