Coronado Surf Academy (CSA) plans to offer free surf lessons to local students during the upcoming school year through a new partnership with the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD).

CSA Owner Ryan Wamhoff said his surf instructor business offers a range of programming on South Beach in Coronado. “Since I’ve taken over, we do private lessons, we do corporate lessons, we do group lessons,” he explained. “We also run kids camps during the summertime.”

Wamhoff said the academy is currently running multiple sessions for young surfers. “We have six camps already set up all throughout the summer,” he said, noting that all the camps are done through the Recreation Department.

Beyond CSA’s regular yearly lessons and events, Wamhoff has outlined a new initiative which will offer free surf lessons during the school year once a month for all  CUSD students. He emphasized that the opportunity will benefit students of all ages and ability levels, from those just learning to surf to those working to perfect their form.

To make the free program accessible to different age groups, Wamhoff plans to rotate age groups each month. “One month we’ll do only elementary school. One month we’ll only do middle school. One month we’ll only do high school,” he said. “It’s going to be completely free, and I’m going to offer all my instructors, all my boards, all my wetsuits, and everything like that.” This program will run once a month for the entire 2026-2027 school year.

For Wamhoff, the motivation is rooted in his connection to Coronado’s coastline and his own experience growing up in the water. “I feel like we live in a community where we have such a beautiful beach,” he told me. “However, not every kid that lives in this town takes advantage of that… I think the students here should learn how to be in the water, not just surfing but also water safety and to learn the benefits of this beautiful ocean that we have.”

He said his own childhood in Coronado inspired the idea. “I had such a great upbringing of learning how to surf here, and I want to bestow that upon every other kid here, free of charge,” Wamhoff said.

Surfing, he added, offers personal benefits beyond just a physical activity. Learning to surf at a young age in Coronado gave him “a lot of peace within myself. A lot of peace of mind, a lot of positive mental health came in with that,” he said. “I think that’s a really good thing that kids need to have.”

The free monthly lessons will be offered in partnership with the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) and will be listed through its channels. “Everything’s going to be done through Coronado Unified School District, and everything will be available on their website,” Wamhoff explained.

Wamhoff worked for several years within CUSD’s Special Education Department. When he brought the idea of free surf lessons to the District, the response was overwhelmingly positive. “I brought this to them, and they were very supportive and gave me a complete green light to put it on their website so that all parents of Coronado Unified School District students can utilize this if they want to.”

The structure of the free lessons will mirror the academy’s existing surf camps. “It’s going to be no different from the camps than the guests that we already have,” Wamhoff explained. “We will cap it out at 18 kids at a time.”

Ultimately, Wamhoff said the program is about giving back to the community where he learned to surf. “I learned how to surf in this town, and I want to give just that back, free of charge,” he said. 

For more information on CSA as well as free lessons for CUSD students, please visit CSA’s website at https://coronadosurfing.com/ or visit the District’s website at https://coronadousd.net/.

VOL. 116, NO. 28 – July 15, 2026