Surfer Bear Hawaii

My husband and I had a phenomenal surfing lesson with these guys just a few days ago. Because the surf didn’t look good the day we were scheduled to go out, they arranged for a private lesson for both of us. They are personable and professional and know a lot about the sport. They worked hard to make sure we got every wave that came. We had a blast and would do it again in a heartbeat! Highly recommend.

Wow, what a terrific experience! My son (age 8) had three lessons with Barry and had a blast. It was his first time to surf, and Barry had him up within the first 15 minutes. Barry talked to him the entire time, had him laughing and got him comfortable in the waves. My son’s self confidence sky rocketed with surfing, and we attribute so much to Barry’s kind and attentive manner with kids. We can’t wait to get back to the Big Island to spend more time with Surfer Bear.

These guys are absolutely great. My sons (ages 10 & 13) and I took a lesson with Jeff and Barry. When I was scheduling Jeff checked if the surf would be good, suggested best time to come, he checked the day of the lesson on weather/​surf conditions and called to confirm. I was really impressed that he wouldn’t try to book us no matter what and really wanted to ensure that we had a good time.
Previously, we had 3 lessons with other companies (different locations, spread over several years) and my boys have been to surf camps. All three of us thought the lesson from Surfer Bear was the best we ever had. Jeff and Barry took time to understand our abilities and patiently guided us, challenged us just right, and tried to help us conserve our energy to continue enjoying the lesson and catching more waves (they often towed us, so we don’t waste energy paddling). All three of us caught quite a few waves and had a great time. I was mostly coached by Jeff, he was very attentive, encouraging, gave me lots of great tips that helped me get going. At the end of the lesson they even treated us to longan fruit (we never had it before and it was delicious). Many thanks Jeff and Barry!

We hit the jackpot!
On our first morning here on the Big Island, we found Surfer Bear Hawaii online. The reviews were incredible so we gave them a call at 7am, thinking we would just leave a message. Jeff answered and we were able to meet him just a few hours later for our first surfing experience.
What a thrill!!! Jeff was FANTASTIC. We could not have dreamed up a better experience. I truly believe that Jeff set the stage for an incredible day in the ocean. He was extremely warm and friendly from the moment we connected. His pre-​surf instructions were clear and helpful. He was excellent at telling us when to paddle, when to stand up, how to balance, how to fall, etc. Both my husband and I got up on the board our first try, and we kept it up from there. It was exhilarating!!! I loved every moment. It was Jeff’s experience and expertise that got us up on every wave. He is able to read the ocean… like magic.
Thank you, Jeff, for your beautiful, openhearted, playful, energetic, professional, soulful offerings. We really appreciate you sharing your gifts with us and we highly recommend your services.
Mahalo!

Barry (Bear) and his guys are fantastic. My 12 year old girls took a two hour lesson with them and they did a wonderful job teaching my girls and making sure they had a fun and safe time. My girls only had taken one brief surfing lesson before, and it was in small waves on the east coast, and the waves in Hawaii were a big step up so we were a little concerned. Things could not have gone better. My girls will definitely be going back to them. My only regret is that I didn’t join in. I highly recommend them for all ages. They will help you based on your experience level (a few of the other Kona surfing lessons took their groups out directly to the bigger waves and then watched them get pounded) and their warm and friendly spirits will brighten your day. Btw — very reasonably priced and they give you a full duration in the water versus counting time on shore or coming in early.

Not sure why no there hasn’t been a Unilocal page started for Surfer Bear so I started one. After my recent surf lesson with Surfer Bear (Barry) I wanted to make sure others can find him easily! It was my third surf lesson ever (first time was stand up paddle board in waikiki and second was surfing in santa monica). This was by far the the best experience I’ve had! Bear took good care of us in a two-​person group lesson. He picked out the best waves for us and made sure we knew exactly what to do (i.e. when to stand up!). Granted it was a baby wave, but I stood up on my board on my first try! He would single handedly drag both of our boards with his arms and legs to help us paddle out when we were tired. (Paddling out was hard work.) I had a couple of wipeouts and a few scratches, but felt pretty awesome about my surf experience.
Afterwards, Bear had fresh water for us to rinse with and tropical fruits to cleanse our palate of the salt water (lychee and passion fruit)!
If you want to take surf lessons, you must go with Bear!