Do you love surfing so much that you’re wondering how to pay your way and still surf every day?
From surf coaches chasing waves around the world and board shapers trailblazing female-first designs, to photographers shooting from the lineup and digital nomads running businesses on laptops by the beach – women are building an extraordinary range of careers around the ocean.
Let’s be honest. Most of us are never going to get flown around the world to compete, have a surf brand named after us, or even get to caddy boards for the pros. But that’s fine – because the surf world is far bigger than just the podium. Even for the average surfer, carving a lifestyle and career around the sea doesn’t have to be a pipe dream.
When I quit the city for the sea over twenty years ago, I thought my options were lifeguarding or waiting tables. I had no idea I’d end up raising a family by writing about surfing and coastal life. At the time my employer described my move as “career suicide”. Now? It’s still one of the best life decisions I ever made.
Remote working, portfolio careers, the creator economy, the wellness boom – the tides have shifted. The question is no longer can you build a life around the ocean. It’s how.
To help answer that, I chatted to some inspirational women who are already doing it. What I found were wildly different paths, all shaped by the same force: a love of the sea deep enough to build something real around it.
Resin Artist Zee Let the Sea Take the Lead
Take resin artist Zee van Gils, whose artwork can be found on Coco Ho’s surfboards. Not bad for a girl who fell in love with surfing and resin art in Lombok, when she was working alongside some of the first board shapers in a small fishing village. It was here, living in a jungle shack, that Zee experimented with bringing the colour and texture of the ocean into her art – and stumbled into her life’s work.
“The shapers taught me glassing techniques and how to work with resin. During the glassing process, the excess resin would drip and pool on the floor, creating all these intricate organic textures and patterns. My eyes are naturally drawn to patterns and colours, and I instantly recognised my natural surroundings within these resin puddles. I had a ‘knowing’ inside of me that this was something I just had to explore further,” says Zee.
“I had a ‘knowing’ inside of me that this was something I just had to explore further.”
The shapers gave Zee free rein to take orders for surfboard art, which led her to the idea of making abstract artworks on wooden panels. “There were no art supplies on the island and I needed a special type of resin which had to be imported from Jakarta, Bali and Australia. It took nine months to have materials delivered – much of the resin had been drained by Customs, and the wooden panels started to warp within days due to the humidity levels. I also nearly set our shack on fire while blowtorching the resin!”
Patience, curiosity, and a compulsion to create eventually paid off – and now Zee’s work can be found in over twenty countries worldwide. Seeing her art move through the water on Coco Ho’s surfboards is one of her biggest collaborations and shows just how far a passion can travel. “Now, doing this full time since 2018, I often look back at the early days, the blissful naivety and struggles, and it makes me smile and feel incredibly thankful for the whole journey.”
Start Your Surfing Journey with us in Indo
How Far Will Your Passion Travel?
A love of travel is what sparks many surfing careers – but not many take you as far as being a stunt double for a Marvel superhero. Swapping Cape Town for the Canary Islands for “one season as a surf coach”, Tee McGuinness has never looked back.
Surf and fitness coach, and presenter for brands and endurance events, Tee recently landed the role of stunt double and trainer for Julia Garner, who plays the Silver Surfer in the Fantastic Four. “Even now, it doesn’t quite feel real saying that out loud,” she admits. “It embodied so much of what I love – physical challenge, creativity, and pushing beyond what you think you’re capable of.”
“Follow what you love and be brave enough to build around it.”
What makes Tee’s story so compelling isn’t just what she’s achieved, but how she got there by following her love of surfing and movement. She recalls her very first surf lesson, shadowing an instructor, paralysed with shyness. How starting her own surf school felt like a huge leap. Then presenting on camera felt even bigger. “If I’d waited until I felt completely confident before saying yes to opportunities, I would have missed most of them,” she says.
“Follow what you love and be brave enough to build around it,” has been the motto of Tee’s life decisions. “Most of the time, what’s holding someone back isn’t a lack of ability. It’s the story they’re telling themselves about their ability. And once that story starts to shift, everything changes.”
Her advice for women who want to find their own path: “Focus on your craft, your character and your contribution. If you stay grounded in that, you won’t just build a career around surfing – you’ll build a life that feels aligned.”
Switch Up Your Plans to Surf in Portugal
You Don’t Have to Choose Between a Career and Surfing
You don’t have to aspire to a full-time surf career to work in surfing. Just ask Women + Waves surf coach Chelsea Roett – who combines coaching on our retreats with a full-time career as graphic designer and digital marketer in Barbados.
A competitive surfer who grew up in Barbados, natural mentor on the competition scene and Montessori teacher for ten years, coaching came naturally to Chelsea. “Being able to combine my background in teaching and my lifelong relationship with surfing felt like a natural alignment,” she says.
“Surfing pushed me out of my shell in ways I could never have imagined… I sometimes pinch myself and wonder what that timid child would think of me today.”
What stands out about Chelsea’s coaching is how deeply personal her motivation is. Growing up, she didn’t have a single female coach. “I never saw myself reflected in leadership within the sport. Coaching women feels meaningful because I get to be that representation.”
For Chelsea, both surfing and coaching have been transformative far beyond the sport itself. “Surfing pushed me out of my shell in ways I could never have imagined. Looking back at my journey, I sometimes pinch myself and wonder what that timid child would think of me today.”
Join Chelsea on Our Barbados Surf Camp
Could This Be You?
Three women. Three different paths. One common thread – they followed what they loved. Whether you’re dreaming of teaching on a beach in the Canary Islands, thinking of taking up a more creative career, or simply wondering if there’s a way to weave the ocean more deeply into your working life – these women are proof that you can do it.
Become a Surf Instructor with Women & Waves
Find out more about our instructor training programmes and take the first step toward a life shaped by the sea.
10 Jobs That Let You Surf Every Day
A surf-friendly career doesn’t have to mean coaching or competing – the trick is finding work that puts you near the ocean and gives you the flexibility to use it.
- Surf instructor – Teach what you love, work where you live, and share the stoke with others. Sign up for an instructor training course with Women + Waves.
- Surf photographer or videographer – Shoot from the shore or the lineup. Start by offering your services to a local surf school and see where it takes you.
- Surf journalist or content creator – The surf industry needs women who can write, film and create content. Build an audience around what you love.
- Board shaper or ding repair technician – More women are taking up board shaping, designing female-first surfboards, setting their own hours, and working to the tides.
- Carpenter or joiner – Practical, flexible and increasingly female. Six-time Scottish surf champion Phoebe Strachan charges Scotland’s slabs between jobs as a joiner. Enough said.
- Yoga, Pilates or fitness instructor – Surf-specific yoga and fitness is a growing market. Combine both qualifications and you’re immediately more employable at any surf resort or retreat.
- Massage therapist or sports physio – Surfers need their bodies looked after. Most surf camps and retreats employ their own therapist, and the hours leave plenty of time in the water.
- Surf artist or illustrator – Art has a huge influence on surf culture. It’s not the easiest route in, but as Zee van Gils proves, it can pay off if you’ve got passion and talent.
- Hospitality at a surf resort or camp – Front desk, café, retreat coordination, working within a surf environment means flexing your hours around the waves.
- Digital nomad – The game-changer. If your work can be done remotely, it can be done from anywhere with WiFi and waves. Marketing, writing, design, development, take your skill set to the coast and don’t look back.
Become a Surf Instructor with Women + Waves
Find out how Erin went from waitress to watersports instructor on our coaching course in Newquay.
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