Feige and O’Brien are on the pioneering end with their adaptive surf school. Photo: JOB Experience
Victoria Feige, a five-time para surfing world champion, is not one to brag. So when she approached Jamie O’Brien and the managing partner of his surf school, Kaikea Elias, about running adaptive surfing lessons, she didn’t lead the conversation off with her impressive accolades. She reached out because she saw the potential of the venue at which they run Jamie O’Brien Surf Experience on Oahu’s North Shore.
Feige saw Turtle Bay as a perfect spot for teaching adaptive surfing as well. But as O’Brien and Elias got to know Feige, they realized together they could join forces to start something special by making adaptive surf lessons a year-round offering of the school.
Feige, who grew up immersed in board sports, suffered a snowboard accident when she was 18-years-old that left her with partial paralysis from the waist down. Despite her injury, she kept up with her passion for extreme sports, learning adaptive skiing, becoming an adaptive ski instructor, and then returning to the ocean with adaptive surfing. Feige went on to become a five-time para surfing world champion in her division, is a physiotherapist, and holds an ISA adaptive surf instructor certification. O’Brien and Elias couldn’t have found a more qualified person for the job.
“When people come to Hawaii as a family, I’m hoping that what I can offer is a way for someone with a disability to surf with their (able-bodied) brothers or sisters at Turtle Bay,” said Feige. “Together as a family it could be more inclusive.”
Now the Jamie O’Brien Surf Experience officially includes Jamie O’Brien Teams Up With World Champion to Offer Adaptive Surf Lessonsadaptive surfing as an offering on its website. The company launched the program two weeks ago and already have more than a dozen inquiries from students looking to participate. Feige has been blown away by those reaching out from around the globe – from Japan, to Canada, to Europe, to Brazil – who are interested in the lessons.
“It’s a perfect fit for what we’re doing,” O’Brien told us. “Because that’s what it’s all about – teaching everybody we possibly can to learn how to surf, to give the gift of surfing.”
Feige has used her expertise to modify the course protocol to meet the needs of adaptive surfers. Whereas a private lesson for an able-bodied surfer would have one instructor per student, the adaptive lessons provide two instructors per student. Feige has also taken other necessities into account such as beach wheelchairs, hard mats to allow wheelchair access on sand, foam wedges on boards for those who don’t have use of their back muscles, and handles to make surfboards more secure, among others.
And, according to Feige, the opportunity for an aspiring surfer with physical challenges to see someone like herself out on the water, makes a huge difference.
“It wasn’t until I saw other adaptive surfers (particularly Mark “Mono” Stewart) that it changed my perspective on what was possible,” said Feige. “When you see someone with a disability surfing independently and teaching other people, it hits differently. It’s more powerful than being told it’s theoretically possible when you can actually see it done. It changes perspectives.”
O’Brien and Elias opened the surf school back in 2021 and so far they say the business has exceeded expectations. They’ve already opened other branches in San Diego, California and Waikiki. But, for now, the adaptive surf lessons will only be offered at the Turtle Bay location with Feige.
