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Intensive SurfInstructor Course

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Fast-track your way to life as a qualified surf instructor in just three weeks. We’ve teamed up with our friends at Newquay Activity Centre to offer this internationally recognised co-ed course.

Why choose this course

In just three weeks you can gain your ISA Level 1 Surf Instructor Award (the industry standard for teaching surfing in the UK and worldwide), and your Surf Coach Safety and Rescue Award. Once you’ve bagged them both, you are ready to begin your dream surf instructor job. You’ll be trained by a team of experts led by 3x British Champion Alan Stokes, in the heart of Newquay, the surf capital of the UK.

What to expect

Our aim is to take you from zero to hero! We focus on teaching you how to coach beginner level surfers, with a team of dedicated instructors on hand to guide you every step of the way. As well as learning crucial technical and safety skills, you’ll also gain the soft skills needed to build confidence and trust among new students. By the end of this comprehensive training, you’ll be able to support, teach and encourage beginners to surf, and know how to adapt classes in a safe and insurable manner.

Who’s this course for?

This course is ideal for both beginner and intermediate surfers. The intensive training course will equip you with the skills, experience and qualifications needed to land your dream job on the beach turning your passion into a profession, and getting to share the sport you love everyday.

What level am I?

Why choose us?

Women and Waves are partnered with Newquay Activity Centre, who have been delivering training courses since 2001. They have a wealth of facilities and equipment and their HQ is walking distance to Towan, Great Western and Fistral Beaches, as well as the bustling town centre. As the leading training provider of instructor courses in Cornwall, this could be your pathway to become a surf instructor. This means we can get to know you, build a relationship, and support you as best we can throughout your learning journey.

When to come?

Newquay is our home and we couldn’t be more proud to welcome students to this relaxed and friendly surf town.Spring and Autumn are the best times to study with us in Newquay due to the great climate and waves. We’re lucky to have a string of golden beaches that stretch up and down the coastline, with a variety of waves, the best being during the shoulder season at this time of the year.

Quick facts

Water Temp

10°C

Climate

6 - 32°C

Wave Types

Beach breaks

Language

English

Why choose us

This three week intensive course flies you through everything you need to become an internationally recognised surf instructor with world renowned qualifications. Our connections in the surf industry ensure that no matter where you go, you’ll find work as an surf instructor with the best surf schools. 

We offer a course developed with over 20 years of teaching experience behind it and a team of expert instructors, including one to one coaching from the UKs best surf instructor Alan Stokes.  We are dedicated to helping you become the best surf instructor you can be, and when you pass you will become a part of our surfing community; benefiting from our partnerships and connections with surf schools all over the globe. The support you receive from us doesn’t end when your course does, and you will always be a part of our surfing tribe.

Itinerary

Please note, sometimes we need to be flexible as some activities will be weather and condition dependent – but don’t worry, we’ll always do our very best to ensure you get the very best out of the trip! All our surf days and suggested activities are completely optional – you can enjoy as much or as little as you desire. This is not a boot camp!

Day one

We’ll introduce you to our awesome staff, show you around the centre, and spill the beans on the course. The practical side kicks off with a surf lesson from our pro instructors at Newquay Activity Centre.

Day two

Dive into the pool first thing to show us your swimming skills, gearing up for Lifeguard training. Then, beach time with the legendary Alan Stokes for surf skills and progression planning. Brace yourself for your first video analysis session alongside intro to logbooks and surf theory.

Day three

More surf skills, and how to present a surf lesson, then a second round of video analysis and surf theory with Alan. The afternoon brings a chance to speak to the folks at The Wave Project. Who will be talking through their work in Surf therapy and explaining how you can get involved.

Day four

Back with Alan for more lessons fine-tuning and polishing your surf skills. Dive into another surf theory session and a dose of video analysis. In the evening get ready for a Surf Skate Workshop, all about how surf skating can be used as a coaching tool and how to run your own.

Day five

The day starts with an Adaptive Surf Workshop led by Adaptive ISA Coach, Freddie. Get a peek into how to make surf lessons more accessible and what’s covered in the Adaptive ISA qualification. Later on, hit the beach for some shadowing with the Newquay Activity Centre surf instructor team.

Day six

Time to kick back or catch some waves! You’re welcome to shadow ongoing Surf Lessons at Newquay Activity Centre or with Women + Waves.

Day seven

A day to relax. You’ve earned it!

Day eight

Here’s where Surf Coach Safety or Beach Lifeguard training kicks off. Dive into the module intro and theory, and then hit the beach to run through water safety and rescue techniques.

Day nine

Intro to First Aid in the classroom and beach-based training, including board and tube rescues.

Day ten

Classroom sessions on first aid and resuscitation, followed by ‘run, swim, runs’, rescue scenarios, and beachside casualty aftercare. Fancy some extra first aid wisdom? Join our Q&A session in the evening.

Day eleven

Wrapping up the final First Aid and Basic Life Support Training. Then, brace yourself for rescue scenarios, blending first aid, rescue know-how, surf coaching, and group management skills.

Day twelve

The big day! Your individual First Aid assessment and Beach Rescue and Water Safety assessments are on the agenda for today.

Day thirteen

Surf lesson shadowing with the Newquay Activity Centre surf instructor team.

Day fourteen

A day for some R&R. We’re all about that balance!

Day fifteen

Starting the final week with an optional dawn surf coaching session. Then, hitting the classroom for day 1 of the ISA Surf Coaching qualification with the legendary Barrie ‘Baz’ Hall.

Day sixteen

Day 2 of the ISA Surf Coaching Qualification. You will be assessed on your lesson delivery and learning some final tidbits of surf coaching wisdom. In the evening, join the Surf Photography Workshop, and find out how to up your instructor game by using surf photography and videography as a coaching tool.

Day seventeen

Surf skills development with Alan Stokes, followed by video coaching and analysis. Now's the time to get that epic surf footage for your surf skills segment.

Day eighteen

The final day of surf coaching with Alan Stokes. He’ll be dropping some final pearls of wisdom in the water. This day is all about wrapping up and getting those logbooks finished off, so we can get them submitted.

Day nineteen

Road trip alert! To conclude your course we head up to The Wave in Bristol to geek out on WaveGarden technology and learn about the future of inland Surfing. After chatting with The Wave staff, feel free to ride those epic waves, with our staff will be there to snap pics or coach you in the water.

Travel

Newquay is a 15-minute drive from the A30, which links to the M5.

We’re based near Towan Beach. We’ll send you detailed information before your arrival, including parking instructions and maps.

The railway station is in the town centre. If you’re travelling by train, we may be able to pick you up from the station (time dependent). Get in touch for more details.

We’re a 20-minute drive from Newquay airport. You can fly into Newquay from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Dublin, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Flights are available from key European cities. Once you’ve landed there are buses or taxi’s available into Newquay town centre.

Take a closer look

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Dates and prices

Date
30th September - 17th October 2024
Options
Price£2,000
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Date
9th - 27th June 2025
Options
Price£2,000
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Date
8th - 26th September 2025
Options
Price£2,000
Book now

FAQs

Consider budgeting for the costs of living in Newquay for three weeks, as this is an intensive three week course there isn’t a lot of time leftover for outside work. 

Newquay’s epic beaches and consistent Atlantic swell means epic waves year-round. Most of the beaches work best with different conditions. This means that no matter the tide, wind or swell direction, there will always be waves worth heading out for. All of our instructors have excellent local knowledge so you needn’t worry about missing out. We’ll visit the best-known breaks, secret surf spots and also explore a little further off the beaten track.

You can book securely online, once paid you’ll be sent an email confirmation and an enrolment form to complete. You can pay in full at the time of booking or split the payment into instalments, please get in touch for further details. We can’t reserve your place until we receive payment (in full or an instalment). 

Yes definitely! We pride ourselves on being super welcoming and friendly. Most of our students arrive solo and leave with friends for life.

To work as a surf instructor, you need to gain an SLSGB Surf Coach Safety and Rescue Award. In order to complete this award, you need to be able to swim 200 metres in under 5 minutes. This is quite achievable for most standards of swimmers. However we advise you to train in a swimming pool prior to the course.

The better you are at surfing, the easier the surfing skills section is.  However, we have proved this to be achievable for first-time surfers during the course. If you can clock up time surfing before the course, then we strongly recommend that you do so.

 If you think you may benefit from a few extra sessions before or during the course, please check out our surf lessons, we also offer a foundation surfing course to get you up to speed before starting the ISIC. 

You can still join the course. We will supply you with pre course training recommendations that will help you to achieve the standard. It is harder to pass within three weeks if you haven’t surfed before, but still achievable. 

If you don’t pass the surfing skills module within the two weeks you have a further 12 months to make the grade. But we will try our very best to get you there during the two-week course.

The surf school industry has grown massively in the last 10 years. Every beach that has waves, seemingly has a surf school. If it doesn’t, perhaps you should set one up. Organised surf instructors pick up work year round by travelling to different parts of the world where they are in demand, or gain a year round position at a surf school. 

As you can imagine, the fitter you are, the easier it is. Our pre course training programme can help you prepare for the course. To pass your ISA Surf Coaching qualification you will need the life saving qualification as well. This will mean that you need to gain a minimum standard of swimming 400 metres in under 5 minutes. This is achievable for most individuals although sometimes requires some swim training to achieve the standard.

We have an excellent range of wetsuits, wetsuit boots, gloves and hats. We also have a huge range of surfboards, from foamies, to softtop progressor boards, all the way through to mini mals and shortboards available for students to use. 

Surf Life Saving Great Britain (SLSGB) and International Surfing Association (ISA) are both recognised worldwide.

Freelance surf instructors generally get paid between £35 and £50 for a two-hour coaching session (which means, with prep and lesson close down you will work for approx. 3 hours). A professional instructor can deliver three lessons per day. If you take a full-time job or build your own roster of regular clients the pay can range dramatically. Like any job, the more that you put into it, the more that you get out of it.

Cover for public liability will be in place whilst you partake in activities with Newquay Activity Centre, this is to a limit of £5 million. Personal accident cover is available, similar to travel insurance (injuries due to accidents etc), this is something participants can acquire themselves by looking online if they wish to purchase. Insurance is a topic covered during the course Q&A sessions so that everyone is clear how this works in the outdoor industry.

 

  • Food.
  • Accommodation.
  • Travel costs – fuel, parking. (We may occasionally travel further afield to seek out the best conditions. However, our centre is within walking distances to most sites so this will be kept to a minimum).
  • Retake fees incurred should they be necessary if you do not pass the initial assessment. You will be given training and support to prepare whilst on the course, so please do not be concerned.

There will generally be ratios of 1:8 (instructor to pupil) for all activity training. However, theory classes may have larger ratios. You may be broken down into smaller groups.

Spaces in staff transport are limited so you will have to arrange your own transport. Normally students share lifts up there. If you’re wanting to surf whilst we’re up at the Wave you’re more than welcome to book a session. We’ll explain more about the timings when you start your course. There’ll be one of the centre staff there to get some epic shots of you surfing or coach you in the water.

You need to be over 18 to join the course. If you are 65 or over we’d love to chat to you about the course before you book. Please email us to arrange a time and we’ll contact you. 

If you can’t join the course, please let us know as soon as possible via email. Your cancellation notice will start from the date we receive it. Check our terms and conditions for full information. Cancellation charges are payable as follows:

  • If you cancel 12 weeks or more before the course we retain 50% of the total cost
  • If you cancel less than 12 weeks before the course we retain 100% of the total cost