Surf Lessons in Lahaina, Maui
Our Break Is a Mile South of Town, and It Has Been for Years
Lahaina is where this school comes from. Kevin Sullivan grew up here, learned to surf up the coast at Honolua Bay, and the instructors who work alongside him were raised on the same stretch of west-side water. The lessons themselves run a mile south of town at Guardrails — a slow, sloping break that has been the right place to teach beginners for as long as anyone here has been doing it. You will not be paddling into a crowd. You will be standing in waist-deep water, catching whitewater, and walking back out to do it again.
Quick Details
- The spot: Guardrails, just after Mile Marker 19 on Honoapiʻilani Highway, roughly 500 yards past Puamana Beach Park.
- The wave: Gentle, sloping, breaking close to shore. Suited to beginners and improving intermediates.
- Included: Surfboard, surf shoes, rash guard, and 15 to 30 minutes of land instruction.
- Formats: One-on-one $220, two people $280, three $360, then $100 per person for four or more, before tax. Each lesson 1.5 hours.
- Who teaches: A crew born and raised on Maui, led by owner Kevin Sullivan.
Our Surf Lessons
Private one-on-one surf lessons in West Maui
From
$220
1.5 Hours
All Ages
When you get to Maui, the first thing to do is get some private surf lessons from a local professional! In the bathtub-warm Lahaina waters...
Two-person surf lessons in West Maui
From
$280
1.5 Hours
All Ages
Learning to surf alongside a close friend or significant other in Maui is going to be one of the most memorable things you could do in a lifetime...
3-person group surf lessons in West Maui
From
$360
1.5 Hours
All Ages
These private surf lessons are designed for small groups of three. With just the right amount of people to make this really fun yet personal...
4-17 person group surf lessons in West Maui
From
$400
1.5 Hours
All Ages
It’s time to gather the family for the best activity of the trip: a surf lesson with a professional local surfer! With a big group like this, it’s always a blast to....
Rated 5 Stars by Happy Customers
Guardrails Is the Wave, and It Is Easy to Find
Drive south out of Lahaina on Honoapiʻilani Highway and you are there in a couple of minutes.
Watch for Puamana Beach Park on the ocean side, keep going roughly 500 yards past it, and Guardrails is there just after Mile Marker 19 with the boards already down on the sand and your instructor standing next to them. Keep going roughly 500 yards and you reach Guardrails, just after Mile Marker 19. No building. No reception, no sign-in desk and nothing to queue for — your instructor is already on the sand with the boards down, which is the whole check-in process and takes about four seconds. Bring whoever came to watch. They can set up on the beach and see every wave you catch, because the break sits close enough in that nothing disappears into the distance.
Why This Break Suits Someone Who Has Never Surfed
The waves here slope. They do not pitch over and slam down, and that single property is what makes this a place a person can learn rather than a place a person gets humbled. It matters more than any other detail on this page.
Compare it to a reef break. That gives a beginner roughly one second to get to their feet, punishes anyone slower with a faceful of reef, and sends most first-timers back to the sand convinced surfing is not for them. Guardrails gives you a long, sliding push toward shore. Enough time to get a knee up, then a foot, then the other one. That is why most first-timers stand up inside their 1.5-hour lesson. It is also gentle enough that intermediates use it to clean up a pop-up or work on turning without fighting for position.
Bring Whoever You Came With
The format changes the morning far more than the price does.
Two people at $280 is the usual choice for couples — alternating waves, each getting coached while the other watches from the water, which turns out to be half the fun. Three at $360 fits a small family or three friends who want to keep the group tight; above that it moves to $100 a head, before tax. Either way the gear is the same. Board, surf shoes, rash guard.
Add a third and the rhythm changes again. One surfs, one is being set up, one catches their breath, and the cycle comes round fast enough that nobody goes cold waiting.
A School Run by People From Here
The school is west-side owned and west-side taught. That shapes what a lesson actually feels like.
Kevin has been on the WSL World Tour since 2009. Nick Heradia has taught here since 2003, and five of the six instructors learned to surf on this coast as kids. Mario Menze was born and raised in Napili, taught by his father Tony, and went to Lahainaluna. D.J. grew up on Maui and has since chased waves across several continents. None of them learned this coast from a manual. They know which tide makes the inside section work and when to move you twenty feet down the beach, and that judgment is most of what you are paying for. The board is the cheap part.
Book Before You Land
Guardrails is one break with one small crew working it, and the calendar reflects that.
Through the first seven months of the year the island hosted 1,618,051 visitors, up 7.7 percent on 2025. Book ahead. There is no shop at the beach to walk into, and the sand just past Mile Marker 19 is where your instructor will already be standing with the boards down, whatever time you arrive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do Lahaina surf lessons actually take place?
At Guardrails, about a mile south of Lahaina on Honoapiʻilani Highway, roughly 500 yards past Puamana Beach Park and just after Mile Marker 19. Your instructor meets you on the beach.
How much is a surf lesson in Lahaina?
$220 for a private one-on-one, $280 for two people, $360 for three, then $100 per person for groups of four or more, before tax. Every lesson runs 1.5 hours.
Can a complete beginner learn to surf in Lahaina?
Yes, and most do stand up during the first lesson. The break has slow, close-to-shore waves and the lesson starts with 15 to 30 minutes on the sand before anyone gets in the water.
What is included in a Local Pros Maui surf lesson?
A surfboard, surf shoes, a rash guard, the land lesson, a safety briefing, and coaching in the water for the full session. Photo packages are available separately.
Do you teach experienced surfers, not just beginners?
Yes — there are advanced lessons for surfers who already ride and want to work on technique rather than learn the basics.
Book Your Lesson
Local Pros Maui · 10 Hoohui Rd #110, Lahaina, HI 96761 · www.localprosmaui.net
Lessons meet on the sand at Guardrails, south of Lahaina off Highway 30. Choose a format and reserve a slot online.