Great Ocean Road Surf Tours
Great Ocean Road Surf Tours
5
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Full view
About
Winners of the Telstra Australian Business Awards 2013 and voted Best Adventure Tourism Business by RACV Victorian Tourism Awards 2012. Our multi-award winning, eco-certified surf tours and lessons will let you experience one of Australia's favourite cultures amongst crowd free scenic beaches in small friendly groups. You can learn to surf on one of the Worlds most famous stretches of coastline, the Great Ocean Road. We offer everything from 2 hour lessons around Torquay, Ocean Grove and Anglesea areas as well as further down the Great Ocean Road. Our 1 - 10 day learn to surf tours also including FREE transport from Melbourne. For our full day surf tours lunch and afternoon refreshments are included. Our multiple day tours also include breakfast and accommodation so all you need to worry about is your new obsession for surfing!
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5.0
308 reviews
Excellent
276
Very good
27
Average
2
Poor
2
Terrible
1
Ina L
1 contribution
First time surfing and I absolutely loved it! At first I couldn't do anything and by the end of it, I was riding the waves! Jamesky was AMAZING! Super friendly, funny(🤣), patient and helpful! I would definitely go back. HIGHLY recommend this tour! Lunch was yum too :)
Written 15 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jennysforsberg
Lund, Sweden1 contribution
Feb 2014 • Solo
You can't really stay in Australia without trying to surf, at least that's what I was told when heading to down under January this year. But trying wasn't what I was looking for I wanted to learn, so I Googled Melbourne + surfing and found Great Ocean Road Surf Tours.
I stayed at Great Ocean Road Surf Tours for 10 days, including 8 days of surf and 2 lay days. But after my first five days on the board, and with instructors that constantly triggered me to develop and learn more, it was pretty obvious that the lay days wouldn't be used. So I ended up doing 10 days straight, and left back to Melbourne totally hooked on surfing. It was just days until I headed back down there again and continued surfing for the following months. I started of as a total beginner (I have never been surfing, skating or snowboarding ever in my life) and left Australia with my own board under my arm and wetsuit in my bag, eager to develop to an even better surfer and chase waves in other countries as well. But Torquay and Great Ocean Road Surf Tours will always be my second home, no matter my whereabouts.
So why is Great Ocean Road Surf Tours so good? Well, it's a pretty simple success story. The instructors are great and are always make sure that you have a fun time in the water, but challenges you in order to push you to the next level if asked them to. All of the staff is super friendly and strive to make your stay as nice as possible. If you stay long enough, and you get to know them a bit better, you’ll realise that they are all lovely people, but some with better humour than others. If you stay longer than long enough you’ll be caught up in it, and get a pretty bad sense of humour as well – but it is totally worth every bad joke!
The camp itself is a small camper cabin with room for 8 persons, just on the other side of the Surf Coast Highway that is the perfect location since you can pick up your morning coffee just one the way to the shop. I had the pleasure to encounter a great crowd of people all during the stay and made some friends that will stick around in my life for quite some time. The days were spent in the water laughing and joking around, evenings by the barbeque and drinking beers or hanging out at the pub laughing and joking around. I don’t think I smiled as much ever before, at least not for 10 days straight.
Torquay, and as the surf shop Great Ocean Road Surf Tours, was the perfect place to learn how to surf. Attentive instructors, waves that suited beginners up intermediate and a great crowd of people making surfing truly fun. Just as fun as it’s supposed to be! What else can I say? That you won’t find a better camp in Victoria? I thought you had realised that already!
I stayed at Great Ocean Road Surf Tours for 10 days, including 8 days of surf and 2 lay days. But after my first five days on the board, and with instructors that constantly triggered me to develop and learn more, it was pretty obvious that the lay days wouldn't be used. So I ended up doing 10 days straight, and left back to Melbourne totally hooked on surfing. It was just days until I headed back down there again and continued surfing for the following months. I started of as a total beginner (I have never been surfing, skating or snowboarding ever in my life) and left Australia with my own board under my arm and wetsuit in my bag, eager to develop to an even better surfer and chase waves in other countries as well. But Torquay and Great Ocean Road Surf Tours will always be my second home, no matter my whereabouts.
So why is Great Ocean Road Surf Tours so good? Well, it's a pretty simple success story. The instructors are great and are always make sure that you have a fun time in the water, but challenges you in order to push you to the next level if asked them to. All of the staff is super friendly and strive to make your stay as nice as possible. If you stay long enough, and you get to know them a bit better, you’ll realise that they are all lovely people, but some with better humour than others. If you stay longer than long enough you’ll be caught up in it, and get a pretty bad sense of humour as well – but it is totally worth every bad joke!
The camp itself is a small camper cabin with room for 8 persons, just on the other side of the Surf Coast Highway that is the perfect location since you can pick up your morning coffee just one the way to the shop. I had the pleasure to encounter a great crowd of people all during the stay and made some friends that will stick around in my life for quite some time. The days were spent in the water laughing and joking around, evenings by the barbeque and drinking beers or hanging out at the pub laughing and joking around. I don’t think I smiled as much ever before, at least not for 10 days straight.
Torquay, and as the surf shop Great Ocean Road Surf Tours, was the perfect place to learn how to surf. Attentive instructors, waves that suited beginners up intermediate and a great crowd of people making surfing truly fun. Just as fun as it’s supposed to be! What else can I say? That you won’t find a better camp in Victoria? I thought you had realised that already!
Written 19 July 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Laura S
2 contributions
Nov 2017 • Friends
We booked a 2 days surf tour with a friend, and we weren't disappointed ! Our surf instructor James was amazing, really funny and helped us a lot, so we could actually stand on the board on our first day (amazing sensation !). The groups are quite small, the instructor has time for everyone. We spent the night in a cosy cabin just across the road from the shop. A really satisfying first experience !
Written 27 November 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sam D
7 contributions
Apr 2017 • Couples
My partner and I (ages 28/25) did the 5 day surf package here starting 04.04.17 and both had a poor experience, and I found the school to be a stark contrast with the value for money, fun atmosphere and generous professionalism I encountered during my time at a surf camp in Wollongong. This camp is strictly corporate, it feels like a transaction and every signal suggests that since this camp won awards in 2012, it has since been cut down to the bone to maximize profit from passing tourists instead of retain repeat customers.
The surf camp experience here is simply 4 hours of lessons with a 30 minute break in-between; the breakfast included in the package is a single box of Coles cornflakes and a milk carton (for 5 days), the lunch included is a single 6-inch subway, a single coles cereal bar and a single coles juice drink box per day. There are no games, no camp atmosphere (after the lesson you go to a public caravan park where you are accommodated), and no extras outside of what is described. The factory outlet that you receive a tour of are shops accessible from the mainstreet, the included bag is a plastic bag containing brochures and vouchers (not the waterproof surf bag other camps commonly issue). There was not a lot of talking and little opportunity within the day for socialising - we usually spent the lunch breaks in near silence.
During the tour the van of another surf company would often pull up blasting music, staffed by a couple of joking surfer guys, a guy playing guitar and the atmosphere looked great. They had a dog and the tour was about 2x the size of ours. As the guy I was sat next to said as they went out to surf, "looks like we picked the wrong tour!". I also had an exceedingly ugly experience with the manager/owner Alistair Lawson when a member of staff told us our last day would be refunded, only for the manager to tell us we would receive no refund after we had left (excellently, he told us we would be refunded before we left but never sent the receipt, so we came back to check...). He also (and I swear this is true!) accused me of stealing the aforementioned & almost empty Coles cornflakes box from the accommodation when we left. Don't worry, we returned it!
From what I've seen I would recommend you check Go Ride a Wave surfing school instead if you are looking for surf lessons in the area.
The surf camp experience here is simply 4 hours of lessons with a 30 minute break in-between; the breakfast included in the package is a single box of Coles cornflakes and a milk carton (for 5 days), the lunch included is a single 6-inch subway, a single coles cereal bar and a single coles juice drink box per day. There are no games, no camp atmosphere (after the lesson you go to a public caravan park where you are accommodated), and no extras outside of what is described. The factory outlet that you receive a tour of are shops accessible from the mainstreet, the included bag is a plastic bag containing brochures and vouchers (not the waterproof surf bag other camps commonly issue). There was not a lot of talking and little opportunity within the day for socialising - we usually spent the lunch breaks in near silence.
During the tour the van of another surf company would often pull up blasting music, staffed by a couple of joking surfer guys, a guy playing guitar and the atmosphere looked great. They had a dog and the tour was about 2x the size of ours. As the guy I was sat next to said as they went out to surf, "looks like we picked the wrong tour!". I also had an exceedingly ugly experience with the manager/owner Alistair Lawson when a member of staff told us our last day would be refunded, only for the manager to tell us we would receive no refund after we had left (excellently, he told us we would be refunded before we left but never sent the receipt, so we came back to check...). He also (and I swear this is true!) accused me of stealing the aforementioned & almost empty Coles cornflakes box from the accommodation when we left. Don't worry, we returned it!
From what I've seen I would recommend you check Go Ride a Wave surfing school instead if you are looking for surf lessons in the area.
Written 8 April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Sam
Thank you for your review, we appreciate you taking the time to let us know your thoughts, however it is a shame you have made it so one sided. You forgot to mention the discount we offered you upon booking due to starting your tour in Torquay and the FREE upgrade to your own private cabin. Our awards span 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 and have 247 Excellent reviews on Trip Advisor (at time of writing) for a reason. We love surfing and love teaching people but we also see that everyone that comes on our tours understand what is included and what is not. This is unfortunately the issue you guys had. Your constant aggression and complaining towards our staff and myself was not called for and could have been avoided if you had taken the time to understand our tours better. All the details, inclusions and Terms & Conditions are on our website, were attached to your booking form, confirmation email and available in our shop. So there was really no reason not to understand everything before booking as there was ample opportunity. Your lack of doing this is clear in your frustrations but your frustrations should be aimed at yourselves not us. If you were unsure or had questions, these needed to be addressed before booking. Complaining about what we do not include, when it is clearly stated that it is not included does not give you the right to abuse our staff or company.
The social aspect on our tours have always been amazing, with people telling stories of their experiences and getting to know everyone so I'm not sure why you did not talk and sat in silence. As your vibe was generally aggressive or attacking towards the staff, I could see this would be why you didn't socialize as much as most so maybe try to be a little more friendly and open to conversation and maybe you will start to make some friends. The guitar playing person was in fact a backpacker themselves who joined a lesson at the beach, not another schools staff member. We would love to play our guitars on the beach but we are there for our customers and there to help you improve your surfing so all the time we have is aimed towards this. We play beach games in the children's surf programs but focus on real surfing in the adults after the age of 12 as we feel this is why you join a surf camp.
In regards to the refund - I don't feel ganging up and being abusive towards a staff member to the point that they had to mention a refund justifies the action to go ahead especially when your grounds for a refund are clearly mentioned in our T&Cs.
The fact that you mention in your review 'don't worry, we returned it' regarding the stealing of the breakfast cereal only goes to show that if you had to return it, you did in fact take it! When I asked where it went, you had to go to your car to retrieve it. It is custom to leave these in the cabin.
Upon your travels I would suggest reading your intended tours carefully and only judge them on what they advertise they offer and not what they clearly do not offer as you are clearly frustrated with your own lack of research which is understandable.
All that said, I hope you enjoyed your surfing, cheer up a little bit and remember to have fun along the way and not take things so seriously! YEW
Written 10 April 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
tigerawe1
Hanoi, Vietnam1 contribution
Jan 2018 • Couples
These people are a disgrace. They are miserable, penny pinching, self centred and beneath contempt! Its a mystery to me how they get any positive testimonials, our experience with these people has been the worst and we wish we'd never heard of them! Think twice before using them.
Written 23 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tully E
4 contributions
Apr 2017 • Couples
Came here with my partner April 2017, had various difficulties, lukewarm experience and an upsetting argument with the chilling owner over payment at the end, accused me of lying and refused to honor a refund after previous agreement. There was an irregularity with payment over the phone (was told to give card details over phone to make payment of $1420, but was billed for $1448.40. Things on the tour itinerary didn't happen (tour of surf museum, visits to surf outlet). Other things included with your were cynically minimal (the included breakfasts for 5 days is a single XL box of Coles cornflakes + a carton of milk only, the "surf bag" which is a plastic carrier bag containing brochures and vouchers to tourist attractions). The lunch is always a 6" ham subway, a Coles cereal bar and a Coles juice drink box - no extras, no other food available for the hungry). People on multiple day tours brought their own packed lunches after day 1. There are no games, no social get-togethers, no music, no vibes etc - very sterile. Accommodation is away from the school in a public caravan park, lots of kids and families around so not much to do for backpackers who want to socialise). Very minimalist package, impression is this company is set up to skin tourists painfully rather than shear return customers gently.
Special mention must be made for the instructors, who were amazing, especially Eddie; the beaches, which are amazing along the ocean road; and the equipment, which looks pretty new and is always matched to your skill level and requirements. They do the surf part really well, so the place should still be good for a day lesson slot if your on the way past. Just avoid the poor value multi day tours (and needing to deal with the owner/manager, he's aggressive - ask for receipts of all payments and returns).
Special mention must be made for the instructors, who were amazing, especially Eddie; the beaches, which are amazing along the ocean road; and the equipment, which looks pretty new and is always matched to your skill level and requirements. They do the surf part really well, so the place should still be good for a day lesson slot if your on the way past. Just avoid the poor value multi day tours (and needing to deal with the owner/manager, he's aggressive - ask for receipts of all payments and returns).
Written 7 April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Tully
Thank you for your review and I am glad you enjoyed the surfing aspect of our tours as this is the experience we really want to express well and have you surfing to your best ability in the best conditions on the best beaches. As discussed there were obviously areas you felt did not meet up to your ideals of what you were expecting during your time with us. If there are areas you are particular about it is always best to call and ask us before you make your booking. Nothing is hidden, all details are available on our website, in our terms and conditions and you can always call us if there is anything else you need to confirm. If you checked everything before making your booking then everything would have been confirmed prior to your tour and there would have not been any surprises or disappointments.
We add a 2% fee to cover bank charges to all credit card fees which is in our T&Cs. The fact that you did not read these was not our fault as they are clearly on our website, attached to our booking request, your booking confirmation and in our reception area.
Vouchers for the surf museum and surf shops are available from our shop for you to use, if you could not find them all you needed to do was ask. Yes there were families in the Holiday Park where we have our accommodation, access to the swimming pool, tennis courts etc. that is because you booked during school holidays, again if you asked when a quiet time would be we would have suggested an alternative date.
Unfortunately all the areas you mention that did not meet your expectations are expectations that you set yourself before understanding what is included or not included and your lack of research prior to booking is the real issue here.
I'm glad you got to surf along the Great Ocean Road though in some fantastic conditions. All the best for your future surf trips but please make sure you understand your businesses before making assumptions and expectations next time. Enjoy the rest of your time in Australia - YEW!
Written 8 April 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Johan R
Stockholm, Sweden52 contributions
Sept 2017 • Solo
I booked one day of surfing because of the good reviews here on tripadvisor. My experience also matches with them, since I had a great day with good instructions and help from Alistair.
Written 1 October 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Monica N
Birmingham, UK78 contributions
Feb 2017 • Friends
We had a very nice surf experience with Great Ocean Road surf tours. I had only surfed one day before, so this was my second day, but I did a lot of progress thanks to them!! Definitely what made a difference was the two cool insturctors we had, Chris and Paddy. They were very easy going cool guys, gave us lots of tips and helped us a lot to learn fast!! Totally recommended it was a big day! :)
Written 13 February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emma
Bonn, Germany1 contribution
Jan 2020 • Solo
It was absolutely amazing!
I booked the one day surfing tour and got way more than I expected.
At first I was a bit afraid of the waves and riptides but as soon as I got into the water and got wet I realized that as long as Olli is with me, there is nothing to be afraid of.
Ollis enthusiasm for riding even bigger and harder waves soon infected me too. The way he helped me getting into every position made me feel so good.
He taught me how to ride them right and I tried my best to follow his instructions and do as Olli wanted me to do.
He really taught me a lesson (my bruised knees and sore muscles the day after speak for themselves!) and I could never thank him enough for that day.
It was/he was truly amazing and I‘m really looking forward to when we meet again.
I booked the one day surfing tour and got way more than I expected.
At first I was a bit afraid of the waves and riptides but as soon as I got into the water and got wet I realized that as long as Olli is with me, there is nothing to be afraid of.
Ollis enthusiasm for riding even bigger and harder waves soon infected me too. The way he helped me getting into every position made me feel so good.
He taught me how to ride them right and I tried my best to follow his instructions and do as Olli wanted me to do.
He really taught me a lesson (my bruised knees and sore muscles the day after speak for themselves!) and I could never thank him enough for that day.
It was/he was truly amazing and I‘m really looking forward to when we meet again.
Written 15 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Runnergirl2367
Houston, TX22 contributions
My friend and I had never surfed before and the lesson was great! With a little help we were able to catch a few waves within a few minutes! It was only my friend and I and another woman, so it was almost a private lesson which was great! Unfortunately the rest of the trip did not meet expectation. Provided “lunch” was a 6-inch subway sandwich (we had no choice what was on it), a granola bar, and a juice box. We were starving after all that surfing! There was no morning or afternoon refreshments as promised and no special discounts or VIP experience was offered to us (the website said there would be) in Surf City nor the museum. We were also under the impression we would get one location for each of the two surfing lesson, which was not the case. Also our booking was difficult because the website does not offer an option for Melbourne pick up for less than 5 people. This makes sense because sending a van out would be costly if only a few needed the transfer, but it did not allow an option for us to mark if we did need a transfer should there be enough people on that day. The company and employees were very helpful and had speedy responses but seemed very disorganized. Overall we had a good time but maybe would recommend looking into a different company.
Written 27 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Has anyone booked through Expedia? Thank you.
Written 30 December 2018
has anyone else had a bad experience dealing with the owner Alistair?
Written 7 April 2017
Nope, we went there a couple of times with friends and the service offered was spotless. I have to add that we never deal with Alistair though so I cannot help you there. What happened exactly?
Written 7 April 2017
Hi, i want to unsubscribe mine review of Great Ocean surf tours, how can i do this?
Written 3 February 2017
Hi, on the main TripAdvisor screen at the top there is a tab - 'MORE'' click here and click on 'HELP CENTRE' if you then click on 'VISIT HELP CENTRE' you can then type in 'édit my review' in the search box and click on the appropriate message to go to a page and then click 'ÇONTACT US' and then it will ask you what you want to do. Question should be 'REVIEWS' and Action should be 'REMOVE/ EDIT MY REVIEW. Thank you for that we really appreciate it, hope you're back is feeling better and thank you for your understanding regarding the time it took to deal with you refund. All the best.
Written 5 February 2017
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.