Here’s the truth about any surf trip: the waves matter, the location matters, but the people matter most. They’re the ones you trust with your holiday, your safety and your confidence in the water. So you deserve to know exactly who they are.
When we started Women & Waves, we hit a problem straight away. We wanted women coaching women, and we honestly couldn’t find a single female instructor. So our very first coach was… my husband. (He was brilliant. He was also very much not a woman.)
Today our team is 80% female. We still bring in a few great men when we need to, because our rule has never been about gender. It’s about hiring the best in the business and the right fit for you, every single time, not ticking a box.
Between Rob and me alone, that’s over 50 years of coaching, guiding, lifeguarding and getting tumbled about in the whitewater, and that’s before you add the rest of the crew. We’ve taught people who’d never touched a board, people who hadn’t exercised since school, and people who swore they’d “just watch from the beach” (they didn’t).
These are the people who make Women & Waves what it is. Every one of them has their own story, their own talents and a whole lot of salt water in their veins, and they’re all here for one reason: to make sure you’re in the best, safest and most fun hands possible. They’re your coach, your trip leader and, by the end of the week, your friend.
So, without further ado, meet the team. (Well, most of them. A few of the crew are too busy running and setting up trips to sit still for this one, so look out for them in a future post.)
The founders (and the one who makes it all happen)
Rachel Murphy, Founder and Director (hi, it’s me)
I was born and raised in North Cornwall and spent every minute I could on the beach. At 12 I did my work experience at a surf school, fell head over heels for the whole surf school vibe and knew this was the world I wanted to work in. I got into bodyboarding, met my Australian husband (also a mega keen bodyboarder and surfer), and we’ve been chasing waves around the world ever since. Fistral is my home break, and I’ll happily admit I’m a small wave surfer at heart: give me a fun, glassy little peeler over a heaving barrel any day.
At 16 I did my lifeguard course, then dropped out of college with no plan beyond living at the beach with my mates. (Rebellious stage? Absolutely.) I soon realised travelling needed money, so I trained as a watersports instructor and spent the next few years teaching windsurfing, sailing and stand up paddleboarding all over Cornwall, plus a season in France. But my heart was always in surfing, which is how I ended up knocking on Rob Barber’s door asking for an internship at what was then the coolest up-and-coming surf and bodyboard school around. Today it’s Newquay Activity Centre, our sister company. (Lightbulb moment? Yep, that’s why we work so closely together.)
From there I moved into surf travel, selling surf camps and surf retreats that ranged from shoestring to five star. That’s where I spotted the gap. None of them were built for women. They all offered the same boring beginner lessons, and quite frankly, most were places I wouldn’t have fancied staying myself. Around the same time, a gang of friends and I started meeting for a surf every Wednesday. That little midweek crew is where Women & Waves was really born.
Eighteen years in the surf industry later, my job is making sure every woman who books with us, whatever her age or ability, feels like she belongs in the water. Off duty, you’ll find me on the beach with my family, my toddler and Foamie the golden retriever, who is arguably the most popular member of the team.
What I do for you: I’m behind the emails, the social media, the design, the newsletters, the blogs (hello) and even the live chat on our website. Yes, I wear a lot of hats, but I love it. I work every day, here and there around my daughter’s childcare, so always expect a reply. I pride myself on never missing a message!
Rapid fire
- Worst wipeout in 18 years? France, about ten years ago. A heavy French beach break, the swell picked up out of nowhere and I couldn’t get back in. I took the smallest wave I could find and still went scorpion-legged, headfirst over the falls on my bodyboard, before the shore dump finally spat me out. I got in, had a little cry, then grabbed the camera and shot my husband instead.
- College dropout to company director: what would 16-year-old Rach say if she saw you now? Honestly? She’d need telling. Put the Bacardi Breezer down and get to work. If you work hard enough, you can figure anything out, but nothing lands in your lap without working your butt off.
- Hardest bit of running a surf business with a toddler in tow? There’s no downtime. When she sleeps, I work. When she’s awake, I’m trying to be present while work is always ticking away in my head. Finding the balance is the biggest struggle, but I’m figuring it out.
- What board are you riding at the moment? I’ve got a really fun 7ft mid length that I love, but nine times out of ten you’ll catch me grabbing my foamie. It’s the ultimate wave catcher, and when the lineup’s busy I’d rather just have fun.
- What are you most excited about for the future of Women & Waves? All of it! We’ve got a five-year plan, but it can always change and follow where our guests want to go. Right now I’m loving our partnerships with new wave pools and our surf social events. Bring on the movie nights and sunset surfs with the crew all summer long.
Rob Barber, Director
Rob is Newquay through and through. He started out on polystyrene boards on family beach days, then at 11 bought his first proper bodyboard from a kid at school. It had a chunk of rail missing where a dog had chewed it. Didn’t matter. He was hooked.
By 18 he was competing at the World Professional Bodyboarding Championships at Pipeline in Hawaii, finishing as the highest ranked European. Not bad for a lad on a dog bitten board.
He went on to become one of the first proper bodyboard instructors in the world, founding the longest running bodyboarding school in the world and teaching thousands of people to ride waves. He spent 13 years at ThreeSixty bodyboard magazine, working his way up to editor, also working on Surfgirl and Carve magazines as assistant editor. He wrote 5 books on the sport (The Bodyboard Manual, The Bodyboard Travel Guide and Born to Boogie), and set up a business just like Women and Waves, but for bodyboarders, it’s called Bodyboard Holidays (which is part of the same business group that we are in). They take riders to some of the best waves on the planet. Along the way he’s coached everyone from total first timers to the British surfing team at international competitions. He was the coach of the British team when they achieved their best ever result at the World Surfing Games in California. That’s more than 30 years of coaching, in case you’re counting.
In 2017 he teamed up with me to grow Women & Waves. He’d watched women’s surfing pick up serious momentum, launching the first ever womens surf weekends with Surfgirl Magazine and wanted to create an offering with female lead coaching, proper travel and a real community.
He’s not one for sitting still, either. On one five month stint on the road he ran eight surf camps and retreats across El Salvador, Costa Rica and Bali, coached 125 guests, clocked 244 hours in the ocean, found a scorpion in his bedroom and got his head tangled in a fishing line mid wave. Back home in Newquay, his days still revolve around the tides, and he’s increasingly sharing the lineup with his two surf mad kids, who are out there competing themselves.
What Rob does for you: he’s a vital part of everything behind the scenes. He never stops thinking up new ways for us to grow, not just as a business but as a team, so we keep getting better at what we do. With decades and decades of experience and three other businesses on the go (Newquay Activity Centre, Bodyboard Holidays and the Outdoor Instructor Academy), he’s the best one for the job. He pops up on a few of our trips, sometimes with his gorgeous surfy family in tow, and when he’s not on a Zoom call, you’ll find him pushing his kids into barrels or standing on the shoreline at their comps.
Rapid fire
- Most chaotic thing that’s ever gone wrong on a trip? I was on a Zoom call in El Salvador one time and there was an earthquake. That was pretty wild!
- Favourite wave you’ll never name in public? My fave spot in Sumatra is some where I would never name. I’m so smug that I flew there the day that the international travel bad was lifted at the end of the pandemic and scored the best waves i’ve ever seen with not a sole around.
- Best advice you’ve ever been given? Don’t judge a book by its cover. We get so many interesting guests on our trips and getting to know their story is always a high light of the job and often the very last thing you expect to hear after you first meeting.
- Best surf travel tip? Take close consideration of the surf forecast, tide and swell before booking online meetings. Nothing annoys me more than meetings clashing with good waves.
- Biggest lesson from running a business with Rachel? It’s an old one, but try to always employ people with skills in areas that you don’t have. Better still, people that are better than you. It makes your life so much easier.
Hatty, Head of Operations and Partnerships, Costa Rica Trip Leader
Head of Operations and Partnerships by day, trip leader by… also day, but in better weather. Hatty is the reason we get to work with some brilliant people and places, and you’ll find her leading our Costa Rica women’s surf camp, where she makes sure every woman feels safe in the waves.
What Hatty does for you: the moment you book a trip, your updates come from Hatty. She’s the biggest cog in our whole machine and organises all the logistics, from staff contracts to landing great partnerships with brands. On top of that she’s an amazing surf instructor, so she joins some of our coaching weekends and runs our Costa Rica and Nicaragua trips. Honestly, what an all-rounder.
Hatty has loved the water for as long as she can remember, and has always taken any excuse to get in the ocean. The catch? She spent two decades behind a desk in a city, where full immersion meant the local lido. Several years ago she swapped the desk for the ocean and a surfboard, and she hasn’t looked back. Proof that it’s never too late to change lanes.
Here’s the best bit: Hatty first found us as a guest on our Croyde surf weekend in 2024, then came away with us to Costa Rica and Bali. We loved her so much we couldn’t let her go back to normal life, so we offered her a job, and she trained up on our Intensive Surf Instructor Course (ISIC). One weekend away, and look what happened.
She’s now an ISA Level 1 surf coach and SLGB lifeguard, and has been coaching for over a year. As well as Costa Rica, she joins some of our Barbados surf camps (including 30 November to 7 December 2026), some of our UK surf weekends and sessions at The Wave in Bristol, and she’s coaching in Nicaragua too. She lives in Devon, and her home break is Saunton Sands.
Fun fact: if she ever went on Mastermind, her specialist subject would be sharks. Make of that what you will.
Rapid fire
- Worst part about working with Women & Waves? “My hair. The salt and the sun. But it’s worth it.”
- If you could only lead one trip for the rest of your life, which one? Costa Rica. “The people, the waves, the nature and just how good a cold beer tastes after a sunset surf!”
- Your favourite quote? “Just be happy.” The last thing she treasures from her darling dad.
- Favourite podcast or audiobook at the moment? “Always Desert Island Discs. All the lives lived and stories told through music.”
- Best part about working with Women & Waves? “Being in the water and meeting vivacious, courageous women in all corners of the world who love to surf.”
Your Surf Trip Leaders
These are the people who’ll be shouting “PADDLE!” at you in turquoise water. Lucky you.
Chelsea, Barbados and Costa Rica Trip Leader
Our Barbados lead, Chelsea started surfing at 10 after finding her dad’s fluorescent pink surfboard. (Iconic.) She was hooked, and by 12 she was representing Barbados at the ISA World Junior Surfing Games in Portugal. If you join her in Barbados, Costa Rica or Nicaragua expect warm water, long rides and a coach who has been surfing and competing for over 20 years.
Chelsea is an ISA Level 2 surf coach and ISA Level 1 judge, and she’s been coaching women for several years. In 2025 she was part of the very first ISA Women’s Regional Coaching Programme in Costa Rica. She leads our Barbados women’s surf camp and Costa Rica women’s surf camp, and has joined the team in Nicaragua too. Guests say she’s encouraging, patient and genuinely invested in helping them improve. She loves breaking things down, working out what you need next, and watching women catch waves they never thought they could. Want a taste before you book? Chelsea has made a series of coaching videos for our YouTube channel, and if Barbados is calling, our guide to surfing in Barbados will tip you over the edge.
She grew up surfing Barbados’ incredible waves. The internationally renowned reef break, ‘Soup Bowl’ is a special place for her, but Brandons is another local favourite. Out of the water, she’s a graphic designer and digital marketer at a Barbadian publishing company, and she plays the drums (learned at 12, a little rusty now).
Rapid fire
- What’s a moment on a trip that’s stuck with you, and why? A guest who kept falling trying to stand up for the first time and was starting to feel defeated. Chelsea went back and watched her surf videos over and over until she spotted one small mistake. Once they fixed it, she stood up on every wave. “Sometimes the smallest adjustment can make the biggest difference.”
- What’s the one thing you wish every woman knew before her first surf lesson? “You don’t have to be good at surfing to belong in the water! Everyone starts somewhere, and you’re allowed to fall, laugh at yourself and have fun while you learn.”
- When did you last feel properly out of your comfort zone, in or out of the sea? On the ISA programme in Costa Rica, when she was asked to coach men in competitive surfing for the first time. She was nervous. Every one of them made the final.
- What’s one piece of advice you’d give to another woman who wants to compete in surfing? “Back yourself, be patient with your progress and don’t wait until you feel ready to put yourself out there. And remember, you belong out there just as much as anyone else.”
Elana, Portugal, Secret Morocco and Cornwall Surf Camp Trip Leader
Elana had her first surf lesson on Fistral at 12 and was instantly hooked. Rather than book more lessons, her dad (who didn’t surf, believe it or not) bought her a bright yellow 7’6” gun at a car boot sale. Every Cornish holiday she’d paddle out on it alone and spend hours in the water, watching everyone else and not catching much. It turned out to be the best surf education going: it taught her to read waves.
Surfing wasn’t always the plan. Before the ocean took over, she was training for a life in theatre and even sang at the BBC Proms. Then Covid left her landlocked in Bristol, she started working at The Wave, and that kicked off her coaching career. Four or five years on, she’s an ISA Level 1 surf coach, an SLSGB lifeguard, a 200-hour trained yoga teacher and a Molchanovs Level 1 freediver.
These days she lives in Crantock, Cornwall. Before the move, her home breaks were St Agnes (“Aggy”) and Porthtowan. You’ll find her leading our Secret Morocco women’s surf camp, our Portugal women’s surf camp and our Cornwall Surf Camp for women. Ask her what guests say and she’ll laugh and say “funny and organised”. Her reviews say the same.
Rapid fire
- Best place to surf? Our Bali Island Retreat (Nusa Lembongan). “Multiple reef breaks, and you can freedive and surf in the same day!”
- Favourite surf movie? Blue Juice, “a Cornish cult classic!” And Blue Crush is obviously a no brainer.
- Surfing inspo? Leah Dawson. “Her style is elite and I dream to surf like her!”
- The one thing you always pack? Her Kindle. “I always used to end up carrying around 5 books in my bag when I travel, and the Kindle has been a game changer. I read so much more!”
- Proudest moment that has nothing to do with surfing? “Any time I manage to fix something wrong with my car without asking for help!”
Andrea, Portugal Trip Leader
Andrea Morgan is originally from Colombia, and ten years ago she and her husband made Lagos, Portugal their permanent home. Surfing first popped up on her travels, but it only really stuck once she settled in Lagos, and in the most Andrea way possible. She’s a seamstress, used to fixing things and making things with her hands, and she noticed how many wetsuits around Lagos needed repairing. So she started fixing them. Then came the obvious next thought: why not give surfing another go? She’s been in the water ever since.
She’s also mum to two little ones, aged six and four. After two pregnancies and a few years dedicated to raising them, she decided it was time to do something just for her. In September 2026 she travelled to Newquay to take our Intensive Surf Instructor Course (ISIC). Being away from her family made it tough, and it was the first thing she’d done purely for herself in years. It reminded her how important it is to keep growing, chase your dreams and make space for yourself. (Mums, take note.)
Since qualifying, she’s been helping out on our Portugal women’s surf camp, welcoming guests to her own hometown and sharing her favourite Algarve surf spots. For Andrea, surfing has taught her patience, perseverance and the importance of getting back out there and trying again. She hopes her kids grow up surrounded by boards and wetsuits and find their own love for the waves.
Rapid fire
- Intensive Surf Instructor Course (ISIC) in three words? “Soaked: in waves, experiences, information and knowledge. Transformative: I came out with more than just a qualification. Stoked: despite all the challenges, I did it!”
- What are you most excited about on our Portugal trip? “Meeting people from all over the world who share the same love and passion for the waves.”
- Your top Portugal tip: post surf snack? A chocolate bola de Berlim from the beach vendor. “Probably 10,000 calories, but hey, it all balances out after a surf!”
- On the fence about signing up for the ISIC or Portugal? “Sometimes you just have to take the leap! Come for the waves, meet new people, and leave with tons of knowledge and amazing memories.”
Lisa, Head Bodyboard Coach
Lisa started out surfing in her mid-teens, mostly trying to keep up with the boys. She kept dropping down to smaller and smaller boards and getting nowhere fast. Then one day, at her surf lifesaving club, she spotted a fibreglass bodyboard lying around, gave it a go and had the time of her life. Bodyboarding was just taking off, there were a handful of riders in her South Wales town, and that was that: a lifelong obsession was born.
She moved to Newquay at 21 and started coaching around 25 years ago, while also studying as a mature student to become a qualified teacher. That’s a quarter of a century of turning nervous beginners into wave-hungry chargers. You’ll usually find her at South Fistral, which her friends call “Lisa’s left”. (Yes, she has her own wave. No, you don’t get to name one until you’ve put in the hours.)
The best bit? Neither of her parents could swim when she was growing up, and she was a late starter herself. Now her whole life revolves around the ocean, and she’s a proud member of Crantock Surf Lifesaving Club’s seriously competitive Masters team. If you’ve ever thought you left it too late, Lisa is your proof that you haven’t. (Read more in her story of staying surf-fit over 40, strength and resilience.)
Lisa leads all our women’s bodyboarding coaching in the UK, including our Newquay bodyboard weekends, where the goal is simple: learn, build confidence and have a ridiculous amount of fun. New to it? Start with her beginner’s guide to bodyboarding for women. Further afield, she leads our Secret Morocco women’s bodyboard retreat and, this February, our first ever Nicaragua surf and bodyboard retreat for women. She’ll also be on the coaching team in Costa Rica and El Salvador this winter. Guests say she’s patient, encouraging and fun, which is exactly what you want from the person telling you to “go, GO, GO!”
Rapid fire
- Gnarliest wipeout of your competition days? Hossegor. Enough said.
- Best bodyboarding wave you’ve ever ridden? Secret Morocco!
- Post-session snack of champions? French toast!
- What would you tell yourself at 16 when you first picked up a bodyboard? “Never underestimate the adventures a short, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam will take you on!”
The unsung heroes behind the scenes
You might not meet these two in the lineup, but trust us, you’d notice if they weren’t here.
Nigel, Head of Health and Safety and Equipment Repair
Nigel (also Rob’s stepdad, so this really is a family affair) is an absolute legend, and without him all our jobs would be a lot harder. He keeps on top of every risk assessment, our global health and safety, and all our staff training logs, so you’re in the safest hands wherever you surf with us. And when a board gets dinged or a wetsuit gets ripped, it’s Nigel who makes sure it’s fixed and back in the water.
Matt, behind-the-scenes tech wizard
Without Matt, our website would fall over and the bills wouldn’t get paid. Any tech question, he’s on it: fixing GoPros, keeping the website running, and even making sense of a soggy, handwritten receipt sent over from Costa Rica. Matt makes it all work.
So where can you find us? Women’s surf camps and weekends for 2027
Pretty much everywhere there’s a wave worth sharing, from tropical surf retreats to cold, glorious British beach breaks:
- Costa Rica women’s surf camp, February 2027
- Bali surf camp for women, April 2027
- Portugal women’s surf camp, 1 to 8 May and 2 to 9 October 2027
- Secret Morocco women’s surf camp and bodyboard retreat, surf camps 29 May to 5 June and 11 to 18 September 2027, bodyboard retreat 17 to 24 June 2027
- Barbados women’s surf camp, 30 November to 7 December 2026, then 16 to 23 October and 29 November to 6 December 2027
- Nicaragua surf and bodyboard retreat, February 2027 and February 2028 (already filling up)
- Costa Rica & Nicaragua, for anyone who can’t choose and wants both
- Cornwall surf camp for women
- UK surf weekends in Newquay, Croyde and Wales
- Weekends at The Wave, May and July 2027, with new bodyboarding sessions
- ISIC, for anyone ready to turn this into a job
Curious about joining us? Pop along to a surf social and meet the team first. We’d love to meet you!
Whoever you end up with, you’re in good hands. Slightly sandy ones, but good.
Not ready for a whole trip yet? Book a private surf lesson in Newquay, or drop a very unsubtle hint with a Women & Waves gift voucher. Christmas is coming, after all.
Find your trip or browse every destination
And this is just part one. Next month we’re introducing the rest of our brilliant UK team, so keep an eye on your inbox.
