Manly Surf Guide

tl;dr: I had a fantastic experience learning to surf with Manly Surf Guide and would recommend it to anyone for the value, supportive environment and surf! First-​time surfer doing the Beginner Surf Adventure
Value: $ 89 for 4 hours of surfing, lunch and small class sizes on a beach that’s not as busy as the most popular beaches (Dee Why for our day). Lunch was filtered water, bread (of various kinds), three kinds of sandwich meats, sliced tomatoes, spinach and various sauces and spreads. Also, sunscreen. Please apply abundantly to exposed skin, not fit for human consumption!
Staff: Very friendly and supportive. A quick lesson on surfing in the morning followed by pointing you to the best waves. Very useful since they’ll make sure that we catch a good one and not just the first one that picked us up! Even more helpful was that they gave us directions on when to paddle and when to stand up. There’s also no pressure. It only got better when Ryan joined in on the lessons in the afternoon. He was standing closer to the shore, watching how people were doing and giving people advice and bringing people out to fix those mistakes right away.
Logistics: Meet at Manly wharf at 9:30am in the area right before the Corso. Additionally, if you miss the initial pickup time at Manly, it seems like they will make a second trip to pick up the latecomers. Transportation to the beach is via an 8-​person Toyota Tarago van (about 2005-​ish) with functioning seatbelts and enough surfboards on top that even the car could surf (I kid! Only 10 surfboards!).
A bonus little scenic route along the coast on the way back to the ferry to showcase all the other beaches in the Manly area as well as a group picture in front of the statue of the Duke, the first person to surf in Australia.
I would’ve liked a list of things to bring. The shortlist off the top of my head is a towel (I forgot that!), beach sandals (I forgot that!), a camera if you wanted to take pictures after in a wetsuit and with the board (can store securely in their van while surfing) and money (cash or credit).
Disclosure: Ryan encouraged me to post a review. However no incentives were offered and all opinions are my own. All customers were provided with a coupon for self/​friends/​relatives for future lessons — $ 89 was already a good deal but what about after another $ 15 discount? :)

If you want to learn to get up and surf – even if only for a few seconds – Manly Surf Guide is a safe, chill bet.
Here’s what you get:
— a coach or two who will give you that figurative and literal push you’ll need to surf
— lots of time on top of (and probably also in) the water
— relaxing, no pressure, small set of classmates
— ridable waves
— the gear you’ll need: stiicky-​waxed surf board, wet suit
Here’s what you don’t get:
— ultra swanky bus ride from the HQ to the beach — think big VW
— luxury HQ — come to think of it. I don’t know that we saw the HQ, but we did go to a dude’s large, rented out garage which served as the storage/​store front of MSG
— gourmet lunch — ryan will make some fresh sandwiches, and offer you vegemite — decline. ;)
Bottom line: You’ll be in for a good ride with Manly Surf Guide. It might not be fancy, but it feels justttt right.