first paddle-out
Sandbar Sam
Two hours on the sheltered sandbar, knees only. You will fall over and that is the point.
Time2 hours
Board9' soft-top
GroupMax 4
£55
Saltwater lessons since 1998 · Chapel Bay
Learn the water.Then the board.
A surf school that starts with reading the tide instead of standing up. Two instructors, six boards, one very big window — and nobody gets in the water before they can tell a rip from a reflection.
swell, from your scrolling:
0.0×
01 — the boards
Four lessons. One of them fits you.
Every group is capped at four so nobody spends forty minutes waiting for a turn. Boards are soft-top, sized to the person, and inspected before they ever touch the water.
white-water to green
Getting Up
One-to-one coaching on the shoulder. Pop-up, trim, and the ten seconds after you stand up.
Time90 minutes
Board7'6" egg
Group1 : 1
£90
reading the line
Line Up
Positioning, priority and where the wave actually breaks. Includes our tide chart in print.
Time3 hours
BoardYou bring it
GroupMax 3
£110
dawn patrol
First Light
Out at 05:40 with the coffee. Six weeks, same people, same break — the real one.
Time6 weeks
BoardShortboard
GroupMax 4
£240
02 — the rack
Wetsuits that have already been in the water.
We hire about ninety suits and we patch every tear ourselves, so most of them are a little too good. Rinsed and dried in shade, never in a tumble dryer, because that is what ruins them.
5/4 full£14 / dayFull body, hood optional. Our most-hired suit from October to March.
4/3 full£12 / daySpring and summer. Flexes better once it has been wet for ten minutes.
3/2 full£9 / dayWarm water. Also available second-hand from the rack by the door.
Boots & gloves£4 / setSized at the counter. Take them off between sessions or your feet will hate you.
RepairsFreeKnee, cuff and zip. Bring it in on a Tuesday — Thursday is patch day.
XSSMLXL2XL3XL
XS to XL in stock. 2XL and 3XL are back Thursday — leave your chest measurement and we’ll put one aside.
03 — the chart
The only appointment worth keeping.
Seven days of Chapel Bay, printed on one long strip and pinned by the door. Drag it sideways. The reef only works on a mid incoming tide, and the difference between good and wasted is about forty minutes.
Drag the strip, or scroll it sideways.
High — reef breaks
Low — sandbar only
Springs Thu–Sun
Neaps Mon–Wed
Best window Wed 15:40 – Thu 18:10
04 — the week
Drag the marker. Watch the beach change.
Seven days of swell, wind and water. Pull the marker along the track — the bay redraws itself as the swell builds, the flags come up and the sand goes from gold to grey.
swell
1.4 m
period
11 s
wind
Offshore 8 kt
water
11°C
Wednesday reads clean and small. Take the 9' and stay inside — good for the lesson, hard on the ego.
05 — the club
Members get the window, the coffee and the tide chart.
Membership is £9 a month and mostly buys you a key to the room above the shop. The rest is the reason anyone stays: someone is always awake at 05:40, and there is always a spare wetsuit in your size.
06 — one last thing
Rub the board.
Every session starts with twenty seconds of wax: a warm bar, circular motions, and the traction comes off your hands onto the deck. The lesson underneath is the one you booked.
0% waxed
your session
Getting Up
- When
- Saturday 09:00, Chapel Bay
- Where
- Slipway, in front of the shop window
- Bring
- Towel, a swimsuit under the hire suit, and something warm for afterwards
- Length
- 90 minutes, one to one