Kapowui

My 16 year old daughter flew to Southern California for the Brazilian Jiu jitsu World Championships. She is an intermediate surfer looking to improve her skills. I researched area surfing schools and selected Kapowui. Marty recommended a couple of instructors over the phone but I’m sure all of his staff are top notch. He himself came out to the 6 am lesson to help out. My daughter called me and said she had a great time and her instructor helped her a lot and was very patient and friendly. Kapowui has an excellent online booking system and very helpful with any concerns you may have. My daughter travels to California quite regularly and no doubt I will be calling Kapowui to help her with her surfing ambitions again and again.

More than fair and friendly. Marty and his crew are super nice and the rental and lessons price are fair. The only regret I have is not taking the lessons due to timing

One of the best decisions I made while visiting Venice Beach. Awesome name with awesome people. Marty and Kenny were both friendly and helpful! I wanted to learn how to surf for the first time and was kind of hesitant to go with an instructor from one of the other equipment rental shops. While walking along the front walk, my eye caught this beautiful orange van in a parking lot, stacked with colored boards.
I met Marty who explained to us that since the weather was suboptimal that morning, he would be robbing us of money if he gave us a lesson. Instead he proposed a day and time when he knew the ocean would be more forgiving and offered to take us then. I really appreciated Marty’s integrity. I set up two lessons with Kenny, one of Marty’s instructors whom I had the pleasure of meeting. He was very friendly and gave us valuable instruction and trooped through some pretty rough waves to teach my buddy and I. This guy is top notch. My buddy caught waves on the first day and I caught quite a few more on the next, when the waters were a little lighter. Kapowui had great equipment, and Marty let us use his GoPro to take some awesome videos!
My trip to Venice Beach was made amazing thanks to Marty and Kenny. I highly recommend Kapowui!

Super amazing experience with Kapowui! My 12 and 9 year had a blast with their first surfing lesson ever. Gregory was such an awesome instructor and made the experience truly amazing for my children.
I highly recommend them and look forward to visiting them again in the future.

My friends and I had an absolute blast with Kapowui during our recent trip to LA/​Santa Monica.
A little background: My friends and I traveled to LA/​Santa Monica from D.C. for our friends’ bachelorette party, and we thought a surf lesson would make our California experience complete. Naturally, when traveling with a group, there is a lot of coordination involved, and Marty was fantastic at responding to my (literal) slew of emails and changes. He was incredibly accommodating of our schedule and needs, which I appreciated very much.
The surf lesson itself was great — our instructor was incredibly clear, organized, and thoughtful in his approach. The surfing itself was difficult due to the high tide (our schedule would have made it difficult to reschedule), but most of our group overcame their fears and had a great experience out in the water.
Overall, it was a great experience and I really gained an appreciation for the incredible skill needed to surf. Kapowui made an intimidating experience accessible and most of all, FUN, even during challenging water conditions. I will be going back to Kapowui the next time I travel (or move? :)) out to Santa Monica!

I had a blast surfing today for the first time. I attribute it mostly to the great instructors at Kapowui. They genuinely care about your learning and are extremely personable.
If you need surf lessons in the area, I can definitely recommend these guys. They are very professional and take you through everything you need to know about surfing. I will be booking another lesson soon. Thanks again fellas!

Martin was really great! Made us feel like pro surfers even when we wiped out. He also extended our lessons an extra 30 minutes without our asking. A great instructor, and a genuine person.

Martin is the Bomb! Had an awesome time, last time I surfed was 10 years ago. Martin had me up righr away with the right technique for my body/​style. I had at least 5 – 6 good rides to the beach if not more. If you want to have a great time and surf too, Martin’s da man!

What an incredible day! I’m 47 and Ricky, the miracle man, totally had me standing, catching waves within our 2 hour lesson.
I’m a mom who weighs over 200 pounds, I don’t exercise much more than walking, and Ricky was amazing at modifying each step to accommodate me and like I said, totally had me standing up!
My 13 year old daughter also had a blast and we did it together. What a great thing to do together and build each other up. :)
Signing up online. Was easy enough, choosing our instructor was the hardest part because they all seem wonderful.
I learned about Kapowui when they donated lessons to a non-​profit I support. I appreciate a company who gives back to the community.
Thank you Kapowui for a lovely adventure.

Sadly I had a very shocking and distressing experience this morning with Martin. He quoted, last night, a fee of $ 75 for a group lesson and $ 100 for a private lesson we opted for the group lesson. When I arrived with my 2 children at 10. For a variety of reasons a group lesson was not possible. As my children were walking to the beach wet suited I asked Martin if he would honour the $ 75 rate he said it was $ 110 each. When I tried to show him his text he called my kids back and summarily cancelled their lesson on my daughters birthday. When I said I would pay the $ 110 rate he said he did not want to teach my kids. Sadly things deteriorated when I said this was not how to treat customers to the point where he said he «would eviserate me» if I wrote a bad review. He has ruined our last full day in the U.S. He did later ring me to apologise and explain his behaviour. I asked if his outburst was because we were not white and he stated that was not the reason. He offered my kids free lessons with another instructor but my wife has been scared by the experience and we cannot trust our children to this company. The rest of the staff looked on and were polite throughout. Please bare all this in mind if you decide to book.
12^th August. Martin, I have reflected on your comments to my review of 5^th August; you are quite right that I did not tell the whole story. You will recall that when you rang later that day to apologise and explain yourself you told me you were in therapy for PTSD to mitigate your behaviour. This fact along with the explosiveness of your reaction, the nature of your threat along with your imposing physical stature suggest you should report yourself to the licensing authorities so they can make the necessary enquiries to reassure the public that you are a fit and proper person to supervise minors. I am myself struggling to identify the correct organisation to write to and would welcome some direction.

This was our third time celebrating our daughter’s birthday surfing. Kapowui gives the girls such a great experience and the teachers never disappoint.
Great Day!

The day of my 10am lesson it looked like rain. I didn’t know if they would cancel so I texted Martin at 8:00am to ask if they ever canceled for weather. I didn’t hear back. I looked at their webpage and checked the FAQ to see if they had any weather policies and there was nothing that I found. I texted Martin again 20 minutes later to say I was on my way from the east side and was leaving now so I would not be late. At 9:00am, while I was driving, Martin texted back «OK».
When I got to the beach, the guard at the parking lot told me he could not let me in because the beach was closed. I saw Martin rollerskating in the parking lot so I yelled out to him. He said, «they closed the beach because of the weather,» and «didn’t so-​and-​so call you to let you know??» (I can’t remember the name.) I couldn’t help but wounder why he didn’t call or text me. He was just skating around the parking lot. He had my #… he had texted me «OK» earlier. He said he was sorry and on my drive home he called me to say he had given me a refund. 1 and ½ hours of my life wasted driving both directions for lack of a text. I understand bad weather and things happen. But NO text, NO call, NO e-​mail. Unacceptable.

Great guy really knows his stuff! really helped me out in a pinch early in the morning with some wax and gives amazing lessons! I would highly recommend learning from the surf master :) super nice guy

Wow! What an amazing experience! Marty and his staff are so friendly and extremely knowledgable of the ocean. They teach whole heartedly and ensure that each lesson is high quality. I can’t say enough how great this team is — wish I could give them 10 stars!

I had a great experience with Kapowui this last weekend… Marty and his Instructor David are true professionals in every sense of the word. I highly recommend this surfing school for folks of all talent levels. I felt safe, I had fun, I learned a lot and I gained a deeper appreciation for the ocean and its beauty.
Don’t go anywhere else!
daniel

Its as easy as 1,2,3,4! …simple. great instructions. Took a refresher course from last year. and was back on the waves before I knew it!

I would never take lessons anywhere else! Marty, who owns the business, was fabulous, and made it one of the most memorable experiences in my life. I went with my German exchange student a few years back, and she and I had a blast learning how to surf! It is something that neither of us will ever forget, and it was a great chance to hang out and learn something new! I would recommend him to anyone traveling to the area, 100%. The cost is reasonable, and the people you work with there are very professional and friendly. Yay Kapowui!!!

MOST AMAZING EXPERIENCE… Teddy was great, patient, awesome personality. this was my first surf lesson there was 3 of us in our group and we had a blast. Teddy explaining everything you would need to know to get up on the board for the first time. i was little nervous at first cause I’m not a good swimmer but you are safe with these guys they are in water with you the whole time helping you get up to stay on your board, and keeping us safe. if you wanna spend the day at the beach this is seriously a great experience everyone should try at least once.
IM 100 PERCENT TAKING MORE LESSONS
just warning make sure you give yourself enough time to deal with the traffic. we were over 30 minutes late and they still fit us in.
can’t wait for my next lesson see you guys soon.
thanks teddy

They do lessons with foam boards (foamies). I don’t know that anything stood out that made it more memorable. The instructor was nice enough. The girls def were fans as he was an Aussie. It still seems a bit pricey. Unless you are doing a private lesson just rent a board as the lesson will go the speed of the slowest person in the group. They may be able to support more advanced lessons but it probably takes some prep.
Expect to pay 100 with tip.

If i could add more stars I would!!! The professionalism of «Kapowui» Surfing will leave you speechless!!! The owner, Marty Squires, actually calls you back, he sets the time, he recalls you before start date and his crew is toooo professional — can that be!?! My daughter and her boyfriend came in from Chicago, the boyfriend had never seen the ocean – Marty teamed them up with his instructor Luke, who had the kids learn how to surf and stand-​up on land!!! Brilliant!!! 30 minutes later, Luke had them in the water and on the 3^rd wave — — «Waaaaa-​Lahhhh», they both were standing and SURFING!!! I. as a dad, was in tears of happiness and glee — -what a company, what an unforgettable memory!!!
«Kapowui», Marty and Luke — thank you for the greatest time a father will never forget !
Brian Bean