Maui Surf 43

Best Places to Learn to Surf in Maui
For visitors to Maui, the best place for surf lessons in probably Lahaina. You can take lessons down in the Kihei area as well (further south), but the water is not as nice there. We had heard good things about a number of surf companies around Lahaina: Maui Wave Riders (MauiWaveRiders.com, 133 Prison St. in Lahaina and 1975 South Kihei Rd. in Kihei, since 1997), SurfDog (Maui.net/~surfdog, (808) 250-SURF), and Goofy Foot Surf School (GoofyFootSurfSchool.com, 505 Front St. Lahaina, just 2 blocks down from the famous banyan tree). In the end, we decided to take our first lessons with Goofy Foot. They offer a guarantee that you will stand and surf during your lesson or else you get your money back -- and they have rarely had to give a refund. Founded by Tim Sherer in 1995, Goofy Foot has taught more than 75,000 surf-enthusiasts how to surf, and they go a good, friendly job of it. They have a pretty full schedule, so it is best to call in advance to get reservations rather than just showing up. The introductory surf lessons run 2 hours, with sessions at 8AM, 11AM, and 2PM. They'll set you up with a lycra shirt (also called a rash-guard, to keep you from buring and keep you warm), surf booties to protect your feet from the bottom, and a LOOOONNNNGGG surf board. You can leave behind shoes, clothing, cameras, etc. in waterproof tubs they provide which are kept in the store while you are out surfing. You show up a half our early, fill out the required paperwork, fork over your money, get assigned to an instructor, and get fitted with the above mentioned gear. There are usually 4 or 5 students per instructor -- we had 4 in our group, a 40 year old, a 12 year old, and two 50-somethings. Then its off to the beach, where you learn to balance a surfboard on your head while walking about 75 yards or so to the water.

The lesson begins on the beach - you learn where the key balance points on the board are, and go over the basic positioning techniques required to go from lying on the board to (hopefully) standing and surfing. Goofy Foot teaches a relatively slow, steady method for getting up, from going from the initial pushup, to knees up, front foot up, to gently standing -- they don't expect a pro pop-up move, which most beginners can't handle. Follow their techniques - they work. Once you get through the sand training, you hop into the ocean with your board and begin the real fun part of surfing -- paddling a huge board through the sea. No one tells you about this unglamorous part of the sport, but for every 10-15 second ride you get, you have to paddle for another 2-3 minutes to get ready for the next one -- and this is some serious arm and shoulder work, you will feel it and dread it. But, hey, that's all part of the surfer lifestyle, right? So anyways, you then have to paddle your way out to the actual surf area, which is about another 100 yards north along the beach where the rock wall of the harbor juts out into the sea. There are some buoys here where those "in-waiting" hang out to stay out of the way of those actually riding some waves. Waves in this area are pretty reliable and pretty mild, perfect place for beginners, though a few locals train here as well. Our biggest complaint was the crowding and waiting. With 3 different schools all offering lessons at the same time, this section of ocean can look like rush hour traffic in LA. To avoid collisions, students have to take turns paddling out to their instructor and riding their wave. Then it is back to floating/standing on the side, waiting for your next ride, which can be 5-12 minutes. So over the course of a 2 hour lesson and 80-90 minutes in the water, I think I got to ride 7 waves. The other complaint was about the rough ocean bottom here - lots of chunks of coral lumps all over the place, and only about 3-4 feet deep, so you don't want to take a head-first dive into this water, and protective surf shoes are a MUST. Your instructor will go over safety rules here about staying safe, how to crash, how to jump off your board, etc., but it would still be nice to have a sandy bottom.