We were on Oahu for just a couple of days and wanted to learn to surf, but weren't sure we'd have time. We ended up having some extra time, so called Hans Hedemann in the morning and were able to get a lesson for our family of four (mom and dad, two teenaged boys) that afternoon. The lesson was two hours, and since we were right there in Waikiki, the whole thing took only about 3 hours instead of half a day- we just didn't have that much time.
What a great experience! Their shop is located across from Waikiki beach down by the Honululu Zoo, and they teach the lessons there, although i think you can make arrangements with them to take you other places. They provided rash guard shirts and reef shoes (VERY necessary, as we came to find out!) and we walked out to Waikiki beach right there.
My husband (50) and i (47) are not the athletes we envisioned ourselves to be in our youth- i'd say "couch potato" describes us both pretty accurately! Neither we nor our two teenaged boys had ever surfed, nor are we snowboarders or skateboarders. However, with the great instruction that we were provided, i was able to stand up and ride a wave the first time i tried (yay Mom!) and also each subsequent time, and its not like i am in good shape! I'm definitely not! The boys were able to get up the second time they tried and each subsequent time, and my husband was able to get up and ride too! I think it was a little tougher for my husband as he's 6'5" and about 240 lbs, so he can't pop up quite as easily.
I think if they can teach our family to surf, they could teach literally ANYONE to do it. We had a GREAT time- it was probably the most fun we had on our vacation.
The only "heads up" i'd give -- to us, the water was COLD! (we did this at the end of February) But the rash guard shirts helped retain your body heat amazingly well. Also, they make you wear reef shoes and they warn you that it is a rocky and uneven, not sandy bottom- and they were NOT kidding! It literally goes from a hole, to rocks at knee level (or above, for me, since i'm only 5'2"!) You really have to watch where you are going if you are walking your board out at all. If you fall off the board, they warn you to fall flat off like a belly or back flop instead of diving or jumping feet first. It was easy to see that you could really hurt yourself if you didn't heed their instructions. My husband scraped his knees up on the rocks when he wasn't paying attention. Also, if you are out of shape like we are, it is very tiring! My husband's and my arms were sore from paddling the board out and our ribs were sore from throwing ourselves up on the board! We are going to start exercising when we get home! :)
Do look in the "Oahu This Week" or other coupon periodicals, they almost all have a coupon for a free t-shirt from the surf school- so bring that with you and get a free t-shirt!
All in all it was a GREAT experience! I'd highly recommend it! We really had fun, the instructors were so good that they made it much easier than we thought it would be, and now we can say we learned to surf at Waikiki beach!