I searched for a topic like this last summer and didn't really find one, so I thought I would add my review(s) in case anyone else has kids who are interested in learning to surf. My almost 11 year-old daughter has been DYING to learn to surf. Last year, she did one of the half-day surf camps at Ripley's Aquarium and was really, really disappointed with it (for the record, she did a couple other camps there that she loved). The surfing camp had so many kids and so few instructors and boards, that each kid only got to try getting up 2 or 3 times. Quite a bummer from what is billed as a 3 hour surf camp.
Anyway, we made a bit of a last-minute decision to come down to the beach this past weekend (we own in Barefoot Resort and live in central NC so it's pretty easy for us to come down when the mood hits). I just did a google search looking for surfing lessons and/or camps and came up with Kokopelli Surf Camps
http://kokopellisurfcamp.com/home.html Their website listed weekend camps along with 3-day weekday camps, but when I called on Friday they said they didn't have a weekend camp this weekend. I spoke with the owner Brandon, and was able to set up 2 private 1.5 hour lessons for my daughter - one on Saturday morning and one on Sunday morning. We were SO pleased with these lessons! Brandon spent the first 15-20 minutes showing her how to paddle, how to stand up on the board, how to wax the board - and also some warm-up stretching exercises - and then they were off into the water. On her second try, my daughter stood up and rode a wave most of the way in! Of course, there were plenty of ups and downs after that, but overall she LOVED it and picked it up really well. Brandon has a great knack for picking good waves and getting her started at exactly the right time to catch the wave.
As a mom, of course safety is always a concern. My daughter is a strong swimmer, but she is definitely on the small side for her age (height and weight) so it's still pretty easy for her to get pummeled by the waves. Brandon was by her side every moment that she wasn't actually riding a wave. When she would catch a wave & ride in, he would watch exactly where she ended and body surf in to her on the next wave. This allowed him to be back by her side in seconds! He had her paddle out on the board a few times so that she actually learned how to do it, but most of the time, he helped her and the board get back out through the breakers. If you've ever "helped"/pulled/dragged your kids through the waves, you know that this is a LOT of work! It certainly was a lot of extra work for Brandon, but so considerate because this allowed my daughter to save up her energy for actually surfing the waves, not just paddling out to them. She was able to ride more waves than I can count but was still really tired by the end of the lesson.
Overall, I would highly recommend Kokopelli. We plan to try to send our daughter to one of the 3-day camps in August and would definitely do more private lessons too.
I hope these reviews help if anyone else is looking for surfing lessons.