Surf lessons · Edava, Varkala
Ninety minutes, chest-height water, a sand bottom and one instructor who has read this beach since childhood. Board, rashguard and beach transfer included.
What a lesson costs
Prices are per session and include everything you need in the water. There is no equipment surcharge and no beach fee, the number below is the number you pay.
₹2,000
Up to 90 minutes · 1 instructor, max 2 surfers · per session
One instructor and no more than two surfers, so nobody waits their turn. This is the one for fast-tracking. Every wave gets watched, every mistake gets named while you can still feel what caused it. Ideal if you want personalised feedback rather than encouragement shouted from thirty metres away.
₹1,500
Up to 90 minutes · small group · per person
Learn in a fun, social setting with a small group. Great for families or friends who want to experience the thrill of surfing together. Group sizes are capped deliberately, so you still get proper coaching and not a headcount.
Included in both: Surfboard · Rashguard · Beach pick-up & drop-off · ISA Certified instructor · Safety briefing on the sand. The pick-up is genuinely free and covers Edava and central Varkala. Tell us where you're staying and we'll come to the door.
Your morning
Lessons run in the morning, when the wind is offshore and the water is at its cleanest. The exact start shifts with the tide, so we confirm your time the evening before rather than printing one that turns out to be wrong.
Boards loaded, transfer to the beach. Included in the lesson price.
Warm-up, pop-up technique, paddle technique, and individual corrections. Even the pros warm up on land, the best sessions start before anyone gets wet.
Catching waves, with your instructor in the water beside you the whole time. Max chest-height, sand bottom, nobody watching you fall.
Where the whole Varkala surf community gathers to review the waves of the day. This part is not on the schedule and it is the best part.
Where you'll be learning
Most surf lessons in Varkala happen at Papanasam, below the north cliff, where the beach is narrow, the crowd is thick and you queue for a wave with everyone else's lesson.
Edava is eight minutes north and it is a different beach: wide, sand-bottomed, and long enough that classes spread out instead of stacking up. On a normal morning you will share the water with fishing boats and perhaps one other group.
Practically, that means more waves per hour and fewer collisions, which for a first-timer is the difference between standing up on day one and spending the session dodging people.
Practical
Swimwear you can move in, a towel, water, and sunscreen you put on twenty minutes before rather than at the beach. That is the whole list.
A wetsuit, the water here is warm all year and nobody wears one. A board, unless you own one you love. A GoPro for your first lesson; you'll want both hands.
Anything you'd mind losing. There is nowhere secure on the sand and someone has to sit with the bags, which is usually the person who most wanted to surf.
Surfable waves run most of the year here. The cleanest, most beginner- friendly conditions are through the dry months either side of the monsoon; the monsoon itself brings bigger, messier water and lessons are called on the day if the instructor doesn't like it. That call is theirs, and a called session is refunded or moved in full.
Surf lessons in Varkala
No. Lessons run in waist-to-chest-height water over a sand bottom, with your instructor standing beside you the whole time and a board that floats far better than you do. Tell us when you book so the instructor knows.
At Kuma, ₹1,500 per person for a small-group session and ₹2,000 for a one-to-one, both up to 90 minutes. Board, rashguard and beach pick-up are included in both.
Mornings, with the exact time set by the tide. We leave the house around 07:30 and confirm your slot the evening before rather than publishing a time that turns out to be wrong.
Most people get to their feet inside the first session, the waves here are small and forgiving and the boards are big. Standing for three seconds and standing for thirty are different projects, which is what the second lesson is for.
Yes, and it's free. Pick-up and drop-off cover Edava and central Varkala including the north and south cliff. Send us the name of your guesthouse and we'll be outside it.
We teach children from around age eight, in calm water with a parent or guardian on the beach. Younger than that we'd rather talk to you first than take a booking we can't do properly.
Anything not covered here, message us on WhatsApp at +91 99953 38248.
Send your dates, headcount and surf level. We'll point you toward the right room, session or week.
Ask Kuma on WhatsApp+91 99953 38248