Lars L E Hansen

So I am not really into writing reviews unless there’s something really bad or really good that I have to say. This is my first review on Unilocal so I am very excited to start with a positive one.
So here it comes: Me and my husband were looking for surfing lessons in Santa Cruz (we are not from around here so were not in the know) and checked out Lars’s webpage deciding to give it a try — it was our first time and we were pretty scared of the waves and were not sure if we were able to pull it off;)
Thanks to Lars we were able to stand up on our very first lesson! Also we had a lot of fun, because Lars is not your standard instructor — he knows everybody in Capitola and makes you laugh all the time, so you are relaxed and able to learn new skills without being stressed. Lessons with Lars have two basic principles :“Yes you can” and «Relax» — it is kind of important when you have to paddle all the time and you think that your arms are gonna fall off.
Also, what is especially important for me, since I am a chicken: you also feel safe because he teaches you the principles of behaviour in the sea and has been doing surfing for a very long time. Lars has different kinds of boards and wetsuits for different measures (my husband is big;-) so you don’t need to worry about bringing your own stuff and he even has his favourite trick that you can observe in the meantime: he stands on his hands head upside down on the board!
Summarizing: a very experienced instructor who takes his job seriously, is knowledgeable about the weather and safety and makes you love surfing at first sight!
We are looking forward to continue our lessons and can highly recommend Lars!

Oh d@mn! Don’t even know where to begin…
Well, first off, let me tell you that I do not have an athletic bone in my body. Seriously. I had to be talked into taking this surf lesson.
Luckily my friend has had a few lessons with Lars over the last few years and said we’d have alot of fun.
Lars is a very nice, down to earth, easy to talk to surfer dude who has been doing this thing for years!
Getting into the wetsuit wasn’t so bad but on the short drive to the beach, I was seriously having my doubts.
Lars took us to this pristine beach in Capitola. We went to his van and he handed us our surfboards and we were told to lift and balance on our heads and start for the beach.
I’m sure my eyes were as big as saucers.
Umm, ok. Right! Well, being one to do as I’m told, I picked up that sucker and hauled ass to the beach and down 4 flights of stairs.
Once we got to the beach, he made us line up all the surfboards and matched us with our boards. I got the longer one because I think he had already checked out my arms (no muscle tone) and was watching out for me.
After some quick instruction and some talk about what we might see ie sea lions, otters, sharks (huh?) he said grab your board and lets go and headed out to the surf.
AHHHHHHH! I have to say I was starting to trip out!
So, we paddled and paddled and paddled. We all figured it was about a mile and finally arrived at this little cove.
I had to be talked into catching a few waves, but could not manage to stand up.
Lars would have us line up in a row, take us one by one, tell us to start paddling as a wave approached and push us off in front of the wave and then start yelling STAND UP, STAND UP!
Dude! I would if I could! LMAO!
After some time with each of us, Lars said lets head back.
OMG! Another mile of paddling. I’m glad he was a drill sergeant about the paddling and that he pushed me along… mentally & physically!
I have never been so out of my element, but do have to say it was fun!
So back at the van, Lars tells us there was a shark out there. About a 5 footer. He saw his dorsal fin.
Nice! Shark week on Discovery and Jaws movies playing back 2 back on AMC.
I would highly recommend Lars. $ 75 bucks gets you, your board, wetsuit and 1 ½ hours of instruction time.
I do have to say that I have much respect for the surf world.