community wellbeing
AND Connection
through surfing

Hickory Bay, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury

OUR PURPOSE

Our purpose is to foster and enhance community engagement and connection through the sport of surfing.

We aim to foster the positive and restorative effects of nature, through the pursuit of surfing, for people in Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, New Zealand.

ABOUT HBSI

Hickory Bay Surfing Institute began in 2017 with registered teacher and Hickory Bay farmer Kristin Savage taking a few students from Akaroa Area School surfing after school.

What started as a few local kids and their parents coming to Hickory Bay for the odd surf, has turned into around 30+ young people and their parents attending ‘Surf Club’ and ‘Surfing for Farmers’ on two evenings per week over the Summer months, with the evenings rounded out by a BBQ dinner, discussion on surfing advice and a general community catch-up.

Water safety is a focus and qualified surf coaches are employed, in addition to parent involvement and participation, during the kids evenings.

Founder, Kristin Savage is a surfer himself, and has been involved in surf clubs for the past 30 years. Before coming to Banks Peninsula, he was the founding President of Wellington Boardriders Club (Inc). He has an infectious enthusiasm for the sport and a desire to help others find joy and a reset through participation, recognising the many benefits to good mental health of being in the water and surfing.

Hickory Bay Surfing Institute is a registered, incorporated charitable trust CC59635.

SURF CLUB

Surf Club runs weekly in the summer months on Tuesday nights. We follow our surf with a BBQ around the firepit and a debrief.

The club evenings are conducted on private property after our surfing part of the night. We do have safety ratios to adhere to, hence limits on numbers.

If you’re local and want to enquire as to space, simply drop us an email.

Check out this Seven Sharp feature on Hickory Bay Surfing Institute.

"When I'm surfing it takes all my worries away"
STUDENT - 12

"I caught the longest and best waves of my life"
Student - 9

"I came here feeling stressed out and now I feel great!"
FARMER

SURFING FOR FARMERS

Surfing for Farmers is a national initiative which aims to help give farmers a break from the stress, relentlessness and isolation of farming across over 25 locations throughout New Zealand. It made sense for the Hickory Bay Surfing Institute to reach out to Surfing For Farmers and setup a chapter here at Hickory Bay for the local farmers on Banks Peninsula. We run on Thursday evenings in Summer. Pre-registration required. Register at this link.