The surf’s up! Surf-tourism in PNG

By STEVEN WINDUO
SURF-TOURISM PNG is more than a concept, if you know what I mean. One person who has seen surfing developed from scratch to something is Andrew Abel, the President of the Surfing Association of Papua New Guinea (SAPNG). Andrew is a co-founding member and has served as the President for 15 years.
The Surfing Association of Papua New Guinea started in 1989 when Andrew was 19 years old. He had given his undivided loyalty to the SAPNG for the last 23 years. Andrew’s father is Sir Cecil Abel KBE, OBE, son of the pioneering missionary and founding father of Kwato Mission, Rev. Charles Abel. Andrew is also elder brother to Charles Abel, MP for Alotau and Minister for Planning.
Andrew is synonymous with surfing PNG. I had long admired his lifelong commitment to developing surfing in PNG.
The story of surf tourism in PNG is that in the beginning there was nothing, then came long Andrew with his passion for board surfing and wave riding, in the spirits of Duke and other surfers like Peter Troy, to set up the first boardriders club at Vanimo in Sandaun Province in 1987.
Over the years Andrew worked with local communities in Vanimo, Madang, and Kavieng and other provinces to develop surfing and tourism together as a sustainable industry. A sustainable community surfing based program around PNG was hatched and Andrew worked very hard with the SAPNG to see that come through.
“If we are going to develop PNG surfing with a clean slate, let’s approach it in a slightly unorthodox manner and make sure we empower the most important people in the equation – the traditional custodians. Because without them, there is no surfing,” Andrew says in a prophetic way to highlight an interesting concept of building sustainable communities through surfing in PNG.
Surfing PNG has received a lot of media attention and coverage, but needs more support to fully develop its magnetic attraction not only to the international community, but also to the locals in the country.
Top level support and cooperation received from Grand Chief Somare and PNG Supreme Court Judge, His Hon and patron of Tupira Surf Club in Madang, Justice Nicholas Kirriwom, Andrew Abel is able to build a strong community based model for surfing in PNG.
Among the notable achievements, are the first national titles and the selection of the Team PNG that competed in the South Pacific Games in Samoa in 2007.
With the competition and wave of activities there is a silver lining: Villagers in Lido or in Madang are seeing real development in terms of infrastructure such as classrooms and real money being generated as a result of surfing activities in their area. Local boys and girls learn surfing from professional surfers. It brings positive changes and confidence in what young people can do in a natural way. The talents of the locals are encouraged in this sport.
The Tupira Surfing Club in Madang owned by Justice Nicholas Kirriwom adopted and implemented the SAPNG ‘Pink Nose Surfboard’ policy. Among other things this notion encourages the participation of women in this sport.
The Surf Association of Papua New Guinea pursues, as it principle aim the development and promotion of surf-tourism in Papua New Guinea and overseas. The Board Members of the SAPNG are Andrew C. Abel ML (President and Co-Founder), Kieran Nash (Patron), Sylvia Pascoe (Secretary and Public Relations), Alois Mateos (Wewak Rep.), Andrew Rigby representing Manus and Bougainville, John Aini (New Ireland Rep.), John Toles (Board Member for Vanimo), Shaun Keane as Board Member for Land Operators, and James Kruse as Treasurer.
The Surf Association of PNG has established several goals to pursue as promoted in its website: www.sapng.com
The Surfing Association of Papua New Guinea pursues the goal to establish and maintain a code of ethics that earns the respect of the surfing community in PNG and overseas.
Chief among the goals is to promote surf tourism, which will further the social and economic development of the grass roots level through affiliated its surf clubs in PNG.
One of its goals is to promote conservation and improvement of coastal environments and the protection of surfing resources in PNG so that the sport of surfing can be enjoyed by present and future generations.
The activity of surf-tourism has the potential of attracting tourists from around the world, the SAPNG ensures that it promotes respect for the diverse cultures, traditions, and languages of PNG in all surfers whether members of the SAPNG or guests in PNG.
Along with respect for the diverse cultures and community the aim is also to promote surf tourism in PNG in an atmosphere of free competition. This will ensure the benefits flowing from the promotion of surfing maybe enjoyed by the local population in the vicinity of surfing venues and by the community at large.
In addition the SAPNG will look at ways of promoting the surf-tourism in PNG and overseas to generate more interest around the world, which means working with similar organizations at the international level as well.
There is no doubt that under the leadership of Andrew the SAPNG is promoting the expansion of surf-tourism infrastructure in a manner that is environmentally and culturally sensitive to the needs of the communities.
So far the SAPNG has done an excellent job of supporting and influencing the development of surf-tourism products where the potential exist. It has the participation of PNG nationals at all levels of the surf-tourism industry.
I thank Andrew for accepting my invitation to do a piece on the Surfing Association of PNG as my admiration of the development and promotion of surf-tourism in Papua New Guinea. I am sure through this piece more Papua New Guineans will lend their support to the development of surf-tourism in our beautiful coastal villages and islands. The potential to develop this industry is yet to be fully realized. Through the various activities and with proper government support the surf-tourism will swell to greater heights.
Surf-tourism promotes PNG in amazing waves.