We booked a semi private lesson for four of us (my nine year old son, me, my wife, and my dad) and had an awesome first time surfing. Our instructor was Epes (aka Sarge), and he was so patient with us first timers, especially my son, who was very wary of standing on the board and falling off. Two of us were able to stand and ride a handful of waves, and the other two got comfortable with knee surfing, and trying a few meditation poses as well. The water is very shallow (maximum of 3 feet), and the waves are very mild and easy-going, so really the only danger is falling on rocks in the shallow water. The water shoes they provided were key! Bonus was seeing about six turtles in the two hour lesson - some swam right under our surfboards! Photographer from the same company took photos from the water that are available for purchase afterwards. We bought the sideshow they showed us for an additional $100, and are very happy with the high-quality photos, which were air dropped to us right away.