Culture ·

Surf Sistas x XTRATUF

Earlier this summer, XTRATUF teamed up with Surf Sistas, an empowering women’s only surf space designed to support more women to access surfing, build confidence in the ocean and have fun along the way!

Person sat down on grass waxing a surfboard while wearing a pair of Xtratuf Ankle Deck Boots

Surf Sistas has run surf trips and retreats for the past 20 years, and in that time we’ve helped 1000s of women boost ocean confidence and fall hard in love with surfing!

We started out as a group of 9-5 Londoners desperate to spice things up and swap the concrete chaos for the wild Atlantic coast. We used to band together to hire a bus and take regular trips down to Cornwall to fill our boots with surfing and decompress by the sea. Overtime, our escapades took us further afield to the French beach breaks and Moroccan points.

Landscape image of distant surfers between strips of coastline

We started to notice a trend on our trips. They were largely made up of women, seeking like-minded souls and a supportive environment to go surfing in. We wanted to do more, so we traded in our desk jobs and turned our little surf bus ventures into a fully-fledged surf retreat for women, and in turn Surf Sistas was born!

We’re not your average surf experience though. We like to change things up with the tides, rack up our boards and head out exploring the coast for waves, have a good old natter along the road and build lasting connections. We provide small group coaching tailored to the individual, so you don’t feel lost in a sea of people.

Women having fun surfing

Our network has built over the years, and we still have women join us on trips year on year because they love the group environment, technical but supportive coaching and the confidence boost our courses offer.

We still head off galivanting abroad but through the spring and summer months Cornwall is our mainstay, running beginner, intermediate and specialist courses from our homebase where it all started; Fistral beach in Newquay.

A woman having fun surfing

We go with whatever conditions we find, and the wind and rain do not deter us! Even after the slightly more temperamental summer we’ve had this year you’ll still find us with a beaming smile on our faces. What makes it easier is having good gear that endures the elements. And one of the recent things we’ve fallen in love with is our XTRATUF boots.

We’ve been wearing our XTRATUF’s all summer. Even in the sunshine. Gone are the days of soaked trainers and flips flops that feel like they’re covered in washing up liquid. Pre-surf we’re not faffing with shoelaces when the surf is pumping; we can slide straight out of our XTRATUF’s and into our wetsuits. The same goes post surf, particularly in the colder months when we lose sensations in our toes, our XTRATUF boots are easy to get on and warm our feet up after the surf. I tend to be on the beach a lot of the time taking photos and videos of guests for our Video Coaching sessions. The XTRATUF’s have been a game changer for this too as I can focus on filming without the discomfort of soaked shoes.

A woman stood by a bar with the boot open, surf board and Xtratuf Ankle Deck Boots in the foreground

Their durability and robustness make them great for cliff top wave hunting as we march off the beaten track to find little waves and corners that are sheltered and uncrowded, and for the swimmers amongst us, secret swimming coves and tidal pools.

Woman sat on a cliff, wearing a pair of Xtratuf Ankle Deck Boots

So, in short we use them for anything and everything. Cosy, breathable, comfortable and durable. Living by the ocean and being in an ever-changing environment, calls for a versatile boot. Thank you XTRATUF for keeping our feet warm and happy whilst doing what we love 20 years on.

Surf Sistas wear the ADB’s

Find out more about Surf Sistas

Follow the Surf Sistas

Follow the Surf Sistas lil Sis ‘Swim Sistas’