A Ticket to Ride in your Gap Year

Surfing sells. From Guinness to the Vauxhall Astra, TV commercials are catching the new wave. The sport has come a long way since the bleached Californian beachbum sixties and is now big business for global brands like O'Neill and Quiksilver. Whether you're a weekend stockbroker surfer or a wage slave in a wetsuit, for many it's almost a profession, more than a pastime

In the UK, hardly known for its rolling surf, Newquay is now a place of summer pilgrimage and it is estimated that one million Britons will go surfing this year, half of them for the first time. Thrills and spills are guaranteed, and a wild social whirl adds to the attraction for the young and young at heart. But now there's a serious side, as a new company, Ticket to Ride, promises to kick-start your student career with Gap Year surfing.

The company was set up by experienced surfers, recent university graduates and friends from Sherborne school, Will Hayler and Linley Lewis. Ticket to Ride gives the Gap Year student the opportunity to escape the British winter and spend three months surfing in South Africa. So far, it's a dream ticket that's not too hard a sell, although the ?4850 price tag can take the breath away as much as the biggest of waves.

The South African surf safari visits eight premier surfing venues between Capetown and Durban including Jeffrey's bay, renowned as the best surfing spot in the world, although the denizens of Waikiki and Malibu would doubtless argue their own case.

This however is more than sun, sea and unbridled hedonism. Not only do you learn to surf in the perfect waves of the Indian Ocean, under the care of elite local coaches, but you also learn to teach others. By the end of your stay, you are a fully-trained surf coach and lifesaver, with globally recognised qualifications. As a Surfing South Africa (SSA) Level1 instructor, you also have Rescue and First Aid under your belt as well as the Lifesaving South Africa (LSA) Surf Lifeguard Award. This is the current qualification required to perform beach lifeguard patrols along the South African coastline. As one of the tougher qualifications worldwide, Riders who successfully complete this course are able to upgrade their lifesaving award with 2-3 extra days training that will enable them to return home as qualified Beach Lifeguards.

These are highly credible and portable credentials, which enable you to continue your travels to say, Australia, a favourite Gap Year destination, and earn your keep while you are there. '...There's no better way to spend the summer than on the beach, teaching surfing and getting paid to do it...'says George Richards, a Leeds University student.

To make it even more worthwhile, a key ingredient in the Ticket to Ride package is the community involvement. Linley Lewis explains:' In South Africa, you've got the whole world in one country - the developed world and the developing world. It's fundamental to what we are about that our riders help develop the local township communities, and give something back as well as have a great time for themselves. Combining a surf season with community work brings something new and unique to the Gap Year market, and means students really make a difference throughout their adventure. '

Community initiatives to which the company is committed include the Salesian Youth Development Project where students assist in the local schools, and the Valley Development project, assisting with sports programmes for local kids including teaching them to surf. As part of each Rider's training and assessment to become surf instructors, they need to demonstrate that they can direct a surf lesson. This will benefit the children in the local community who make up the classes to which each Rider will pass their knowledge of surfing and water safety.

In the increasingly competitive world of employment, it's never too early to catch a wave. Says Will Hayler: 'One of the killer questions in a job interview is 'when have you shown leadership?' Now you can tell them 'well, I have taught 20 African kids from KwaZulu Natal township how to be safe in open water and surf properly'. You learn to surf and you also learn about responsibility, communication and leadership.'

The idea has already attracted attention and praise as well as start-up business awards. Ticket to Ride won the award for being the 'most sustainable business targeting consumers' award at the Flying Start programme run by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship.

The courses start in January, which gives time after summer's A-level results to earn, beg and borrow enough to scrape together the means to get there. Despite the hefty price tag, it's not just the privileged classes who are eager to get surfing. The first rider to sign up left school at 16 and is working full time to raise the money for an experience which he feels will change his life dramatically.

The first 20 Ticket to Riders leave on 17th January 2007. The three-month adventure costs ?4850 per person and includes all accommodation, transport from Cape Town to Durban, and all professional surfing instruction from a team of proven South African instructors, two with World titles to their name. Surf Instructor and Lifesaver qualification fees, video analysis, first aid course and social events are included, but flights, food, equipment and insurance are extra.