New Zealand has a long list of competitive women surfers that dates back to 1963, the year that Surfing New Zealand was created and 1964 the first year that women contested the National Championships.

Today there are many women of all ages and backgrounds that have continued on from the early pioneers of the 60's and are participating in different disciplines of surfing.  

Females make up 14% of the New Zealand surfing landscape – some 140,000 surfers (2005 National Surfing Survey).

Females are offered extensive opportunities within the sport of surfing.  These opportunities range from customized girls surf lessons/camps through to the competition arena where age groups start off at Under 12 years old and move through to Under 14, 16, 18 and on to the Open Women’s ranks. 

The Surfing New Zealand Development Pathway highlights the opportunities on offer.

New Zealand surfing teams also include females as stipulated by the International Surfing Association with the Open Women’s Division at the World Surfing Games, Under 18 Girls Division at the World Junior Championships and the Over 35 Women’s Division at the World Masters.

Females also contest the ASP World Tour from the ASP Australasia Pro Junior (Under 20) level through to the ASP Prime and Star-series and onto the big leagues – the ASP Women’s World Tour.

Have a look at some of the events that cater for females throughout New Zealand

Check out the surfer profiles of New Zealand’s top female surfers