My boyfriend and I never surfed before and decided to take the plunge with Golden Wave Surf School. I was so surprised how many times we were able to stand up and surf small waves in the hour we were in the water. There were 2 instructors for our class of 11 and, despite the class size, I felt like I had a lot of personal attention. Often times we just needed a little push, literally, on the board to get us going. I think this class is great for beginners.
I only have couple constructive comments. I wish we spent more time in the water. By the time everyone was checked in and had wet suits on, half an hour passed. My boyfriend ran to add more money into the meter before heading to the beach (nearby metered parking has a max time of 2 hours). We then spent another half an hour or so on land learning the basics. So in total we spent a little less than an hour in the water. Also, despite letting the company know we wanted to purchase photos at the end of the class, none of the instructors took any photos or videos of us (though there were plenty of other students). My advice would be to hire a photographer who can dedicate their time to snapping shots, that way the instructors can focus on teaching and not need to worry about it.