Business Spotlight: Surfing always in season at La Jolla’s Surf Diva, Inc.

• BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:

With every day a surfing day in La Jolla (where water temps remain surf-perfect year round), there’s no place better to suit up, take lessons and improve your techniques than Surf Diva, Inc. on Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla Shores.

When co-owner sisters, Izzy and Coco Tihanyi, opened Surf Diva, Inc. in 1996, it was the first women’s surf school in the world. Now it’s one of the best. “All of our classes are co-ed — from adults down to 5-year-old children, and our professional-level surfing instructors teach everything from year-round kids’ surf camps to new and experienced surfers who come here to improve their techniques,” Izzy said. “We also offer private lessons, corporate team events and paddle boarding.”

Surf Diva’s instructors work with small groups of students in the water. With young surfers, they average 3-4 kids per coach; with teens it’s 4-5 students per coach, and with private lesson coaches it’s one-on-one or two-on-one students per coach. None of the coaches teach more than five students at a time.

Private-lesson students can take up to five lessons from coaches who will work around their schedule. Surf Diva’s 50 instructors (depending on the time of year) come from the best instructors in Southern California. “Our coaches are our best advertisements, especially when other surfers see how much they’ve improved,” Izzy said. “Our instructors come from the managers of other schools. They are lifelong pro-quality instructors who teach all levels of surfers here, including surfers wanting to fine-tune their abilities, including better wave handling, timing and long boarding.”

Students also learn better positioning on their boards, how to glide into a wave, hang 10 and walk to the nose.

Surf Diva’s Boutique, which sells swimsuits, cover-ups and more, was voted No. 1 women’s surf retailer in 2014. It continues to thrive in its recently remodeled shop with an excellent selection of high-end merchandise, including surfboards, boogie boards and paddle board rentals.

“We’re now offering a happy hour special we call Dawn Patrol for surfers who want to surf later in the evening and early in the morning,” Izzy said. “Customers can pick up their gear an hour before we close (8:30 p.m.) and surf as late as they want before returning their gear an hour before we open the next morning at 8:30 a.m. Sunset to sunrise is the best time to surf.”

Customers can rent a foam board or an epoxy board for $25, a wet suit for $15, and a paddleboard for $40 overnight.

• Surf Diva, Inc., 2160 Avenida de la Playa is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for surf lessons; Surf Diva Boutique hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (858) 454-8273. surfdiva.com

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