Retreats, these days, are all the rage. Feeling burnt out by your job, your family, or marriage? Go to Costa Rica and do some yoga for a week. Struggling with mental health or addiction? Take some ayahuasca in a teepee, puke your brains out, and peer behind the cosmic curtain while under the supervision of a self-proclaimed shaman in Mexico.
Different folks, different strokes.
Surfing, too, has its version of retreats. But while most surf-related retreats focus on beginners, and sending attendees home with pictures of a them on 10-foot soft top bumbling through knee-high whitewash to show off to their friends, the Big Wave Babes are doing it different. Their goal? To inspire and educate a new generation of women in the art of big wave surfing.
Big Wave Babes – cofounded by Californian Delia Bense-Kang and Guatemalan Polly Ralda – is a week-long, female-focused big wave boot camp on the North Shore of Oahu, designed to create community and encourage confidence in and out of the water. And following the success of the inaugural retreat, and ahead of the second, we caught up with Bense-Kang to hear more.
Hey Delia! How’re you? Are you in Hawaii?
I am. I’m on the North Shore right now. There’s actually a little pulse of swell right now, so we’re stoked. Super late season, but it’s been fun.
So, you guys just finished the first Big Wave Babes retreat. How’d it go?
It went amazing. We had eight girls from all over the world. We had someone from Spain, two girls from Mexico, and a few from California. We got some waves that week, too. All the girls had a life-changing experience. I was hoping that would happen, but I didn’t know how it was gonna go. Everyone was pushing their limits. After a few days, we had this yoga class, and I looked around and everyone was crying. They had overcome a bunch of fears, and it was a sort of cathartic release. It was super cool to provide that space for everybody.
Photo: Silvia Yom
What was the motivation for you and Polly to create Big Wave Babes?
As big wave surfers ourselves, we do all this training – mental and physical training. All of this has taken us years to learn, and there’s been a lot of trial and error. So, we thought, why don’t we share everything we’ve learned with other women? There’s not a lot of opportunities for women to learn these things. So, we wanted to take matters into our own hands.
We had the realization that other women would benefit from all the things we do as big wave surfers. Even if they’re not trying to surf 20 foot waves; maybe they’re trying to surf two foot waves. But everything still applies. We want to help women be more comfortable in the water, to be assets in the water, no matter what type of surfing they’re trying to do.
Take us through one of the retreats – what can attendees expect?
We have a full schedule of activities. There are both mental and physical activities. We focus on breath training, pool training with weights, body movement with dynamic stretching and mobility, yoga, and endurance training with surf-specific workouts. And then on the mental side, we do some sort of mindfulness activity every day – things like goal-setting, visualization, imposter syndrome, fear, journaling, and discussions. Additionally, we have first-responders come and teach a first-aid, CPR, and water rescue class. So, yeah, we try and cover all the bases. Not to mention daily surfing with coaching.
What’s been your experience as a female in the big wave space? Have you experienced marginalization, lack of support, or anything like that?
Overall, I feel like the big wave community is very supportive no matter what gender you are. That’s what I really like about it. If you put in the work to be out there, and you show respect, people will show you respect in return. However, in general, it is harder for women to learn the skills to be a waterwoman, because it’s harder to get access – whether that’s equipment, a training class, and so on. I think a lot of women might feel intimidated to join a class that’s 90% dudes, or asking a guy with a jetski to teach them water safety. So, that’s where we wanted to bridge that gap. For the most part, guys are very supportive in the water.
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
Seems like women’s surfing on the whole – from the big wave scene, to the CT – is exploding in terms of progression lately. Why do you think that is? More opportunity, more exposure?
The more that women are shown doing these things, the more the next generation is going to see that and go, ‘I can do that too.’ There’s been women doing this for a long time – charging and ripping. They just weren’t shown in the media as much. Now that they’re getting featured, it’s creating a snowball effect. I started big wave surfing because I saw Keala Kennelly doing it before me. If you don’t see it, it’s hard to know you can do it, too. As women, we’re finally getting our time in the spotlight a little more.
You guys also have a line of swimsuits. Was this a reaction to a lack of appropriate women’s swimwear when it comes to big waves?
The swimsuits are a stepping stone into something bigger. We hope to create safety gear that’s designed for women. The swimsuits are what we feel comfortable wearing while surfing in any conditions, big or small. That’s the first step. Eventually, we want to create impact suits and inflation vests that actually fit us correctly. We want to create a line of big wave gear that’s made specifically for women.
Take us back to your wave at Todos, which won the inaugural Thriller at Killers contest. What was that like?
I started having imposter syndrome that day. It was all professional big wave surfers out there. I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’ So, I calmed my mind, and trusted my skills. I waited patiently, and it was one of those moments when a wave chooses you. It came right towards me, and I only had to take a couple paddles. It was one of those meant-to-be moments. I just remember it being the longest drop I’ve ever experienced. It was like a mountain. I had so much speed, and I didn’t make my bottom turn correctly and got bounced off. But I made most of the wave, and I wasn’t even worried in the wipeout. I was just so stoked.
What’re your goals in big wave surfing?
There are so many goals. Since I’ve been living in Hawaii, I’ve been really focusing on Pe’ahi. My ultimate goal would be to get barreled at Pe’ahi. I’d also love to go back to Maverick’s and, of course, Todos. I have a special relationship with that wave now.
Peering into your crystal ball, how do you envision women’s big wave surfing in five years?
The bar is going to be so much higher. You’re gonna paddle out at a big wave session, and see 50/50 men and women. I think women will be getting more insane rides, and younger women are going to be coming up and charging. Again, it’s all about these up-and-coming surfers seeing what’s possible. The more they see it, the more they’ll want to do it, too.