Cornish surf schools for beginners

Surfing is every bit as much fun as it looks and the true Cornish experience is not complete without riding the waves. Here are six surf schools worth checking out if you are planning to visit

Keep safe: Make sure you check out our top safety tips too.

Harlyn Surf School –Padstow

With its reputation as one of the safer beaches in the county, the crescent shaped bay is popular with novice surfers who can learn to master the waves. Harlyn Surf School has friendly professional surf instructors, bringing you everything you could want for your surfing lessons. The school is ideal for children, adults, groups and families and boasts a fantastic range of surf courses.

Extreme Academy – Watergate Bay

Watergate Bay is a 2 mile stretch of beach at low tide, a few miles north from the beaches of Newquay. Here the Extreme Academy offers surf lessons for all abilities in either groups or one-to-one, with the latest Gul wetsuits and all the equipment you need to get you started. Make sure to check out Jamie Oliver’s famous Fifteen restaurant on the beach too.

Escape Surf School – Newquay

These guys have been teaching people to surf for over 15 years. Their base on the Newquay Cliff Top, overlooking the spectacular Towan Beach and Newquay Bay, is fully equipped with showers, changing rooms and bar & restaurant. The whole team are dedicated to ensuring you have the best possible time learning to surf with them. This is achieved by our innovative teaching methods for beginners which involves holding the tail of the board, whilst the surfer gets to their feet. This helps stabilise the board until the surfer is standing, then they release, and you enjoy the amazing feeling of riding the surf!

Cornish Surfing- Polzeath

Cornish Surfing lessons are a great way to begin your surfing odyssey, providing surf lessons at one of Cornwall’s best surfing spots... Polzeath Beach. Gain the essential skills of catching waves, paddling out and of course standing up! All lessons take place under the watchful eyes of two of our experienced instructors and are perfect for a wide variety of groups from, families and friends, individuals, Schools and Scouts, Clubs, stag and hens and corporate groups.

Cornish Wave - Newquay

Cornwall offers an amazing choice in surfing schools and opportunities to explore, with fantastic, beautiful beaches and surf schools all over the coastline. Cornish Wave are based at one of the premier beaches for surfers, and their Cornwall surfing lessons give you the chance to try out this exciting sport under the expert guidance of our instructors.

Global Boarders - Gwithian

Where possible GB hold all thier surfing programmes at Gwithian, or Praa Sands on the south coast. If the conditions are unsuitable or unsafe, then to minimise cancellations and ensure you enjoy the best possible surfing experience, they have mobile licences / permissions to run sessions at St Ives Bay, Newquay and Marazion.

Surfing safety tips

• Never have your board between yourself and the coming waves.

• To avoid collision with others, keep a safe distance, say fifteen feet or the length of you, your leash and board combined.

• Beginners should always wear a leash or leg rope tied to their surfboard.

• Every Beginner surfboard should also have a safety nose guard to prevent dangerous impacts with the surfboard nose.

• Beginners should always surf with a buddy for safety, plus it is cool to share your surf experiences with.

• When you come up, try to be facing the oncoming waves and look for your board's location immediately. Loose boards in the ocean are very dangerous objects for swimmers.