About Local Pros Maui
A Small West Maui Surf School, Owned and Taught by Locals
This school is small and it is local. Local Pros Maui was founded and is still taught by west-side surfers — Kevin Sullivan grew up in Lahaina and learned at Honolua Bay, and the instructors alongside him were raised on the same water. The name is literal. What it buys you is judgment about the ocean that nobody acquires in a single season — which tide works the inside section, when the wind is about to ruin it, whether to move you twenty feet down the beach — and a lesson built around having a good morning rather than completing a curriculum.
Quick Details
- Who runs it: Kevin Sullivan, who grew up in Lahaina and has been on the WSL World Tour since 2009.
- Where we teach: One break — Guardrails, south of Lahaina — chosen for slow, forgiving waves.
- What we teach: Private $220, pairs $280, threes $360, then $100 a head for four or more, plus beginner, family and advanced lessons.
- What’s included: Board, surf shoes, rash guard, land instruction and a safety briefing.
- Track record: 528 Google reviews at a 4.97 average, as of 1 September 2026.
Fun First Is the Actual Operating Principle
Fun comes first here. The school was founded on that belief and the lessons are structured around it.
That sounds soft. Watch what it actually changes on the beach. It is why a child too small for their own board gets put on one with an instructor rather than left to struggle. It is why the session starts on the sand instead of throwing you at the water to see what happens. People who enjoy the first hour come back for the rest of their lives. People who spend it frustrated do not. That is the entire argument.
One Break, Chosen Deliberately
Every lesson runs at Guardrails, about a mile south of Lahaina off Honoapiʻilani Highway.
One break, every lesson, all year. Deliberate, because this wave slopes rather than pitches and breaks close enough to shore that a beginner can walk back out between attempts instead of paddling. Knowing one break properly — how it behaves on each tide, which section works when the wind comes up, where the sand has shifted since last winter — is worth far more to a first-timer than knowing six breaks casually.
The Formats, and Who Each One Is For
Seven ways to book, and they are not just different headcounts.
Private one-on-one at $220, semi-private for two at $280, a group of three at $360, and groups of four to thirteen at $100 per person before tax cover every combination of people you might turn up with. On top of those sit the beginner lesson, the family and kids lesson, and advanced lessons for surfers who already ride and want to work on technique. Photo packages are available separately and need arranging ahead of your session.
Six Instructors, All of Them Maui Surfers
Five of the six learned to surf on this coast as kids. It is the single most load-bearing fact about the school, and the one a visiting instructor cannot replicate however good they are.
Kevin competed on the World Qualifying Series from 2008 and joined the WSL World Tour in 2009 — seventeen years of competing, fitted around teaching here between tour stops. Nick Heradia has been teaching lessons here since 2003. Taylor Vicar caught his first wave at Guardrails aged eight, at the exact break your lesson runs at. Swells, currents, winds, tides — they learned all of it young, which is why they put you on the right wave rather than the next one. The difference is enormous over a 1.5-hour lesson.
A Small Operation on a Busy Island
Maui is busier every year, and the school has deliberately not scaled with it.
The island hosted 1,618,051 visitors in the first seven months of 2026, up 7.7 percent year on year. Local Pros Maui still teaches at one break, with six instructors. The reviews suggest that is the right trade: 528 of them, at a 4.97 average.
Guests Come From Across the Island
Most bookings come from West Maui. Not all of them.
Lahaina guests are a mile away. Kaanapali is a short run down the coast road, and Kapalua about 25 minutes. Kihei and Wailea are roughly 45 minutes north up Honoapiʻilani Highway, which is a real morning and worth planning properly — the South Maui pages walk through what it looks like from your end.
From the other end of the coast the math is much friendlier, and West Maui guests can be in the water before South Maui guests have finished the drive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Local Pros Maui?
Kevin Sullivan, a Lahaina-raised surfer who has been on the WSL World Tour since 2009 and still teaches lessons himself.
How experienced are the Local Pros Maui instructors?
Nick Heradia has been teaching surf lessons here since 2003, and owner Kevin Sullivan has competed on the WSL World Tour since 2009.
What lessons does Local Pros Maui offer?
Private one-on-one, semi-private for two, groups of three, groups of four to thirteen, beginner lessons, family and kids lessons, and advanced lessons for experienced surfers.
Is Local Pros Maui good for people who have never surfed?
It is built around them. The lesson opens with 15 to 30 minutes on the sand, and the break was chosen for slow waves that break close to shore.
Where are the lessons held?
At Guardrails, just past Mile Marker 19 on Honoapiʻilani Highway, about a mile south of Lahaina.
Book Your Lesson
Local Pros Maui · 10 Hoohui Rd #110, Lahaina, HI 96761 · www.localprosmaui.net
Lessons meet on the sand at Guardrails, off Highway 30 south of Lahaina. Come and surf with us. Booking is online, by format.
Rated 5 Stars by Happy Customers
