Avellanas Surf School

We had a great two-person lesson with Julio! With two of us, we made the most of one hour in the water (one catching a wave with Julio's help, the other paddling back out), after practicing safety and standing up on land. We were both beginners and the waves were plenty to learn with! Providing our surfing photos for download was a nice surprise and we were glad to pay for that extra treat!

We had a great experience!
Joshua was great
The whole family enjoyed and they were able to adapt to our different levels

Jeshua was an outstanding instructor focused on safety. Kids advanced fast and had the best time. We came back for 5 days in a row. Also thanks to James, Jose and Tshabalala. All outstanding instructors. The location was much better than anything in Tamarindo. Shower and watching your bags was a plus. Strongly recommend it!

Huge shout out to Avellanas Surf School down in Costa Rica for teaching me how to surf! It was my fist time on a board and Mauricio did such a good job with breaking down the basics and showing me how to ride my first ever wave! I'll be talking about this one for a while!

What an amazing experience. Joshua was an awesome teacher. He explained the basics and helped me to catch way more waves than I expected especially being so inexperienced. Highly recommend!

La pasé increíble! Muchas gracias a Chabalala por instruirme tan bien y por tan buena actitud. Espero regresar a tomar otra clase‍️.
Saludos desde el bosque! ️

Mauricio and his staff were outstanding! They made our first surfing experience so enjoyable for all. We booked a private lesson which included two children ages 8 and 10. The staff were extremely knowledgeable, encouraging, professional, and extremely safe. Each child had a staff member working with them and the adults shared Mauricio. I cannot recommend them enough! Stop reading reviews and book your lesson. You won’t regret it.

If you are looking for a place to start surfing, this is the place. Mauricio and his team gave both me and my son (6yrs) unforgettable experience of 5-day surfing lessons in this wonderful place. They taught us all the basics and guided us to practice on real waves for most of the lesson. They also offer photo session to keep the best moments of the trip. We would definitely come back to improve our skills next time.

Great experience and one of the highlights of our Costa Rica vacation! Communication was great leading up to our visit, and they were very accommodating considering my husband decided to join the kids' lesson at the last minute. Elmer and Karina were fantastic instructors. Would definitely do it again!

Incredible experience with the Avellanas Surf School team (Maurico, Josh, Elmer, and a couple other instructors). My friends and I (all middle-age, reasonably fit, decent swimmers) took three days of lessons with the Avellanas team. Ten minutes of crisp, insightful instruction and then right into the water. A couple of us got up on our very first wave, and all of us got up several times on the first day. In subsequent days, we could decern just how much Josh and Elmer were doing for us. They do a ton of scaffolding to increase the chances of you catching more waves: they swim out with you to beyond where the waves break: they help you pick a wave, call out when to paddle, give you a push if needed to match the wave’s speed, and yell when you should pop up. When you paddle back out, they give you feedback on how to improve. In the three days, we had different wave conditions (due to high vs low tides), which made every day different and challenging. And each day the instructors illustrated new skills so we could progress. Every day was an incredibly vivid and incredibly fatiguing 1.5 hours. The school also offers surf photography (Jessica) – we opted only for the last day – thinking we’d look our best; but if you are going multiple days, consider getting photos multiple days – the visual feedback for coaching/learning is amazing. It’s one thing to hear the instructors’ feedback while in the water bobbing on your board between attempts; it’s another thing to see a couple digital photos at the end of the day. There’s also videography for an upcharge.

After surfing; the food, beverage, and conviviality of Lola’s is amazing. In all a very intimate experience. If you are near Tamarindo and interested in lessons, you should try Avellanas Surf School. My friends and I wished we could have spent more time here.

This is a great place to learn how to surf! The owner Mauricio is very friendly and helpful. Easy to book and pay through PayPal. I did a couple of group lessons with Elmer. Elmer is an awesome instructor, super nice guy, and he will help you catch some tasty waves. The lessons last about an hour and half. I think I'm a surfer now.thanks for a great experience Elmer!

Joshua explained the important concepts exceptionally well before we got into the water. He and Patti were awesome my kids (ages 15 and 12). The tips and instructions about when and how to pop up were superb. We ALL caught waves!
They are located conveniently right next to Lola’s and the parking lot. I HIGHLY recommend scheduling a session with this crew of you are headed to Playa Avellanas!

Excellent surf lesson for my kids. The instructor was incredibly knowledgeable and took great care of the their safety. Highly recommended!

We had an amazing first surf lesson with Jeshua! He started by showing us the necessary theory, warming up on the beach and then we rode quite soon our first waves (or tried at least). Was really good fun and Jeshua was a great teacher!

Came here to hire a surfboard. This is the only place to do so on this beach. The next closest is in Playa Negra. So I WhatsApped the number to try to find out what selection and cost they had. This took many attempts over a number of days.
They advertise to start at 8am, so I messaged to say I would arrive at 8.30. I was waiting around until nearly 9am and eventually somebody came who was helpful and found me a suitable board and leash, requiring $15 and a form of identification for 2-3 hours use…. And $20 for a days use.
The board itself was good and I was given good advice where to surf. Unfortunately, the leash snapped the first time it was used, so I had to walk another 20 minutes back, change it and return, by which time the wind had turned cross/onshore so the waves weren’t as good!
So in summary more than an hour was lost of good surfing and I returned the board and was given some watermelon as a ‘thankyou’.
If the WhatsApp response and timing were improved, then I would give higher score, but still worthwhile using them to hire surfboards.

Staff was super friendly, great with our kids. Our 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son had a fantastic experience and I would highly recommend taking surf lessons through this school.

I rented a surf board and a body board for the remaining 5 hours of the day and returned both of them after 2 hours due to poor surf conditions. I was refunded a very unfair amount when returning the boards. Having paid upfront it was hard to argue when the owner had my money in his hand and rates of rental were unclear as no rates are posted for people to see.
I rented boards from multiple places along the coast and this place had the highest rental fee and worst quality of boards and not to mention the poor service! Stay clear of this place regardless of the convenient location!

Took surf lesson with Mauricio (goes by Mau). Very good and positive instructor, as well as his assistant Bruno. We were lucky with great conditions and all three of us were catching waves with his help!

Surfing is something I’ve always wanted to try but was too hesitant to actually do. My experience with Mauricio was fulfilling beyond my expectations, from his welcoming attitude, his charisma and obvious surfing knowledge; Mauricio made me feel confident, safe and enthusiastic.

I honestly felt like I was visiting an old friend although I had never met Mauricio, I cannot say enough to recommend these guys. Also very important, the location is iconic in the surfing community for those who have surfed in Costa Rica as I have found out after posting about it on social media. Mauricio, The environment, the location, the people, etc.go to Avellanas and find Mauricio if you are looking for an espectacular experience surfing.

The highlight of my trip to Costa Rica was my first ever surfing lesson with Mauricio. Mauricio is a great instructor, I was able to get up and ride waves on my first class. Mauricio was very professional and made us feel like his “tribe”, I had an amazing time. There was one more instructor in the water with us and somebody else taking pictures, which are definitely worth it. I wish I was able to go back and take more classes, we are definitely coming back next time we are in Costa Rica.