Toby and the staff were great! Was thrilled to get up on the waves and even have pictures to prove it! Great activity!

My husband and I had a semi private session and had a fun time surfing, but it would be even better if our instructor was a little more patience with us as me and my husband were first time surfer. He was upset and annoyed when he found out we weren't able to learn all the basic skills at the store (which somehow the second half was taught in Japanese!!!), and that we couldn't find the right size surfing clothes and two matching shoes in a bucket in the shortest time.
Before getting into the water, I let him know that I would not be able to surf thru the whole session due to physical ability, but my husband would continue thru it. After I told him that I was done and was to return to the beach, he went to tell my husband to help me get back to the beach instead of continue helping him to surf, then he left us and went out surfing himself. Since we were so tired and the muscle was sored that it almost took us 45 min just to get back to the beach.
After we got onto the beach, other instructor from Hans Hedemann even asked us if our instructor had "ditched" us in the session...
Still, we had a great time, but it could be better.

All of the staff at Hans Hedemann are just wonderful, from the driver, to the instructor at the shop, all the instructors in the ocean, and even the cameraman! Everyone was just so friendly, laughing and smiling, and making sure we were having a good time. My fiance and I had an awesome time and would recommend this surf school to everybody. The pictures came out great, thank you camera man!

Our 17, 15, and 12 year old all had a great experience. All of them got up several times and are very glad they did it. Two of the kids wore short sleeve shirts and wish they wore long sleeve as they both had quite a rash on the arm from rubbing against the board.

I had surfed a few times before with previous lessons but never with this company. My boyfriend had never surfed before. We were picked up more or less on time by the driver, driven to the surf shop, and introduced quickly to our teacher, Ivan, a lovely man who has lived in Oahu over 20 years. He gave us our gear, including two massive boards that we toted to the beach. We then had a lesson on the sand for about 15 minutes, then out to sea!
We enjoyed the surfing, though I was a bit afraid of the waves and thus Ivan toned it down until I was confident. Once I was, though, he took us out to where regulars were surfing, and we did more or less okay!
Our lesson was 2 hours long, and we are both in 8 out of 10 shape, but were both POOPED by then end - so I recommend that you keep the lesson length in mind with your own fitness!
I absoultely recommend no more than 2 or at most 3 people to an instructor so that noone holds the group back.
Ivan was a nice man and I felt he was low key but helpful.