Learn to surf.Build community.Have fun.
We take nervous first-timers and turn them into confident surfers who can paddle out on their own, right here in New England, 30 minutes from Boston. Everyone belongs in the ocean.
It started with one wave.
Boston Surf Adventures was started in 2021 by Grant Gary, a public school teacher who spent years in the classroom before he started bringing surfing to his community on the weekends.
Grant didn't come to surfing for the mystique. He found it during a hard stretch of his life, looking for something that would make him face hard things instead of run from them. The ocean turned out to be exactly that.
Surfing was never an escape. It was a way to face things head on, and the ocean was the perfect place to do it.
What started as his own thing turned into the whole point: get surfing, and the community that comes with it, into the hands of more people around Boston. It's one of the only real adventure sports you can do every week without leaving the city, and Grant is convinced that nobody should be locked out of it.
These days we run weekend camps, summer kids camps, after-work sunset lessons, progression memberships, and trips down to Rincón, Puerto Rico. But the heart of it hasn't changed since that first wave: show up, paddle out, and find a little more of yourself out there.
Six reasons we're not your average surf school.
Run by a teacher
Grant taught in public schools for years before he ran a surf school. It shows in how we break things down, so it actually clicks.
ISA-certified coaching
Our coaching meets the standards set by the International Surfing Association. Not every school around here can say that.
Safety comes first
Every coach in the water is a certified lifeguard, our on-land staff is CPR certified, and everyone trains in rescue techniques before they ever coach you.
Closest surf to Boston
Nahant Beach is about 30 minutes from downtown. It's the easiest real surf to get to in the whole area.
A wave for everyone
Beginner or intermediate, six or sixty, nervous or not, we meet you exactly where you are. Everyone belongs in the ocean.
More than Nahant
From after-work sunset sessions to trips down to Rincón, Puerto Rico, there's always a next thing to point at.
Coaches who have your back.
Grant
A public school teacher who spent years in the classroom before starting BSA. He picked up surfing during a hard stretch of his life and found it was a way to face things head on. When he isn't in the water, he's usually up a mountain or chasing waves somewhere far from home.
Christine
A Boston Public Schools visual art teacher with a deep capacity for empathy and a real love of surfing. She coaches from the belief that everyone belongs in the ocean and every body can learn to ride waves.
Varun
An enthusiastic surfer and an ISA-certified adaptive surf instructor who sits on the advisory board at AmpSurf, a national nonprofit for adaptive surf and surf therapy. His focus is spreading the joy of surfing and keeping it open to everyone.
Swade
A data analyst working in healthcare and advocacy. Swade earned a B.S. in Public Health and a Master's in Population Health Epidemiology from Boston University, where they also rowed. Steady, supportive, and happy to get you on a wave.
Kate
Kate holds a few core beliefs about surfing: that catching a wave yourself is rivaled only by watching the joy of someone else catching one, that the thicker the wetsuit the longer the apres-surf nap, and that the best surfers are the ones having the most fun.
Miguel
Miguel hails from the warm Pacific waters of Ecuador. He has lived in the US for nine years and has learned to embrace the cold water of New England. He believes surfing is one of the most relaxing and fun sports a person can practice, and he loves nature, the ocean, and teaching all different kinds of people.
Erin
Erin has been surfing for over ten years, with all things water-related as her main passion in life. Out of the water she is a freelance journalist, recently writing a short piece for Surfline. She won the women's longboard category at the 2023 Irish Intervarsities Competition and rowed on the BU women's lightweight team for four years. She believes everyone deserves a place in the ocean.
Emma
Emma (she/her) is originally from the east coast of Florida and now lives and works in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Whether she is surfing her warm-weather home break or the winter waters of New England, being in the water reminds her to embrace fluidity, stay in her body, and make room for good old childlike play.
Andrew
Andrew is a college student at Colby College in Maine. He is incredibly passionate about surfing, skiing, his siblings, and his tennis-ball-fetching dog Jaxamo. When he is not out in the ocean weaving his way through New England barrels, you can find him shredding powder at a nearby mountain, driving a golf ball over 300 yards, or pile-driving his opponents into the rugby pitch.
Come find out
for yourself.
Your first wave is closer than you think. Book a lesson, join a camp, or just come say hi on the beach.
Book an adventure →