At Take Off, you can try surfing, build solid foundations or work on specific details — from your very first attempt to intermediate and advanced coaching. The offer suits you if you want to choose your accommodation independently from the surf course and combine surf sessions, courses, private coaching or additional modules in a way that fits your stay, your level and your goals. Surfskate, swimming and active recovery complement the surf courses in a meaningful way and also give you the chance to get to know more of Lanzarote. You will find more information in this FAQ to help you decide whether Take Off is the right fit for you.

You can book single sessions or plan several days — depending on your goal, your stay and the conditions. A single session is a good starting point if you want to try surfing, get to know my coaching style or get back into it after a break. Once you feel safe enough in the water — or if you have already been surfing for a while — it can make sense to alternate coaching sessions with independent free surfing. This way, you deepen what you have learned, gather your own experience and use later sessions to discuss difficulties, correct mistakes and add new skills.

I work with small groups because otherwise surf lessons can quickly turn into watching from a distance. In a small group, I can see much more clearly what is actually happening, give you specific feedback after a wave and adapt the next tasks accordingly. Because I teach all sessions myself, there is also continuity: I know where we left off, what you are currently working on and which cues should be picked up again next time. At the same time, a group stays more social and more affordable than private coaching. You can practise yourself, watch others, ask questions and still receive regular individual feedback. For me, this is the most useful middle ground between intensive coaching and free experimentation.

Many surf courses work with fixed morning or afternoon times. At Take Off, lesson times are based on the tide, waves and wind, because not every moment is equally good for learning. For beginners, for example, gentle, long-running waves are often much more valuable than spectacular-looking conditions. They give you more time, more repetitions and more safety. The exact times therefore depend on the dates of your stay. Low tide, high tide and tidal range follow the moon cycle and shift from day to day. Once I know when you will be on Lanzarote, I can tell you which time windows make sense for your course or sessions. This is a little less familiar than a fixed timetable, but it has a clear advantage: we can use the best moment of the day instead of fighting the conditions.

When you go free surfing, the idea is to turn what you can already do into fun, adrenaline or simply a good time in the water. No question: you still gain experience. However, when you are learning to surf, the goal is different: you want to surf better after the session than before. A surf coach helps you make sense of your experience: What just happened there? Why is something not working the way you want it to? And what will actually help you move forward at this point? Trial and error is useful — but before the next attempt, the “error” should turn into an insight. Sometimes a small correction shouted from the side is enough. Sometimes a movement needs to be refined and adjusted again on land — or we take a closer look at how board, wave and body work together in a specific situation.

Yes, you can still learn to surf as an adult. Whether you are 25, 35, 45 or older: age alone is not the decisive factor. More important are swimming ability, basic fitness, mobility and a realistic attitude towards the ocean. Children often learn faster because many of their reflexes are not yet so deeply set, and for them many things are still completely new. Adults, on the other hand, instinctively rely on reflexes that have worked for them for a lifetime when it comes to balance and unexpected movement. In return, adults are usually better at abstract thinking, concentration and dealing rationally with fear, shock or frustration. In other words: it balances out. So do not worry too much about age — especially if you live an active, sporty lifestyle. If you are unsure, we can look together at whether a group session, private coaching or a more adapted start would suit you best.

Yes and no. Some things can be adapted to your body, level and the conditions — and should be adapted if a technique only creates frustration. For example, there are different ways to get to your feet, depending on mobility, strength and the situation. Other things leave much less room for variation. A good example is your position on the board when paddling: if you lie too far forward, the nose can dig in more easily and the board may flip you over in the wave. If you lie too far back, paddling becomes difficult and you will hardly catch the wave. That is why we talk about finding the sweet spot. Good technique therefore does not mean doing everything the same way all the time. It means understanding which adaptation makes sense in which situation — and where there is very little room for variation.

Personally, I like both — depending on what the wave offers, how fit I feel that day or simply what I am in the mood for. Longboards paddle faster and can catch waves while they are still round and not very steep. The bigger board offers more stability and allows a more upright posture, a narrower stance and more movement on the board. A shortboard is more agile, but also less stable; that is why it is usually surfed with a lower posture and a wider stance. Strictly separating the two styles does not make much sense to me — especially for occasional surfers — unless it is a conscious personal preference or a specific goal. In longboarding, you sometimes benefit from movements that come more from shortboarding — and vice versa. If you can use both, you have an advantage, because in both styles there are moments when you need to draw on the other technique. For beginners, it therefore makes sense to work on a bigger board with a more stable, lower posture and a slightly wider stance. This gives you more control at the start while still keeping enough flexibility for your first turns. The same idea applies to more advanced surfers: if you do not lock yourself into one surf style or one board type, you can adapt better to the conditions and get more out of the waves that are actually there.

No — but if your time by the ocean is limited to holidays and surf trips, you need a realistic plan. Limited time, travel and costs are part of the reality for landlocked surfers. That is why a clear strategy often helps more than simply spending “as much time as possible in the water”. Once the basics are in place — paddling, gliding, standing up and feeling safe in whitewater — it can make sense to alternate independent free surfing with focused coaching. This way, you deepen what you have learned, gather your own experience and can later work with feedback on recurring problems or new skills. Being landlocked is not only a disadvantage. If you rent boards locally, you can try different board types depending on the conditions and better understand which shapes are made for which conditions. Over time, you notice which equipment gives you more wave count in weaker, rounder waves — and which board gives you more control and performance in stronger, steeper conditions. Practical tips on board choice, spot choice, what to look for when renting or buying a board and how to keep learning in a useful way naturally flow into the sessions.

Famara is not just a backdrop for surf lessons for me. I do not want to make sweeping statements in the wider debate about tourism saturation on the island — I depend on tourism myself. But I would still like to be teaching here in ten years’ time, ideally on a beach whose conditions and character have been preserved. I have lived on Lanzarote since 2016 and have seen how much the place has changed. As a former geography student, some connections may stand out to me more clearly: beach preservation, dunes, the village, surf tourism and the socio-economic fabric are all connected. Famara Beach is not an isolated surf spot, but part of a sensitive natural and landscape area within the UNESCO Global Geopark Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands. This also includes special wildlife and plant life. In the area around Famara and the Chinijo Islands there are endemic and protected species, such as the Corregüelón de Famara ( Convolvulus lopezsocasi ) or the Canarian houbara bustard ( Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae ). Fragile systems like these suffer when they are used very intensively during the season. That is why I want to keep my own impact as small as possible. As long as I can make a living from my work, it matters more to me to keep my sessions personal, attentive and creatively evolving than to turn Take Off into a bigger operation.

The best spot is not automatically the most famous or spectacular one. What matters is whether you can practise there in a useful way for your current level: Do you get enough waves? Is there enough space? Do the waves and the bottom they break over match what you are working on and your level of experience? At very crowded or demanding spots, many surfers often compete for only a few waves. Intermediates can then spend a lot of time waiting, avoiding others and watching, instead of really learning. A less spectacular spot with more achievable waves can often be the better choice. Choosing a spot also means understanding the lineup: Where should I position myself? When is it better to wait? Which wave actually suits my level? I do not treat these topics as dry theory, but bring them in when they become relevant in the water or during session planning.

The main reason is the small groups: surf instruction works better for me when I have enough time to really observe each participant, give direct feedback and adapt tasks to level, conditions and the energy of the day. This small structure also brings practical advantages. On the beach, we are more mobile with a small group and can react more easily when conditions change. If something shifts between sessions, it is easier to organise. And in surfskating, a small group also makes sense — with too many people, you quickly start getting in each other’s way at the skatepark. There is also an economic side to it: the bigger an operation becomes, the more infrastructure and fixed costs it creates — and the stronger the financial pressure becomes to put as many participants as possible into each course. I want to make a living from my work, but I do not want to build Take Off in a way that eventually requires high volume just to keep the system running.

When I decided ten years ago to move to Lanzarote to become a surf instructor, I was 29. It felt like: now or never. Back then, I still had a pretty classic picture in my head: surf lifestyle, a surf house, maybe a small bar or a place for guests to meet. The plan at first was to get a foothold on the island and one foot in the door of the “surf business”. Improve my Spanish, train, work, do the necessary qualifications and learn what everyday life on the beach really looks like. In short: get a feel for how things actually work. Over the years, my perspective changed. Through my own development in surfing, my work on the island, my training as a surf coach, lifeguard and personal trainer, and many observations on the beach, that initial idea turned into something else. Take Off Personal Surftraining is, as the name suggests, surf instruction — enriched with methods from personal training and a touch of didactics. The concept grew slowly: from working on the beach, from many experiences with students, from trying things out, observing and learning along the way.

A good surf stay does not look the same for everyone. It depends on how long you are here, what conditions we get, what you bring physically and how you want to shape your holiday around the surf sessions. That is exactly why, for me, a good surf camp would not be a fixed programme, but a flexible framework. Much of what I would later like to bring into a camp with accommodation, I already use now on the beach or as additional modules: surfskate, swimming, functional training and short theory blocks. On surf-free days, I can organise hikes on request: a way to get to know Lanzarote from the land side as well. Depending on your goal, level and stay, you can build your own surf week from these elements. For beginners and refreshers who want something practical and compact, there is the 5-day course. If you are already further along, you can combine individual group sessions, private coaching or additional modules such as surfskate and swimming.

I am Conrad, an ISA-certified Surf Coach, trained lifeguard and IFBB Personal Trainer. I have lived on Lanzarote since 2016. I originally came here because of surfing — but I stayed for more than just the waves. For me, surfing is more than fun, sport, adrenaline and action. It is also a way to switch off, gain some distance and reconnect with yourself. Lanzarote has shown me that in a very special way. At Take Off, I teach all sessions myself. This keeps the coaching personal, and I know what you are working on — whether you are standing on a board for the first time, getting back into it after a break or trying to make focused progress. ---