Bodie's School of Surf
Bodie's School of Surf
5
Full view
About
The School of Surf is a mobile set up, which allows you to maximize your surf adventure by going to the locations with the most ideal conditions on any given day, with safety always being a priority. Bodie teaches all the surf lessons himself and brings along 30 yrs of teaching experience. Whether you are a total beginner or an eager intermediate you can sign up to join an open group lesson, book a private group class or take a private one on one session. All lessons are 2-2.5 hrs long and the cost includes transportation from Oistins and nearby accommodation, rash guards and use of a GoPro camera to capture pictures and videos of your waves, which are sent to you at no extra charge. We also provide hourly, daily and weekly board rentals as well as surf tours. Windsurfing lessons and rentals are also available at a quiet beach near to Oistins on the south coast.
Oistins, Barbados
Awards
Travelers' Choice
2022
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingSimilar Experiences
Bodie's School of Surf
Booking unavailable on Tripadvisor
Want other options you can book now?
Show optionsTravelers talk about
(96 reviews)
Contribute
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
1,115 reviews
Excellent
1,115
Very good
1
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0
Michas M
1 contribution
Mar 2023 • Couples
On our trip to Barbados, we had 2 surfing lessons, first one with different school, second with Bodie. Bodie's lesson was the best surfing experiance I ever had. He is passionate about serfing, takes additional time to explain technique, teach how to quickly stand up, keep balance and keeps his attention on each student during the practical surfing part. With Christine's help they really focus on each student, give planty of time to catch the best waves and provide constant support all the way. It really felt like surfing with friends although we met for the first time.
Bodie treats you like a friend not like other schools when you are just a one off customer passing by.This makes huge difference and simply unforgetable experiance.
Also his surf boards are smaller than other school, which makes it a bit harder to stand up, but provides true surfing experiance and makes it easier to paddle back after each wave. With other school where we were given huge boards (almost like SUP's), we were completly exhausted after few paddles. With Bodie's board we could paddle few hours more:) Finally, the lesson that was supposed to last 2h, lasted almost 4h..simply because Bodie had no appointments planned. This was an amazing experiance and its all on cameras! (as he is also using severall go pro's to record progress and give you free pictures after the lesson). I was disappointed after riding with other school, but lesson with Bodie totally made it up for it. He really build up my appetite for more surfing lessons (even though being 6.6ft tall it was a bit harder for me to stand up) and my girlfriend simply loved it, as she discovered her surfing talent.
For booking it would be good if Bodie can create online registration option, but whatsup contact also worked well for u.
Highly recommend his school, if you would like to try your surfing for the first time as we did, look no further..at all cost go for Bodie's school, you will love it and more than 1k excellent reviews on Trip Advisor speaks for itself!
Thanks mate for a great experiance, looking forward to come back for more in november 2023.
Bodie treats you like a friend not like other schools when you are just a one off customer passing by.This makes huge difference and simply unforgetable experiance.
Also his surf boards are smaller than other school, which makes it a bit harder to stand up, but provides true surfing experiance and makes it easier to paddle back after each wave. With other school where we were given huge boards (almost like SUP's), we were completly exhausted after few paddles. With Bodie's board we could paddle few hours more:) Finally, the lesson that was supposed to last 2h, lasted almost 4h..simply because Bodie had no appointments planned. This was an amazing experiance and its all on cameras! (as he is also using severall go pro's to record progress and give you free pictures after the lesson). I was disappointed after riding with other school, but lesson with Bodie totally made it up for it. He really build up my appetite for more surfing lessons (even though being 6.6ft tall it was a bit harder for me to stand up) and my girlfriend simply loved it, as she discovered her surfing talent.
For booking it would be good if Bodie can create online registration option, but whatsup contact also worked well for u.
Highly recommend his school, if you would like to try your surfing for the first time as we did, look no further..at all cost go for Bodie's school, you will love it and more than 1k excellent reviews on Trip Advisor speaks for itself!
Thanks mate for a great experiance, looking forward to come back for more in november 2023.
Written March 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
angelaenroute
Cambridge, MA4 contributions
Jan 2023
Bodie's School of Surf came to our attention with three independent sources of rave reviews. My airbnb host, a bar tender, and an expat friend all cited Bodie as "THE PERSON to learn surfing from" on the island. Sure enough, my boyfriend and I had an AMAZING experience with them!!!
Bodie and Christine are truly passionate surf instructors who take pride in students' success and making classes safe and fun. In our first classes with them, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all students (~5 kids and ~5 adults) including first-time surfers stood up on boards. Such success came from their dedication to explain techniques and tirelessly providing feedback after our every attempt. In addition, they offered tons of advise for paddling out to the waves and how to stay safe. Their teaching truly stand out among all my previous surf lessons (in Hawaii and Costa Rica). Not to mention that Freights is just a gorgeous place to surf with turtles swimming around surf boards all the time:)
Bodie and Christine are truly passionate surf instructors who take pride in students' success and making classes safe and fun. In our first classes with them, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all students (~5 kids and ~5 adults) including first-time surfers stood up on boards. Such success came from their dedication to explain techniques and tirelessly providing feedback after our every attempt. In addition, they offered tons of advise for paddling out to the waves and how to stay safe. Their teaching truly stand out among all my previous surf lessons (in Hawaii and Costa Rica). Not to mention that Freights is just a gorgeous place to surf with turtles swimming around surf boards all the time:)
Written January 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Christie
2 contributions
Jan 2023 • Family
Had the most fantastic surf lesson with Bodie today; my only regret is not booking it for the start of our holiday so we could have fit some more sessions in! Bodie and Christine we so fab with the kids (16,14,11,10 & 9)…. All of us actually! The majority of us were complete beginners and we all made it up onto the board and caught a wave. Chuck in the abundance of sea turtles chilling out there with us and the gorgeous Bajan day - what more could you want.
Highly recommend getting booked in, it was 100% one of the highlights of what has been a truly incredible holiday. 10/10 without a doubt - thank you SO MUCH!!
Highly recommend getting booked in, it was 100% one of the highlights of what has been a truly incredible holiday. 10/10 without a doubt - thank you SO MUCH!!
Written January 6, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Emma H
Rugby, UK12 contributions
Jul 2022
Our 3 children ages 10, 12 & 12, along with Dad all tried surfing for the first time with Bodie. We booked 3 lots of private 2 hour lessons & we were amazed that by the end of lesson 1, everyone except the 10 year old were able to stand & surf a wave!
The 10 year old was a little frightened, but mustered up the courage to keep going & by lesson 2 he was standing & had a big smile on his face! All couldn't wait for the 3rd & final surfing lesson & each had improved from the previous lesson.
Bodie is a fun, but firm instructor & came recommended to me by a friend & we weren't disappointed. I would definitely recommend Bodie if you fancy giving surfing a go - what a great place to give it a try & I'm pretty he could get 'anyone' surfing!!
Thanks Bodie, you have given us the surfing bug & will definitely recommend you & come to you again next time in Barbados!
The 10 year old was a little frightened, but mustered up the courage to keep going & by lesson 2 he was standing & had a big smile on his face! All couldn't wait for the 3rd & final surfing lesson & each had improved from the previous lesson.
Bodie is a fun, but firm instructor & came recommended to me by a friend & we weren't disappointed. I would definitely recommend Bodie if you fancy giving surfing a go - what a great place to give it a try & I'm pretty he could get 'anyone' surfing!!
Thanks Bodie, you have given us the surfing bug & will definitely recommend you & come to you again next time in Barbados!
Written July 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Noah
United Kingdom3 contributions
Apr 2022 • Friends
Ive got to say, i find myself making a trip advisor account just to write this review. it is also hard say anything more than the other reviews already have. It completely surpassed my expectations. I myself have never sufed before but after a very informative and great session on the dry land to alteast get the basics of paddling and the transition from laying to standing on the board i can say i was catching waves on my second go. He was even able to get my aging step-father (54 y/o) to catch some waves which was awesome to see. I can fully recommend Bodie and his great lessons to absolutely anyone, never surfed before to semi-experienced. The one on one “what you could improve” was incredibly heapful to getting us onto the waves better. I come to the final statement that the most suprising and welcomed thing that was all of it was the fact that all of our surfing was recorded on gopros on the front of the boards. We could, with this have great footage of out group not only surfing but wiping out(😅), all in all great job and can highly reccomend bodie to anyone taking a break to barbados and whanting to surf the waves.
Written April 13, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
SY2000
London45 contributions
Apr 2022 • Family
Can not recommend Bodie enough. He is great with kids and adults - with complete mindset that this is about having fun. And honestly - surfing with turtles popping up all around you is just picture postcard stuff. For context - we went to try out surfing with our kids (6 and 8). Both are confident swimmers and they loved this and all of us were standing by the end of the lesson! It was by far the most fun we had in Barbados. We left it fairly late In holiday to organise and I went on reviews so it was a punt and completely paid off. It was so good we snuck in a second class the afternoon before we flew home. If we are ever back in Barbados we plan to do this again!
PS Bodie videos the sessions so we have amazing shots which are wonderful to watch and share with grandparents etc.
PS Bodie videos the sessions so we have amazing shots which are wonderful to watch and share with grandparents etc.
Written April 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Lana O
Edmonton, Canada1 contribution
Nov 2022
The entire experience was fantastic! From the drive to the surf spot, the initial instruction, and riding the waves, it was amazing. He was able to cater the instruction to our range of physical abilities- from our young, fit daughters, to our bad wrists and backs, we were all up and surfing in no time! Bodie is a knowledgable and fun instructor, and gave us tips and tricks not only for surfing, but for the whole island vacation.
Thank you Bodie, we will be back!
Thank you Bodie, we will be back!
Written November 11, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Chanelle B
1 contribution
Jan 2020 • Friends
The idea of surfing is pretty dreamy, but never in a million years did I think I’d actually be taught in a way that made it possible. It’s pretty surreal to think that in one session a group of 10 people were all able to ride numerous waves with great success! It takes a special kind of person and passion for what you’re teaching to excel in this kind of work. Bodie exemplifies everything you would want in an instructor. Directions right from the start were concise with a focus on technical skills to ensure success, constructive criticism showed he was paying attention to details in order for you to improve throughout the day, and he made sure you felt that it was okay to laugh at yourself whenever things didn’t go quite as planned. I went for surfing lessons one day and had such an amazing time I went two more times after that in two weeks, I think that alone speaks for itself. I would recommend his School Of Surf to anyone as the experience I had is one I will always remember.
Written February 10, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Jennifer G
Ottawa, Canada1 contribution
May 2022 • Family
We had a great experience with Bodie at Freights Bay in early May. The waves were big (for us) but we all managed to get up and ride a few. Bodie took time to explain basic positioning and gave us instant feedback in the water. A few days later we rented surfboards on our own at Dover. We were grateful for the knowledge that Bodie imparted on us and more confident In Surfing on our own on the more gentle waves at Dover. I would highly recommend Bodie. He was always responsive to my text messages and adapted the time and day of our lesson bc of surf conditions which was really appreciated!
Written May 20, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Sherry Senior
5 contributions
Apr 2022
My husband myself and three teenage boys spent the morning at Bodie's School of Surf. None of us had ever surfed before but within about 1/2 hour of on land instruction we were all up and riding the waves. Bodie was fun, chill and a total pro at knowing how We had a magical day learning to surf and swimming with beautiful sea turtles.
Written April 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Simone K
2 contributions
Hello, I would like to take part at a beginner's surfing lesson and I am in Barbados until the 26th October. When do you have a lesson?
Bodies_SchoolofSurf
Oistins, Barbados2 contributions
Hi Simone I have received your email and will be responding shortly :)
Darshan
Harrow, UK9 contributions
Hello,
My wife and I will be arriving to Barbados next Saturday 18th April and would like to give surfing a go for the first time. What are your rates and when is a good time to have a lesson?
Thanks,
Dapz