I was recently asked if SurfGSD would drop the price of our surfing lesson for a group of Hens on a weekend trip to Swansea by £5 pp. as they had another cheaper quote from someone else.
There are nearly 60 surf schools here in the UK all offering different types of coaching and levels, as with most service sector industries.
My answer was 'No, sorry we are a 4 star BSA surf school that prides itself on quality coaching with smaller group ratios'...'by having more staff on the beach you will get the type of coaching that is necessary to progress your surfing skills and have an enjoyable, safe experience.'
We have been running surfing lessons here in the UK for 10 years with a high repeat customer visit rate; used by most Local Authorities here in South Wales; a member of 'Visit Wales in Style'; chosen by the LC in Swansea to help with the opening ceremony and to provide surfing lessons year round indoor at the flowrider; plus used by Kent County Council, Birmingham City Council, Marlborough College, Clifton College and many more.
The Director of SurfGSD is a Diploma member of the ISRM and previously worked as Leisure centre manager in both the public and private sector around the world- this experience and training reflects in the quality of the staff that SurfGSD attracts.
A fiver saved may ensure you have:
1. Possibly unqualified surf coaches
2. Dangerous ratios of staff to customers
3. Chaotically 'managed' unsafe lessons
4. Late lesson starts due to unpunctual arrival of staff
The bottom line is an extra £5 will buy you better quality coaching, equipment and experience.
I made the point of posting a blog regarding how to spot us on the beach see here, mainly due to the fact that we do not want to be associated with the cheaper 'battery type' of surfing lesson that unfortunately does occur, not only in Swansea but throughout the UK. The British Surfing Association do have inspectors and a grading system that keeps track on the 'Toy Town type of surf school' as seen in the video below.
Please note that the Toy Town Surf School in this video is a 'fiver' cheaper than our surf school. You decide if it's worth it... The video highlights the following issues from a surf coaching point of view:
1) Customers to coach ratio 1:10 plus 2) Customers spread all along the beach due to lack of experienced staff 3) No Control of group,due to poor coaching 4) Due to the spread of group people on hard surfboards and kayaks are in amongst the group which is a recipe for injury 6) Hard to identify group as some have ID vests on, some have none and some have red rash vests on which is Toy Town instructors ID colours 7) The group on beach just left the water and walked up the beach without informing the surf coach. Even worse without the coach noticing 8) The beach and water is busy with all types of activities therefore even more important for good control of group and customer ID
