Instructors

Here is a short profile of our current team of instructors and many thanks to all instructors who have spent their time learning and working with us over the past sixteen years.

Gillian Isvan   ISA Level 1, BSA Level 2, RLSS Beach Lifeguard

I’m living proof of the expression “it’s never too late”...... I started surfing at 40 in Newquay in 2001, fell head over heels in love with it, which resulted in my life taking a totally unimagined turn. It led me to meeting Tim, the owner of Surf School Lanzarote, selling up in London and moving to Famara, surfing as much as I could, qualifying as a Beach Life Guard,   Level 1 then Level 2 British Surfing Association coach and finally a Level 1 International Surfing Association coach. None of this was planned....... if someone had told me when I was 39 that this was all going to happen, I would have laughed at them, but there you go!

Surfing is wonderful and teaching others to surf is great fun. Seeing the clients’ joy when they stand for the first time, or catch their first unbroken wave, or finally perform a maneuver that they just could not master, is so rewarding. Passing on knowledge that brings people such joy is a fantastic job. Using Tim’s teaching/coaching system (anyone who works for him has to learn it inside out), is such a great tool to have, as it breaks down the whole process into clearly defined building blocks of drills and know-how and makes it so much easier for us to teach and for our clients to learn.

On a personal note, I enjoy surfing a variety of boards, long boards, eggs, twin fins and surf beach, reef and point breaks, small and not so small waves. I also like making surfing videos (thanks to my MacBook Pro), doing surf analysis and taking photos.

I’m originally a Scottish lass from Gourock, but have lived abroad most of my life. I’ve always enjoyed running (not competitively but as way of enjoying the outside) and yoga. I’ve also skied for many years and use to water ski and windsurf many years ago. I have a teenage son.

Matt Dahlstrom   ISA Level 1, BSA Level 2, RLSS Beach Lifeguard

I´m from Sweden and since I was a child I´ve lived in close proximity to the ocean. Growing up, I started to enjoy the times when stormy weather would whip up waves to play in; first by swimming and then by bodyboarding, windsurfing and surfing. In 1999, I moved to live in Australia for four years and had the opportunity to surf on a very regular basis. After that, I lived for six years in Swansea, Wales, which also offered ample opportunities to surf regularly. Since December 2009, I have been living here in Lanzarote and enjoying its many amazing and consistent waves.

My qualifications for teaching and coaching surfing include being a BSA Level 2 and ISA Level 1 surf coach as well as a NARS beach lifeguard. I also have a Bachelor of Science in marine biology.
Places that I have surfed include: Australia, Canary Islands, England, Indonesia, Jamaica, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Wales.

I enjoy surfing a wide variety of different types of shortboards but I like surfing longboards just as much and do it just as often. My own boards that I currently surf are a 6´4 McCoy Nugget thruster, 5´8 Xanadu twin fin fish, and an old 6´0 single fin from the 1970´s. They are all amazing boards that cover a wide range of different conditions.

I love to teach and coach others to surf, as well as the many other things that come with it, such as the many aspects of surfboard design, predicting surf conditions, the history and evolution of surfing, etc. The best thing about surf coaching though is the reward of seeing the big smiles of people when we help them progress their surfing. The same big smile that we see on people on their first wave standing up recurs each time another progression is made; whether its catching their first unbroken wave, making their first turn, or cross-stepping a longboard for the first time.

James Sutton   ISA Level 1, BSA Level 2, RLSS Beach Lifeguard

I’ve always been messing around in the sea, but I discovered surfing when I was 16. Being from the East coast of N. Ireland, though I spent as much time surfing as I could, the swell was always short range wind swell and progression was slow. As soon as I discovered the waves of the North and West coast it was just a matter of finding someone willing to drive!

When I left school I was fully into surfing and that’s when I started a degree BSc Surf Science and Technology at Plymouth University. The degree itself was a culmination of all aspects of surfing, what I enjoyed the most however were the modules in oceanography and sports physiology and psychology.

Whilst studying I got into snowboarding and went on as many trips to the Alps as I could afford! I spent half a season in Queenstown NZ and completed my NZSIA Snowboard Stage 2 Instructor qualification. Instructing was something I found very rewarding. On completion of my degree I completed my BSA Level 1 Surf Instructor award and worked in Woolacombe North Devon for a season.

Ever since, I’ve been travelling, mainly working with my instructor qualifications. Since I started with Surf School Lanzarote I’ve trained to become a BSA Level 2 and an ISA level 1 Instructor.

I have a few boards at the moment; I wish I could list more. I mainly ride my 6’3’’ rounded pin short board, I’ve got a 7’0 for those slightly bigger days and a few unusual shapes for experimentation’s sake. I have a Bonzer 6’2’’ 5 fin which goes really well on clean point breaks and a 6’0’’ Egg which is a lot of fun on those average beach days.

I love the challenge and reward of surf instructing and who can complain when their office is a beach and their desk is a surfboard! I would recommend to anyone who hasn’t experienced surfing to give it a go. You may find yourself instantly becoming a wave addict!