The story goes that soon after relocating to California, the Duchess of Sussex gave her husband a special gift: surf lessons and some time at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch. Meghan’s gift turned into a genuine hobby for Prince Harry, and he still goes to the Surf Ranch regularly and he still gets guided lessons from surfer Raimana van Bastolaer. Harry has even taken Archie to get some lessons from Raimana too. Well, Raimana recently chatted with Surfer.com about his friendship with Harry and how he hopes the whole Sussex family comes to Tahiti.

What’s a member of the British Royal Family to do when they step away from their duties of standing and waiving, lavishness, and nationalistic adoration? For Prince Harry, since he backed off from his role as the Duke of Sussex, and married the American actress Meghan Markle, he picked up a few new hobbies. One of which being surfing. And he has a particular spot he frequently indulges in this obsession.

Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch, nestled about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is one of the world’s first and best manmade wave pools of the modern synthetic surfing boom. And it happens to be Prince Harry’s preferred spot of choice. He’s been witnessed riding artificial waves in the massive lagoon multiple times. And he has one of the best coaches in the game: Raimana van Bastolaer.

The Tahitian-born bodyboarder, big wave surfer, and now surf coach to the stars said: “I thought I had to say, ‘yes, sir.’ Or, ‘yeah, Prince.’ You know whatever. And, ‘sorry, Prince.’ All these things. But he was totally opposite of this. Easy-going, humble, really humble. Really humble guy. Really respectful guy. Really good listener. He’s up for anything.”

And after all those trips to the Surf Ranch, Raimana added:

“We became really close. We became friends. And I cannot wait for him to come to Tahiti.”

It appears that the surfing fascination is something solely for Harry – meaning, Meghan doesn’t join him on his trips to the Surf Ranch. He’s also not very vocal about his surfing obsession, keeping it somewhat under wraps, with the clips coming from Raimana. As for Meghan, Raimana is hopeful she gets hooked, too:

“Meghan never came. And I’m looking forward to her to come. Or I’m looking for Meghan to come to Tahiti. Once she rides the wave, she might have to come more often. She’ll be all over it. If you see this, look at this. [Turns his camera out his window.]”

Over the years, Harry has dropped a lot of money on Surf Ranch sessions (rumored to be $50,000 a pop). But hey, it’s paid off. He’s the only Royal ever to get legitimately barreled.

[From Surfer.com]

I think I’ve said this before, but it feels like Harry is such a natural athlete, he could probably pick up any sport and excel at it very quickly. If Meghan had given him a tennis racquet, he would have figured that out in a year. If she had given him golf clubs, he would be a regular on the links. And it’s funny that Meghan isn’t like that at all – while she’s into fitness and she does yoga, she’s NOT sporty. So no, Raimana is not going to get Meghan on a surf board in Tahiti. If Meghan goes to Tahiti – and I hope the family goes!! – she’s going to be drinking pina coladas by the pool.

Meghan’s man, aka Prince Harry, is full of surprises!

He’s an honorary Californian now 🏄‍♂️🌴🌊 pic.twitter.com/hukP2j1B5P

— Julieth ❀ (@troubleshade) October 17, 2024

I LOVE THIS!🎉🏄‍♂️

Prince Harry’s been out surfing again at Raimana World.🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/D2M0QAmPFJ

— Senior Lieutenant Zandi Sussex (@ZandiSussex) January 31, 2026

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