Sustainability. Responsibility. Community.
You’ve seen these words everywhere and, let’s be honest, they’ve lost a lot of their sharpness. When every brand claims to be “eco” or “responsible”, the words start to blur into background noise.
We feel that too.
So instead of polishing marketing lines, we’d rather explain what we do, why we do it and how we’re trying to put communities and the planet before profit.
Because for us, the ocean isn’t a backdrop. It’s home. And the people who welcome us into their waves, culture and local rhythms are the ones who turn a surf trip into something meaningful.
They’re the reason we feel responsible for doing things the right way, not the convenient way.
Why this matters to us
Surfing teaches you to pay attention. To wind shifts, tides, rocky bottoms and small moments you’d miss if you weren’t tuned in.
Spend enough time in the water and you start to see the bigger picture. You start to understand how fragile these places are and how lucky we are to experience them. That’s why this matters to us:
- Because surf travel has an impact. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone. We want to acknowledge it and act on it
- Because we depend on local communities. They’re not optional. They’re the reason our trips even work
- Because we want our guests to experience real growth. Not just a change of scenery
- Because we’re guests, not owners, in the places we visit. Respect isn’t optional
- Because the ocean gives endlessly. And giving something real back feels like the least we can do
Two paths, one Intention: Our dual approach to sustainability
We see sustainability as two parallel commitments that guide how we run our trips and how we show up in every destination.
1. Social sustainability
Surf travel can create imbalances.
When most guests arrive from high-earning countries, the economic gap becomes obvious. Without intention, that gap can shape the entire experience.
So our approach is simple: we collaborate rather than impose. We work with:
- Local surf schools
- Local guides
- Local businesses
- Nonprofits that protect or uplift the communities we’re visiting
We don’t buy land, build compounds or try to recreate our own version of a surf retreat. We don’t replace local jobs with imported staff. We don’t try to “fix” a culture that works just fine without our intervention.
Instead, we trust the people who know the reefs, winds and rhythms better than any outsider ever could.
And we give back. Not with photo-op donations, but through long-term partnerships. Through 1% for the Planet, part of every trip goes directly to organizations doing real environmental and community work, including:
- Surf Cura: Community-driven ocean stewardship and therapy in Portugal
- AIMM Portugal: Marine research, conservation and education (we also hosted a guest workshop with them in the Algarve last year)
- 1% for the Planet’s global network
- Provide The Slide: We also collaborate with running board and gear drives and bring requested materials to local communities during our annual Ghana trip
2. Environmental sustainability
We’ll never pretend surf travel has zero environmental footprint.
We travel. We fly. We move around. But we can choose how we operate once we land. We try to:
- Keep our footprint small
- Choose accommodations and partners that genuinely align with our values
- Reduce waste wherever possible
- Travel with intention, curiosity, and humility
- Support ocean-focused nonprofits that are doing the work full-time
Ultimately, if we can leave a place better than we found it, we’re doing our job.
Community involvement
A few things define how we operate:
- Local first. Always. No encroaching on their livelihoods or sharing secret spots
- Respect for cultural uniqueness. We don’t push for change just because something feels unfamiliar
- Shared benefit. Trips should uplift the people who host us
- Long-term relationships. We return to the same places, we stay in touch, we listen more than we talk
- Curiosity over comfort. We travel to learn, not to recreate home
FAQ: What our guests sometimes ask us
Q. Do you offset flights or require carbon credits?
We don’t require anything from guests, but we encourage thoughtful travel choices. We focus our efforts on long-term local partnerships rather than quick, one-off offsets that can be difficult to measure.
Q. How do you choose nonprofits to support?
Through 1% for the Planet, we select organizations that work directly with the ocean or local communities we have a connection to. We prefer groups doing hands-on, local, measurable work.
Q. Do your trips cost more because of your sustainability efforts?
Not in a way that’s passed directly to guests. Ethical choices sometimes come with higher costs, but we absorb what we can. We’d rather earn a little less and operate in a way we’re proud of.
Q. Can guests get involved while traveling?
Absolutely. Workshops, local collaborations, gear donations, community surf days and ocean education sessions are often part of our trips. Participation is optional but always welcome.
Final thoughts
We won’t say we’ve solved the impact of surf travel. We haven’t. And we won’t pretend that donating to nonprofits or choosing eco-minded partners erases every footprint.
But small, steady choices add up. And we believe honesty matters more than perfect optics.
So we’ll keep showing our work, keep questioning our habits, and keep making decisions that support the communities and coastlines that make surf travel worth it at all.
