Ticket to Ride's Gap Year Surfing Adventure about to start.

Ticket to Ride, the brainchild of UK based varsity graduates Will Hayler and Linley Lewis, sees its first group of nearly 20 ‘Riders’ arrive in Cape Town on 18 January for the experience of a lifetime that takes them to eight diverse coastal centres before wrapping up in sub-tropical Durban, South Africa’s ‘Surf City’.

In Cape Town the budding surfers will be introduced to the basics of surf instruction by the country’s top professional surf coaches from the Kahuna Surfing Academy whose Dene Botha will also be the trainer and assessor for their Surfing South Africa (SSA) accredited Level 1 Surf Instructor course in Ballito at the end of March.

Following two weeks in the consistent waves of the Mother City, where they will stay in Kommetjie, the epicenter of surfing on the Cape Peninsula, visit the tourist attractions from Table Mountain to Cape Point and perform community work with the Salesians Institute, the group travels through the spectacular Garden Route to Plettenberg Bay.

Further instruction from the International Surf School in the Plett beach breaks precedes the group’s visit to Jeffreys Bay where they spend two weeks exploring the legendary surf Mecca. Continuing their surfing development through the Jeffreys Bay Surf School, there are visits to local Game Parks and community work in the Pellsrus School and they hone their newly developed surfing skills with the J-Bay Surf Club.

Then its on to East London for a stay on the beach at Sugar Shack where SA Masters champion Andre Malherbe will introduce them to the delights of the Border region before sending them on to his brother David, the 1990 World Pro-Am champ, at Coffee Bay for the true African experience in the heart of the Transkei.

A week of uncrowded waves, warm water and involvement in community projects will etch itself in the memory banks ahead of the move to sub tropical Southern KwaZulu-Natal and another boost to their growing surf confidence from former world surfing champion Ant Brodowicz along with the Ticket to Ride Surf Challenge and Beach Olympics at The Spot in Umtentweni.

Then it’s on to the business end of the adventure when the Riders complete the three day SSA Level 1 Surf Instructor’s course and learn the intricacies of surfboard manufacture in the idyllic surroundings of The Secret Spot at Shaka’s Rock, earn Basic Rescue or full Beach Lifeguard awards from the SA Lifeguard Academy in nearby Durban and practice their teaching skills with young locals from historically disadvantaged communities.

The epic adventure then winds up with the legendary Palmboom surf family at Ansteys Backpackers on the Bluff, where the surf is never flat, the Durban nightlife is just around the corner and Clayton Surfboards can be visited for a custom surfboard built by one of SA’s best craftsmen.

Having learned to surf, participated in really worthwhile community projects and armed with globally recognised Surf Instructor and Beach Lifeguard qualifications, Ticket to Ride’s ‘Gap Year Surfing Adventures’ truly provides participants with the memories of a lifetime.

For further information and bookings for 2008 see www.ttride.co.uk