Stand Up Paddle Tuition & Hire

Beginner Course - Ready to Ride - Adults £45, Children £30

The British Stand Up Paddleboarding Association (BSUPA) is our sport's recently established governing body. Despite many of our instructors having transferable qualifications in other extreme sports such as windsurfing, kayaking and surfing we've made it our policy that all lead instructors must have BSUPA qualifications in place for 2011.

'Ready to Ride' is a half day course which provides newbees with an excellent insight into paddleboarding on flat(ish) water. We'll be conducting courses most weekends throughout the season at Tynemouth as well as flat water locations in Teesside, Durham and Newcastle. The course has been designed to cover everything from prone paddling to more advanced turning techniques alongside essential safety and weather information. We operate a 1:6 client to instructor ratio for safety reasons although this also means that everyone in the group gets a decent amount of 1-2-1 coaching..

All equipment is provided so all you need to bring is a swimming costume, a towel and a bag for your belongings

Availability is limited to 12 clients per course so pre-booking is essential.

Children must be at least 12yrs old unless accompanied by a parent/guardian and be able to swim a minimum of 50m.

Once you've completed this course you'll be able to hire equipment on an unsupervised basis within a flat water context. If you'd like to move onto paddle surfing we recommend a specialist 1-2-1 lesson with Joe, Nick or Ian.

Taster Sessions £35 Adult / £25 Student or Child

These sessions are designed for groups/beginners and take place primarily at Tynemouth at the weekends (March-Oct). In the event of unsuitable conditions at the coast we normally migrate to one of our local flat water locations or The River Wear at Durham. We provide some short land-based demos, showing you how to prone paddle on your tummy, moving on to paddling knelt down before progressing to standing up and basic turning techniques. After your safety briefing it's out on the water for the majority of the session with one of our BSUPA qualified instructors supervising the session and offering tips on an ad hoc basis. We'll either guide you along the coast taking in the scenery and wildlife or give you your first taste of paddle surfing in some gentle waves. We provide boards, paddles, suits and buoyancy aids so all you need is a bathing costume, a towel & a bag for your clothes. We recommend clients call the day before to assess the prevailing conditions.

Availability is limited so pre-booking is essential*

Children must be 12yrs+ and be signed off by a parent (at the coast), must be able to swim a minimum of 50m and have sufficient water confidence to take part in the activity.

*Groups of 10+ should get in contact prior to booking. We can accommodate stag and hen parties of up to 15 people. For larger groups we can mix and match with surfboard hire from our friends at Tynemouth Surf Co / Hurley so that everyone can get on the water.

Private Lessons

If you're serious about getting into SUP and looking to advance quickly this is the best route as you get 1-2-1 tuition with one of the UK's best BSUPA paddle boarding instructors. You'll be stood up and catching your first waves in no time. We recommend at least 4hrs for most people although some with surfing/other watersports experience may progress more quickly. All equipment is provided so all you need to bring is a swimming costume and a towel.

£45/hr

£75/2hrs (2-2-1 also available at £100/2hrs ideal for couples / parent & child)

Board & Paddle Hire - 1hr £15, 2hr £25, full day £50, Friday to Monday Weekend £120

To hire a school board and paddle on an unsupervised basis you must be able to evidence that you're not completely clueless.We'll take your non refundable £15/25 and assess whether you can indeed do it to our satisfaction which means stand up, do a basic turn and demonstrate control over your board. If not then we'll keep your money but as we're reasonable people we'll let you put this towards a bolt on mini private lesson with one of our instructors (additional £10/15 respectively).

If you're wanting to hire a board on a longer term basis i.e. intending to take it away, we'll require photo ID with proof of address.We'll also take a £100 deposit which will be refundable on return of the board in the same condition it left us in.

We also have a selection of demo boards available to hire for those looking to make that first important purchase although these are priced at £35/2hrs. In the event you go on to purchase your board from us we'll discount the board by £35.

*Basic hire must be booked in advance and take place outside of taster session, ready to ride and paddle fit times, unless surplus equipment is available.

For more info call Joe on 07779 127230.