Surfpop Foundation

I participated in Surfpop in 2016/2017 as a volunteer for 4 month and enjoyed every bid of it. From the initial booking up to my departure everything went smoothly but the Surfpop team also provided me with flexibility and involvement in the scheduling of activities/surfing. The day-to-day was packed with activities, either surf lessons/tours or various excursion around cape town in the morning and surfing or school work with the kids in the afternoon - however, enough freetime to explore local restaurants/foodmarkets/bars or spend time with your fellow volunteers. SurfPop provided me with the framework for a life in Cape Town, providing accommodation, food and connection to local communities and friends, while I had enough freetime to spend on my own interest and explore possibilities of how a life could look like in Cape Town. Surfpop is a very social environment including your fellow volunteers, as well as the accommodation situation with locals involving you in their day-to-day and happy to show you around Muizenberg or take you for a surf on the other side of the cape. Due to my experience in 2016/2017 and staying in contact with the programme I decided to spend some time in cape town again and visit SurfPop. Since i left in 2017 a lot has happened. The programme developed from basically a one man show to considerably sized organization with a big impact to the local communities. I was happy to see a few kids I taught surfing were still in the participating in the programme while the Highschool graduates were provided with the opportunity to pursue their studies afterwards or even started to work for the programme full time.

To be honest, it was one of the best decisions I made to fly all the way to Cape Town and join the Surfpop Family. In those 7 weeks I met the nicest people and made memories I’ll never forget. To have the opportunity to work with the kids, was a blessing. Surfpop has the perfect mixture of spending time with the kids in the water and in the classroom as well as exploring the city and improving your Surf skills. I woke up every morning with a big smile on my face, because the next day full of adventure has started.

In 2016, I took part in the Surfpop program as a volunteer. It was really amazing in every way! By participating in the program, I felt I was really making a difference because i could see that the kids at surfpop were so happy, proud and grateful that they where able to surf and learn new things in a safe environment. It was so nice to see those smiles on their faces every day! Also Daniel and his team made sure we felt right at home and had the best time as volunteers. We learned to surf, got to know the culture and the beautiful nature of South Africa during the most wonderful tours. It was an experience I will never forget.