ISA Level 2 Surf Instructor Course in Pembrokeshire

Video work, water drills and assessment fill two days, usually 9.30am to 5pm, with breaks. Classroom blocks at Gupton Farm sit next to water work on the nearest working surf beach. Most of the second day is assessment, video work and a recap of the lesson plan.

Day one starts 15 minutes before registration. The beach is confirmed the evening before if you are not starting at the farm.

Sixteen. You should already hold a current ISA Level 1 award and have held it for at least 12 months. You also need a valid beach lifeguard award and about five years of your own surfing.

Under 18s can hold the award but must work under an instructor who is 18 or over until they turn 18. You need to be swim fit and happy coaching in the water, not only on the sand.

Day one usually starts at Gupton Farm, Castlemartin, SA71 5HW. Turn right off the main road, follow the drive, then park by the wood-clad containers and the farmhouse-style building on the left. Toilets are in the building.

Water sessions use Freshwater West or Manorbier when those beaches are working. The pin comes the evening before if day two starts on the sand rather than at the farm.

Training with an ISA presenter, use of a board and wetsuit if you need them, and tea, coffee and a kettle on site. Manuals come by email before you arrive.

Accommodation, meals and ISA membership after the course sit outside the fee. Ten supervised coaching hours sit after the two days before the certificate is fully valid.

Yes. You need a current ISA Level 1 held for at least 12 months, a valid beach lifeguard award, and about five years of your own surfing. The two days are about how you coach progressing surfers, not a first pop-up for you.

You should already show left and right turns, sit in a line-up and understand priority. If your own surfing is rusty, say so before you arrive.

A current beach lifeguard award sits with this course. Ten supervised coaching hours also sit after the two days before the certificate is fully valid.

Once those hours are logged, the paperwork goes to the ISA so they can issue the award. The two days themselves are the live training and assessment.

Ordinary rain does not cancel Level 2. The water block moves, or a classroom session swaps in, when swell or wind makes the planned beach unsafe.

Messages the evening before carry the next pin. The course stays on this coast, just not always on the same stretch if a beach is closed or flat.

A pen and paper, swimwear, a towel, a warm dry layer, sunscreen, a packed lunch and a refillable bottle. Your own wetsuit and board are fine. We still have kit if you need it.

There are no changing rooms on the beaches, so a towel robe helps. Send your wetsuit size before you arrive so a suit is ready.

Pack a lunch. A kettle and a microwave are in the farm building, with tea, coffee and water. The nearest small shop is about a 15 minute drive.

Stay on site for lunch if the afternoon starts on the beach. Eating quickly and staying with the group beats losing an hour driving to town.

Video analysis, fitness and nutrition for surfers, skill drills, group workshops, programme planning and fault correction. You also cover health, safety and how a higher-level lesson is risk-assessed.

There are practical surf sessions, evaluations and a short presentation. Trainers stay with you on the sand and in the sea for the coaching blocks.