About us

Four Beaches, One Decision Every Morning

The school was founded by two coaches who had worked seasons at schools that taught wherever their van was parked, regardless of whether the beach was safe or the waves were suitable. Their alternative was simple and logistically inconvenient: hold the group at the meeting point, look at the forecast and the actual sea, and drive to whichever of four beaches is working that morning. It costs an extra twenty minutes and it is the difference between a lesson where beginners stand up and one where they get washed sideways for two hours.

Everything else follows from that decision. Coaches are certified surf instructors with current lifesaving and first-aid qualifications, retrained each spring, and the ratio never exceeds five students to one coach in the water. Beaches are assessed daily for rip currents, and the safe zone is marked before anybody enters. Boards are soft-topped and sized to weight rather than handed out at random, and wetsuits run from child sizes upwards in two thicknesses, washed after every use.

We also do the things a school on a working coast should do: teach water safety in the local schools free of charge, keep a set of boards and suits for children who cannot afford lessons, run beach cleans through the winter and post an honest daily conditions report that anyone may use whether they are booked with us or not.