About us

Learning to surf in paradise.
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Surf in Paradise!

“There is no better feeling than surfing along a beautifully shaped wave on a crystal clear day.”

Surf In Paradise Director, Chris Maley

Our vision is for our surfing instructors to provide every client with a high-quality introduction to surfing that is safe, professional and fun.
There is nothing we like more, than seeing the thrill people experience when they stand up for the first time. This is why we provide our clients with easy to use techniques, low student to coach ratios and the ideal location.

We consider success to be someone booking more lessons, or asking us about what board to buy, or what they should do next to continue their surfing.
Kelly Slater once said “Surfing is like the mafia. Once you’re in – you’re in. There’s no getting out.” And we want to get you in to our mafia.

Chris Maley

Chris Maley

Director / Head coach

Chris is the founder of Surf In Paradise. He has been surfing since the age of 6 and has surfed locations all over the world. He has a degree in Coastal Resource Management and lives to surf.

Chris has been a Gold Coast local for 25 years and has been a surf coach for more than 15 years and prior to that worked in primary school education. 

During his time as a surf coach he has taught thousands of people how to surf. Chris offers some great surfing tips and has a high success rate of teaching people to stand in their first lesson. He has loads of knowledge, experience and patience which has developed from many years of work in both education and surf coaching. His favorite moto is “The best surfer is the one having the most fun!”

toddler learning to surf
Max
Latest addition to our Team

Max is Chris’s son and has been surfing since the age of 1 and being 3 years old now, he still has a bit of training to do before he can teach any lessons. Max has so much fun when he goes surfing!…he spends more time off the board than on, but if the best surfer is the one having the most fun then Max is the best by far!

Surf in Paradise!

All our surf instructors have the following minimum qualifications:

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Current Level One Surf Coaching Certificate
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Current First Aid Certificate
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Current Advanced Resuscitation Certificate
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Current Ocean Rescue Certificate
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Current Blue Card (working with kids)
Surf In Paradise is an ASI Accredited Surf School, fully insured and Gold Coast City Council approved.
Testimonials

An Unforgettable Experience

I took my class of international ESL students for a surf lesson with “Surf in Paradise”. These guys were great. The students were from various countries and most had never experienced a surf beach before, but the instructors made them feel comfortable and safe from the beginning, and they used clear English and lots of action and imagery to help the students understand the instructions. The lessons are step-by-step and very clear, but we felt like we made such quick progress in only 2 hours! The students were catching waves and most were standing up and riding by the end of the lesson, but they all said the thrill of the experience was the best part and they couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day! It was an unforgettable experience for them, and for me, in Australia.

– Jacqui White ,Language Instructor

Totally Hooked!

Hi Chris, Just wanted to send our thanks and appreciation to you for our daughter’s first lesson today. Isabella had an awesome time and hasn’t stopped smiling since she got home. We will definitely be back as she is totally hooked!

– Trevor

An Excellent Teacher

Hey Chris,
Just wanted to follow up and let you know what a great experience we had learning to surf with Neil this morning. He was an excellent teacher sharing his knowledge and tips with us, making us feel comfortable to try it all out in the water. I especially liked his pointers on how to improve little things about form and positioning…showed he really was watching and actually cared about making us better.
Great job Neil, you created an experience that has left us with a surf bug. We have already been discussing that our next vacation should be to a “surf camp”.
Thanks again for the great service from start to finish!

– Patty

A Great Place to Learn

My friends and I originally just intended on doing one lesson but we enjoyed it so much we kept coming back for another 5 lessons. By the end of our lessons Chris was taking us out the back, he showed us where to paddle out, what waves to catch and how to turn. It was a great place to learn how to surf. We felt safe having him with us and he would always give us good tips.

– Samuel Whitelock , TSS Teacher from England