Hans Hedemann Surf School
Urban Honolulu (Waikiki)
A well-established Waikiki surf school combining land-based technique instruction with small-group ocean lessons, ensuring each student gets multiple wave attempts. Reviews consistently praise instructor patience, encouragement, and teaching quality, with kids specifically noted as having quality first experiences. Good value is a recurring theme, and the optional video-footage add-on is a nice touch for capturing the experience.
Why Roamwise recommends this
Hans Hedemann Surf School is a 25+ year institution (founded 1995) offering patient, small-group beginner surf lessons at both Waikiki (Queen's Beach, with hotel pickup) and the North Shore (Laniakea Beach) — a broader two-location footprint than originally profiled, and an easy, safe default recommendation for first-time surfers and families on either side of the island.
---
- Hazards / conditions:
- Standard beginner-surf ocean safety; Waikiki's gentle, beginner-friendly break is well suited to first-timers.
Local tips
- •Correction: this operator teaches at both Waikiki (Queen's Beach) AND North Shore (Laniakea Beach) — don't limit recommendations to Waikiki-based travelers only
- •North Shore-based travelers can use this school too.
- •Complimentary Waikiki hotel pickup for the Queen's Beach location is a genuine convenience worth mentioning.
- •Consider the video-footage add-on for travelers who want to remember/share their first surf lesson.
- •Small group sizes mean more actual wave time per student — a real differentiator worth mentioning versus larger group lessons.
- •Also offers stand-up paddle and body boarding lessons, not just surfing — worth mentioning to travelers open to alternatives.
Save places as you browse, then plan a trip built around your list.
View saved places →