Surf camps for kids are a big spend and a big trust. This rating is for parents who want facts first: ages, prices, group size, who watches the water. It covers camps in the United States that take children by the week, in summer and sometimes all year. Some are day camps on a city beach, with pickup at noon. Others are overnight camps with cabins, meals and night supervision. The point is to narrow the choice before the phone call.
Selection looked at plain things. How long a camp has run, from the veterans of the 1970s to newer schools. The ages taken, usually five or seven and up. The ratio in the water, two or three children per instructor at the careful ones. Whether coaches hold lifeguard, CPR and first aid cards. Price for a five day week, roughly $400 to $600 for half days and over $1,000 for an all inclusive overnight week. Gear included, soft boards and wetsuits. The beach itself counts too: sandy bottom, slow waves, shade, toilets. Make up days and the refund rule got a look as well, because weather cancels sessions.
Places here move by community votes, not by payment. The editors gather the surf camps for kids, readers put them in order. Open a card before deciding: the plus list, the minus list, and reviews from families who already sent a child. Then call the camp and ask about the coming season, since dates and prices change every year.
WB Surf Camp has run learn to surf weeks at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina since 2001. The kids week for ages 7 to 10 is a half day camp and cost $595 in a recent season, while the 10 to 17 group paid $575. In the water the school keeps two campers per instructor. Coaches are trained educators and lifeguards, and the same company teaches lifeguard, CPR and ocean safety certification courses.
Teens and families can move up to overnight camps that travel to nearby islands, and there are longer trips to Costa Rica. Financial aid is offered, which is rare in this trade. The weak point is the surf: warm Atlantic summer waves are small, so a child who already rides well may get bored in a beginner group. Popular weeks fill months ahead, so booking in winter is wise.
222 Causeway Dr, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
One of the longest running surf schools around San Clemente, working since 1992. Camps sit at San Onofre State Beach, a long sandy point with slow, forgiving waves that suit a first week on a board. Sessions last five days, Monday morning to Friday afternoon. The overnight version covers tent accommodation, all meals, drinks and snacks, 24 hour supervision and every piece of equipment; recent listings put a week at about $1,095 for ages 10 and up.
Evenings are simple: video review of the day's surfing, ding repair demos, skateboarding, ping pong, movies. Campers who book several weeks in a row can stay through the weekend for a $150 supervision fee. Not a fit for a five year old, and not for a family expecting a hotel: the camp lives in a state park campground, with camp toilets and sand in everything. Day camps are the option for younger or local children.
San Onofre State Beach, Old Pacific Highway, San Clemente, CA
Camp Surf belongs to the YMCA of San Diego County and sits on 45 acres of beachfront at Imperial Beach, on the Silver Strand. Overnight sessions run one or two weeks and take children entering grades 3 through 11. Campers sleep in cabins, yurts or dorm rooms. A $300 non refundable deposit holds each week of the summer, with the balance due in spring.
Surfing is the headline, but the daily schedule also has body boarding, archery, kayaking, campfires and beach games, so a child who does not fall in love with the board still has a full day. Family and group retreats run most weekends from April to October. Mornings on this stretch of coast are grey and cool, and packing long pants and a sweater is part of the instructions. Families who want surf coaching from morning to evening will get more from a small private school.
560 Silver Strand Blvd, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
Surf Diva opened in La Jolla in 1996 as a women's surf school and grew into a shop plus school on Avenida de la Playa, a short walk from La Jolla Shores. Kids and teen camps take ages 6 to 16 and run in summer and in every school break, spring, fall and winter. Group size follows age: one instructor to three children at 7 and 8, one to four from 9 up. Instructors are lifeguard certified and ocean experienced.
La Jolla Shores is about the calmest beginner beach in San Diego, with lifeguards, showers and parking nearby. A Saturday Surf Club keeps children in the water through winter, 9:00 to 10:30, with the same coach and the same group each week. Boards and wetsuits come from the shop, open daily from 8:30. Advanced young surfers chasing contest coaching will find the programme too gentle.
2160 Avenida de la Playa, La Jolla, CA 92037
Malibu Makos has taught children at Zuma Beach since 1991 and is the only fully licensed, insured and permitted surf operator on that beach. Kids camps cover ages 5 to 17, with a micro camp for the smallest ones and premium semi private weeks of four hour daily sessions for faster progress. Certified ocean lifeguards are on duty at Zuma at all times, and camp staff watch the water as well.
Zuma has a sandy bottom and steady beginner waves, and camp meets by the parking lot entrance near Busch Drive. Missed days can be made up any time during the summer, subject to space, which helps when family plans shift. Two catches: Zuma is a long drive from most of Los Angeles, and the afternoon wind there turns cold and strong. Sought after weeks close in spring.
30600 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265, Zuma Beach
Pacific Surf School works from 707 Pacific Beach Drive in San Diego, right in front of the Wayfarer Hotel. Camps take children and teens roughly from 7 to 17, no experience needed, and run five days in three shapes: mornings, afternoons or full days. Instructors and camp leaders are qualified ocean lifeguards certified in water safety, CPR and first aid. Beginners start in shallow water close to shore, in small groups.
Boards, wetsuits and rash guards are part of the price, and the school also teaches stand up paddleboarding, handy when the ocean goes flat. The setting is a busy city beach, so crowds, tourists and paid parking come with it; a quiet camp it is not. Best suited to a family already staying in Pacific Beach or Mission Beach who want a week of lessons without a drive.
707 Pacific Beach Dr, San Diego, CA 92109
Texas Surf Camps was started in 2005 by Morgan Faulkner, a Texas state and national champion surfer, and stays a family run business. Camps work on three beaches, Port Aransas, Corpus Christi and Galveston, from June through August, while lessons, parties and events go on all year by appointment. Children from age five are taken, even weak swimmers, because the Gulf here is shallow and warm.
Staff hold CPR and first aid cards and teach ocean safety and beach care along with paddling and standing up. Competitive coaching is on offer for a child who gets serious about the sport. The honest drawback is the ocean: Gulf waves are small and often flat for days, so a week can turn into paddling practice. Late summer carries storm risk, and every programme is day camp, with no beds.
230 On The Beach, Port Aransas, TX 78373
Brothers Cliff and Will Skudin run New York's best known surf school, with camps at Long Beach and Lido Beach on Long Island and at Rockaway Beach in Queens. Minimum age is five. A half day week, 8:30 to 12:30, cost $635 in a recent season, a full day week to 15:30 cost $985, and daily rates exist for families who cannot commit to five days. The camp day was designed by Cliff Skudin, who holds a master's degree in physical education.
A high performance camp takes surfers aged 7 to 16 who own a board and wetsuit and can paddle out and catch waves alone. Both main beaches are reachable by train, the LIRR to Long Beach and the A to Rockaway, which matters for city families without a car. Rules are strict: no make up days, no refunds for missed days, no transfer between weeks, plus a $16 beach fee at Long Beach for anyone over 13.
1 Riverside Blvd, Long Beach, NY 11561
Ron Jon Surf School stands beside the huge Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach and has taught since 1993, which makes it the oldest surf school in Florida. Group camps take ages 7 to 17; children of five and six need a private lesson instead. The school works with one instructor per four students and splits classes by age and experience. A one hour private lesson was listed at $65.
Lessons run all year at the public beach behind the school, and week long camps go Monday to Friday in season. Water stays warm, so no wetsuit for most of the year, a real plus for a small child. Cocoa Beach waves, though, are usually knee to waist high in summer, and the sand is packed with visitors. Everything is day format: lodging, food and transport stay with the family.
150 E Columbia Ln, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931