The first time I went surfing, while staying at the Marriott next to aulani, I booked Hawaiian fire and I cannot recommend them enough. They use a very quiet beach not far from the resorts in Ko Olina with gentle consistent wave breaks. A 2 hour lesson is by no means enough time to become an expert but it was definitely fun and everybody in the class stood up including my mother. As I am not good at reading Waze and definitely not OK to go out by myself I've booked lessons at other places (in Hawaii, CA, & Costa Rica) and have returned to Hawaiian fire as I have found that they are still best game in town. In my opinion, Waikiki is not good for beginners. The waves are crowded and with so many beginners there were a lot of people dumping their boards and crashing ito the others. Additionally I found the caliber of instructors to be the lowest here that I had encountered anywhere.