A few months ago the Chopon Surf Club was launched in a small village on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. 

While Manus is known by many people for other reasons, the people of Manus love their island and the beauty and culture within it. The clan on Chopon Village has built a small surf lodge to introduce surfing to the island and provide  sustainable employment for the families of Chopon. It is an extraordinarily beautiful place. Chopon Surf Club is not a business but more like a village cooperative. There are around fifty people living in the village. We were the first surfers to be hosted by the Club and while we were there we gave the kids their first surf lesson!

As amazing water people, they took to it easily however we saw an opportunity to fast track the stoke and really boost the Chopon Surf Club by bringing a few of the older kids here to Newcastle Australia for two weeks. This way they can have some solid professional surf lessons and take those skills back to Chopon so they can then teach the smaller kids. It will be a wonderful cultural experience for all. These young people will be hosted by us here and the Bar Reef Boardriders Club so all we need is funding for airfares. 

Your support will be greatly appreciated and we look forward to sharing this experience with you all!

The funds will be used for transport costs from Manus Island to Australia. We aim to host four of the kids from Chopon Village. Funds are based on flight per person on Air Niugini Manus Island - Cairns ($900pp) and Domestic flight Cairns - Newcastle ($600). We anticipate costs to be $1500 per person for the two weeks.

Accommodation will be covered by ourselves. If we manage to secure air tickets for less we will use any remaining funds for food and surf lessons while the kids are here. This information will be sent to all contributors to ensure a transparent funding process. We would also welcome any in-kind donation in the form of soft surfboards, rashvests and legropes!

It is difficult for people in Chopon village to travel outside the island. We hope you can assist in what will be a rewarding cultural exchange.