Swell Tofino

Swell Tofino

5.0

Based on 255 reviews

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Hilary Else

23:13 01 Jan 25

Great enthusiastic team, comfortable gear and wonderful experience!

Howard Campbell

01:46 23 Oct 24

We will be back. Great time out on the water with our guide/instructor Ali. Excellent instruction and great local knowledge. Communication was excellent.

SC LB

17:13 21 Oct 24

Thank you for making me feel welcome - I'm a 40 year old woman who was in a lesson with young men but the other students, the staff, and instructors made me feel like i still belonged and i got what i wanted which was a light amount of instruction with lots of time to try on my own. I really appreciated the safety talk and how-to info on the sand. Thanks again!!

Sarah Gibb

19:30 20 Oct 24

One of the best places for surf lessons in Tofino! Shout out to Aran for being such a positive, fun, lively instructor and teaching us all we needed to know.

Jane Karki

16:08 17 Oct 24

Super chill and enjoyable lesson, only 3 people including me in the group Ali the instructor was very entertaining and got all of us up on our feet. 100% would hire from these guys again super close to the beach too

Kylie Ozols

20:39 01 Sep 24

Such a cute little surf shop located on the side of Hotel Zed. My husband and I did the 1-day rental with 2 surfboards, wet suits, gloves and a roof rack and it was such a good experience. I do recommend getting the booties for your feet, as the water is quite chilly.

A gentleman named Charlie was assisting us and he was so helpful and friendly (bonus points for the UK accent too)! He made sure the wetsuits were the right size and showed us how to properly install the soft top roof rack on our car. We filled out a consent form and it was a super quick and easy rental process.

It was a bonus that the wetsuits didn’t smell! The boards were in good condition and perfect for beginner surfers. Overall it was a great experience! I’d highly recommend renting with Swell!

January Bury

22:11 25 Aug 24

We had the best day surfing in Tofino with Swell.
Ben was great with our little guy and we all got to ride a few waves. Rental suits and boards were great and pickup/drop off of items was quick and efficient. Highly recommend and the pricing was pretty standard considering one of our surfers was under 12..

Rachel

17:45 20 Aug 24

My friends and I had such a great experience at Swell Tofino for our first surfing lesson! Since we had car issues when traveling from Calgary, we ended up having to change our booking to a later date. They easily made this accommodation for us, we greatly appreciated.

I believe our instructors names were Ali and Becca. They were such great instructors, incredibly supportive and encouraging. Whenever we caught a wave or if we were struggling, they gave us that push or helped us with timing to ensure we got the experience we wanted.

I would highly recommend them, through and through! They were such kind people and so personable. Made efforts to get to know us and our stories about our vacation in Tofino too!

Kerri Moskal

16:39 30 Jul 24

We had a wonderful afternoon surfing. Everyone on the Swell team was fantastic from Aaron & Charlie who helped us get set up and fitted … to Avery, who was our surf instructor at the beach! They all had great enthusiasm and ensured we had a wonderful experience. I would highly recommend Swell.

Romeo Ancheta

23:45 26 Jun 24

The crew at Swell are top notch and the shop has everything you need to have a great day in the surf, on the bike trails, or both!
Big shout out to our instructor, Ben for making our first ever surf lesson a success. Both my nine year old and myself were catching waves and having a ton of fun! Don’t let the cold water sway you, the wetsuit keeps you warm and you’ll feel invigorated after your surf session🤙🏽

Derek Ho

03:19 01 Mar 24

Appreciated the wide selection of hardtop and softop boards that were in good shape!

geri Lefaive

19:44 15 Feb 24

Had an amazing lesson with Ali and the weather was incredible. Aron at the shop was super helpful with getting us set up with our wet suits. Larger size selection would be nice. Otherwise it was an experience to forever brag and laugh about.

Grace Lorig

23:06 13 Feb 24

These guys were amazing! I took a private lesson and had very specific things I wanted to focus on. They made an effort to understand where I was in my surf journey, acknowledged where I wanted to grow and tailored my lesson with the appropriate instructor, approach, and boards to try out! I 100% came off the water a more skilled and confident surfer. Thanks, Swell!

Cassidy Chan

06:56 11 Feb 24

I took one group lesson from Swell. We ended up going to Cox beach. My instructor was very helpful and explained all the safety of the beach and waves. Then throughout the lesson gave tips and tricks to help catch the waves. Super fun, I would 100% do it again.

Came back Feb 2024 and it was amazing. This time I came with my partner. It was his first time surfing. Aaron was our instructor for our group lesson, it ended up being only us so we got a private lesson. He was great and allowed us to really learn and let us know if we were doing something wrong. Highly recommend this place.

Victoria Gereluk

18:55 07 Feb 24

Was really nervous about getting on a surfboard and hitting the waves, but my instructor really made me feel at ease and I had such a fun time out!! Every time I fell I laughed and felt empowered to get back on and try it again. So glad I had this experience. Can't wait to get out surfing again!!

Case Orion

17:13 09 Jan 24

Such an awesome surfing experience! I'm a complete beginner and I was scared expecting the water to be freezing cold, but the wetsuits really do keep you warm in the water. Felt like wearing a superhero suit. Our instructor Ali was super cool. He guided us, starting with an acknowledgment of tribal land, safety & mindfulness tips for the ocean, and then taught us the "banana-cobra-chicken wing" technique for surfing waves. Very fun lesson.

Then we got to get in the water and surf the next hour and half, which involved steady waves, plenty camera worthy wipe outs, low tides & high spirits. Ali was always there to give personalized tips, and by the end I successfully rode a few waves! Surfing in Tofino was definitely the highlight of my family's New Years Canada trip. I promise you'll have a blast no matter what level of surfer you are.

Thank you Ali & Swell Tofino!

Mony Mandel

22:42 21 Aug 23

We signed up our 14 year old son for lessons via Hotel Zed during our stay in Tofino. Danny was an excellent instructor and an overall great guy. By the time the session was done, my son was progressing very quickly and had an amazing time surfing at Cox Bay Beach. Would 100% recommend Swell for surfing lessons. The staff was stellar, as well.

Mia Šimičáková

03:37 05 Jul 23

We came to Tofino to get a great surf lesson, and Swell definitely delivered. As a group of beginners we were guided by amazing instructors. We had a good introduction first on the shore, to get familiar with the moves and board and then they guided us to the shallow water. Instructors were helping us with tips and we all managed to ride the waves. We had a lot of fun and we definitely recommend Swell, if you want to rent a surf or get a lesson. We are coming back for more in the summer!

Carrie MacDonald

21:19 26 Jan 23

I'm a nervous newbie surfer who opted for a winter lesson and I am so glad I went for it! Randy was an incredible instructor - he took the time to explain everything thoroughly and helped ease any worries we might have. I felt safe, supported, and after a few waves I even built up some confidence! Thanks for a great experience 🤙

Arianne Dickson

17:48 05 Aug 22

Fabulous experience! We booked a few weeks in advance and the day off was super cold wet and rainy even in late July and we were actually really dreading going. Once we got in the water we were SHOCKED how warm the wet suit keeps you! It was actually warmer in the water than sitting on the sand. A ton of fun, there was only 4 in our group so we got lots of 1 on 1 with the instructor and overall we were so happy we went!

Mark Greatrix

00:24 01 Aug 22

This was my first time out in the waves and the staff and instructors were amazing! Very good equipment, training lessons and in water guidance made this a wonderful experience! Hotel Zed provides a relaxing after surf experience with a great Roaring coffee shop.

Haley Robinson

20:39 01 May 22

Amazing service from all the staff we met at Swell this past week.

Easy gear rental (lots of sizes and options for wet suits, surf boards, and any accessory you could need), friendly staff, quick process. We were assisted by a lovely employee from Brazil and he was fantastic (wish I had his name to recognize more publically).

I was able to find a size 16 women's wet suit (often not available) that they let me take
home to try on. I played in the waves with a body board and had a blast while my partner and his friend surfed with gear from them as well.

Will absolutely recommend this shop to anyone looking to rent in the Tofino area!

Nestor Knellwolf

02:39 01 Feb 22

First time on a surf ever, and that was truly a blast!! Thanks again very much to Felipe who did make us feel less stupid as we were real beginners, really nice experience with a great teacher!
Great value for the price!!

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