First, this 1-star review is ONLY for our instructor. The woman at the MWR desk and the photographer did an outstanding job trying to recover from a bad situation. Their empathy and handling of the situation deserves a 5-star review. If you can connect with an instructor of their quality we would recommend MWR. That said BOTTOM LINE – AVOID an instructor named WILLIE. If you would like the full story, “there is no way to make this stuff up” explanation keep reading….if you just want the verdict, MWR should part ways with Willie and he needs a vocation that has nothing to do with teaching!
My wife and I (mid-forties) are pretty adventurous. We have walked on lava, kayaked with Orcas, jumped off of cliffs, swam in waterfalls and snorkeled just about anywhere. Typically it is me pushing us, so when she said he wanted to learn how to surf in Maui, I was fully supportive. She read the MWR reviews and booked us a private lesson. From the minute we met Willie we should have run…..here are a few highlights:
1) He was late, double parked and offered to give us a “ride to the beach” so he could park his car. In actuality we had to walk back to the farther away parking lot to actually get our boards.
2) While parking his car, Willie decided to HIT ON A GIRL, at least 20 years his junior, who was waiting for a friend. This was CREEPY to say the least for us and the girl.
3) When we got our boards, large SUP type boards, Willie let my wife (5’2”) carry hers while he strolled along with a much smaller board. Maybe it’s old-fashioned chivalry, but if I was him and looking for a tip I would have offered to carry her board or at least given her the smaller board to carry.
4) Now at the beach, Willie started teaching us on-land to get up and surf. HE TOOK A BREAK from that part of the lesson to eat a plate of food from a local friend. While he was eating his local friend (non-MWR staff) continued our on-land lesson.
5) Once in the water, my wife was a bit nervous. While I got up pretty quickly for a few rides she struggled. Wille was NOT supportive. He simply yelled at her for not getting it right away. 15 minutes into the water, he tried to put my wife up on a wave as another student (a boy of about age 12) was getting up close by. Fearful she would run into the young boy she said “no, stop” and jumped off. This set Willie off who yelled at her again. When my wife protested, Willie decided to yell to everyone around “THIS WOMAN IS CRAZY.”
We were done, swam the boards to shore and walked off. Upon returning to MWR, the staff was apologetic and refunded our money. They offered to re-book us with another instructor. Again they handled the situation wonderfully, but Willie ruined the experience. I hope MWR will reply with a confirmation they have parted ways with Willie.