From health scare to building a surf camp: Posh's story

👋 Hey, I’m Posh

I have been surfing since 2016. I’m a longboarder and just one of your small wave girlies. I’m also a full-time mom, full-time remote worker, and a surf camp owner.

🏄‍♀️ A life-changing moment

In 2016, I was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and decided to turn my life around. I used to be a workaholic with unhealthy habits and maybe that caused my tumor. In an attempt to live a little more, I went on a surf trip with some friends, my first ever. The moment I stood on my first wave, I instantly fell in love. That’s how my whirlwind romance with surfing started.

🌎 Chasing waves & finding home

Months later, I took a remote job and decided to move to that same town where I first surfed. I surfed every day from sunrise to sunset. I also went on surf trips mostly on my own. Surfing was already popular back then, but surf spots weren’t as crowded and as gentrified as they are now. After a couple of years, I started struggling to find my place in the community I was in. I looked and looked and went to more remote places.

In 2019, I kept traveling, trying to find the next town to live in. And there it was, this island, this beauty—it captivated me. I felt rested. I felt welcomed. I felt a certain kind of peace. Catanduanes is raw and rustic. It faces the Pacific Ocean, so it gets more typhoons and weather disturbances than most of the country. Its waters are so generous, we rarely get flat days! And for a surfer, isn’t it paradise?

🏝️ Building a surf camp & community

I started this surf camp @happyisla_surfandtours as a passion project with my partner who is a local here, a competitive surfer, and a surf coach—primarily to provide employment to the locals. I just hope more and more surfers will patronize locally owned surf camps. With that said, I would like to invite my surf seasters to check out my surf camp, and I hope to meet more of you in the future! Get in touch at @possshhhh_