Held annually on the third Saturday of June, International Surfing Day (ISD) is more than just a celebration of catching waves—it’s a global salute to the ocean and a call to protect the waters that bring so much joy to so many. After all, we can’t enjoy the waves if we don’t protect the habitat that creates them.
This year, as we mark 20 years of ISD on 21st June 2025, we are shining a light on the women of the surf world—those who know firsthand the highs and lows of catching waves. In celebration of the vibrant female surf community, we’ve spoken to some epic women who share how surfing and the ocean have shaped their journeys, offering strength, freedom and joy.
Pauline Menczer
This trailblazing Australian surfer from Bondi Beach claimed the Women’s World Championship in 1993, becoming the only Bondi local ever to win that title. Born in 1970, Pauline started surfing at 12 and rose through the amateur ranks to dominate the professional tour—earning 20 WCT and 8 WQS wins over two decades.
Despite enduring early‑onset rheumatoid arthritis and facing rampant sexism, homophobia and financial inequality (she famously received no prize money for her world title win) her grit and resilience made her an icon. Today, Pauline is celebrated not only for her athletic achievements but also as a powerful advocate for women, LGBTQ+ representation, athletes with disabilities and equal recognition in surfing.
What does surfing mean to you?
Surfing is life! It’s joy, it’s calming, it’s community, and incredible for mental health. Without surfing life is boring.
How has surfing impacted your life?
It’s given me a long career, kept me healthy and able bodied. With rheumatoid arthritis, they say you have to keep moving.
What keeps you coming back to the waves?
Good surf lol. The energy that you feel from sitting out in the lineup surrounded by the nature and the raw power of the ocean
What’s your game-changing surf advice?
Use your upper body rotation more than you would ever think and bend your knees more.
@naughty_pauls
Emily Currie
Emily Currie is a professional longboarder, a European and National Champion and represents the UK at the ISA World Longboard Championships. While longboarding is her main passion, she enjoys all types of wave-riding competing in the shortboard sections as well. Watch out for Emily competing at Boardmasters in August.
What does surfing mean to you?
Surfing means a lot to me, it’s my favourite hobby, a passion, and even my profession. It has shaped how I live, how I spend my time, and has been a huge way I connect with the world around me.
How has surfing impacted your life?
Surfing has had a profound and positive impact on my life. It’s opened doors to incredible travel opportunities, introduced me to diverse cultures, and taken me to places I never would have discovered otherwise. Travel is something I deeply value, and surfing has made it a central part of my life.
What keeps you coming back to the waves?
Two main things bring me back time and time again: the feeling of absolute freedom, and the endless room for growth. Nothing else makes me feel as alive and free as surfing does. And because you can never truly “complete” surfing, there’s always more to learn and ways to improve, therefore it stays exciting, challenging, and is deeply fulfilling.
What’s your game-changing surf advice?
Expand your quiver and experiment with different types of boards. Riding a variety of surf craft keeps things fresh, fun, and humbling haha. There is something so special about the learning process, each different type of board teaches you something different, it’s a great way to stay curious. And for me something that’s really important, it reminds you not to take it too seriously – surfing should always be fun!
Malia Kaleopaa
Based on Oʻahu’s legendary South Shore, Malia is a prominent Hawaiian surfer, mentor and part of the iconic Waikīkī longboarding community alongside her daughter Kelis. Raised in the heart of surf culture, Malia began competing at age five and now actively coaches the next generation.
Deeply rooted in Waikīkī’s Ohana ethos, she emphasises respect for their homebreak and helps foster a supportive surf community for women and youth—standing not just on waves, but as a cultural ambassador of Hawaiian heritage.
What does surfing mean to you?
Surfing is my outlet, me time, a way to relax and recoupe.
How has surfing impacted your life?
I owe my life to surfing, met my husband in the water, raised my kids in the waves!!
What keeps you coming back to the waves?
I think its the simpleness of the ocean, theres nothing judgement, just pure enjoyment.
What’s your game-changing surf advice?
Just keep trying, push yourself and don’t be afraid to fall!
@maliakaleopaa
Ikit Agudo
Ikit Agudo is a celebrated longboard surfer and mentor from Siargao, Philippines. Introduced to the ocean by her older brother at age 14, Ikit has become not just a top competitive athlete—earning podium finishes at events like the SEA Games and World Surf League contests—but also a prominent advocate for female representation in a traditionally male-dominated sport in Philippines.
Beyond competition, she shares her expertise internationally through longboard camps, passionately teaches surf lessons on her home waves and is a community leader, spearheading Typhoon Odette relief efforts and rebuilding over a hundred homes on Siargao.
What does surfing mean to you?
For me, Surfing is a sense of freedom, an escape and belongingness.
How has surfing impacted your life?
It completely changed my life and how I look at life. It showed me how to live a happier and healthier life.
What keeps you coming back to the waves?
It’s the feeling- an unexplainable happiness. Nothing beats the feeling of riding a wave and the relaxing touch of the ocean as you wait for the next wave.
What’s your game-changing surf advice?
Have patience, be respectful in and out of the water and have fun.
@ikit_agudo
Hayley Lawrence
Hayley has been the SurfGirl sub editor for over a decade, during which time she’s worked in an array of surf-related spaces as a content writer, surf coach and business founder at @_wavesandwords. An avid surfer, she’s been inspiring us with her features about surf trips around the globe, waxing lyrical about the benefits of surfing and blue health, working with the Wave Project, launching a family surf travel website, and bringing up a trio of surf groms in her wake.
What does surfing mean to you?
Space, energy and freedom. It’s where I escape from everything and find myself.
How has surfing impacted your life?
It showed me how to face my fears and turn my vulnerabilities into strengths. It’s also the superpower behind my family life, words, and work.
What keeps you coming back to the waves?
Addiction. Elation. And hunger for that perfect wave. Love of the ocean and its ability to totally humble me, while searching for those glimpses of utter, unbounded joy. It’s like nothing else in life.
What’s your game-changing surf advice?
Embrace unpredictability. Don’t take yourself seriously. Find the joy in every wave and every session. Even if it’s just the belly ride in when you’ve taken a beating.
@_wavesandwords
Elaine Abonal
Elaine Abonal is a pioneering Filipina surfer, entrepreneur and community leader rooted in Siargao’s vibrant surf scene. First introduced to waves during a study exchange in Florida in 2002, she returned to the Philippines and honed her craft at La Union and Baler before making Siargao her home.
In 2012, she founded Surfista Travels a surf school that specialises in inclusive, family‑friendly and women‑centric lessons. Elaine balances island life with motherhood—passing on ocean respect to her daughter and students alike—and advocates for eco‑conscious practices, female empowerment and authentic cultural immersion in every surf trip she leads.
What does surfing mean to you?
It’s my form of therapy for whatever comes my way, it is my way to ground myself when I feel lost or confused, it is how I keep my body healthy and strong no matter what age I get, it’s my way to connect with my husband and our daughter when daily routine gets too boring!
How has surfing impacted your life?
Surfing has affected every decision I have made … from where to live (I moved to Siargao island for surfing) to who I’ve married (I married someone I met when I was doing my ISA – International Surf Association – certification to be a surf coach). I am happy, healthy, grateful and connected to simplicity and nature and I don’t think I would be the person that I am today and living the life I live now if I hadn’t started surfing.
What keeps you coming back to the waves?
Going out there in the ocean really centres me. Physically, I know that I am fitter and stronger if I keep my surf routine. Mentally and emotionally, being out there with the waves and the ocean remind me that things always pass, that each wave is different, that there are good days and bad days and that we should just remember to go with the flow.
@elaineabonal
