Surf Country

Limited time to write my review, so I’ll update it later this week.
It’s right off Hwy 101 and there’s plenty of parking.
But in a few words; friendly, laid back, knowledgeable, informative and honest.
You can take your time and not feel pressured while you’re looking around.
The boards very from new to used and from 9’6 long boards to youth sized thrusters.
Highly recommend you drop by, especially if you’re in the UC Santa Barbara area.

How have I never reviewed Surf Country before? This is my favorite surf shop and here are the reasons:
1) The owner Doug is down to earth and really wants to get you what you need without up-​selling you. I’ve been in there and he’s talking to a mom who wants to buy a board for her son to learn on, and instead of unloading a $ 600 potato chip the kid is gonna struggle on, he’s steering her towards a cheaper learner board and lessons.
2) You will get a lot of tips in there. If you want a wetsuit they will let you try it on and help you get the right size. If you want to know where to surf to learn they will let you know where. If you need advice on ding repair, they will repair it for you or tell you how to do it yourself.
3) The surf lessons are the best I’ve seen. I see them out at Campus Point a lot doing surf lessons, and I have never seen Doug fail to get someone to stand up on a board. People ask me to teach them and I tell them, you can struggle with me for 2 – 3 sessions and maybe get up, or you can schedule one lesson with Doug and most certainly stand up. Case closed.
Anyway, a great shop with great lessons. The best from Goleta to Carpinteria.

I took lessons with Doug and it was a great experience. I had zero experience surfing and Doug had me riding waves within the first lesson. He is very knowledgeable and answered all our questions.

Awesome surf shop. The guys that work here were very upfront with what approach would work best for a cheap beater board I bought off craigslist. Helped me figure out the most cost efficient way to fix my board, as well as being upfront about recommending me to stay away from a particularly band delam, which saved me some money. No upselling here, just good business. Thanks guys.

Found this shop here on Unilocal!Awesome find… Went looking for a wetsuit for my 10 year old, walked in, asked, they had one, bought. I’ll return for any wetsuit needs in the future.

Personalized Great knowledgeable resource
Board ding or disaster repair is amazing and affordable

I hit a rock on my brand new board at Rincon and brought it to Surf Country for repair. It pushed the fin box into the board, cracked the glass job on the rail, and broke the tip off the center fin. Blake was working behind the desk and was very helpful with getting me set up for the repair. He explained that the fin didn’t need to be replaced, and showed me how to repair it with sun-​cure. The repair was less than I expected and looks amazing.
My go to surf shop from here on out.

On our first night in SB we asked the bartender at Longboard’s where we could get surf lessons for our 3 boys. He gave us Doug’s #. Within 24 hours of our phone call we had 3 boys suited up and learning the basics on the beach right near UCSB. Doug did a GREAT job assessing the boys’ skill levels for 13, 10 and 8. He took them all out and by the end of the lesson they all got up! Doug cheered just as much as we did. He had a great attitude and the boys really liked him. PS he had more energy than the kids getting them back into the water ASAP for the next round. It was great. Definitely look into Surf Country for lesson with a local surfer– the experience was fantastic.

Great place to catch some stoke, rather in the shapers bay doing first or fifth board or in shop for some local knowledge. its a genuine shop you can feel. I shaped my first board here and Doug was awesome, helping anyone who popped in while keeping me scraping away at my Sweeet mcfishy. .thnx again Doug

My son and I wanted to take surfing lessons and we got a whole lot more. Doug was terrific with both the 7 year old and the 41 year old. I would highly recommend him for anyone looking to get a taste of what surfing is all about.

When you walk in, you might be surrounded by the little surf-​rascal-​groms that work (hang out?) here after school. They’re really nice and helpful. This is a full-​service shop, well stocked with boards, accessories, and clothes.
When I took my board in here for repairs (big bad Baja rock, bad bad steering skills) the kid surprised me. He said «we could definitely fix it for you, but we have to charge a minimum of $ 30 and that’s not really a $ 30 job. You could probably do it at home for cheaper, and this would be a good project for you to learn on.» If only I could find a mechanic like this kid!