All of us at Shaka have grown up surfing and are excited to share our passion with you. Our background combined with Costa Rican waves ensures that you will receive professional lessons that only experience can provide. Learning to surf is a great family activity that can be enjoyed by all ages.
Frank Bauer – Founder: Frank grew up
in Florida and began surfing at the age of 12. “Surfing
is not a sport to me, but rather a lifestyle”. He has
spent the last 24 years searching for that perfect wave.
When not in Costa Rica, he lives in Aspen, Colorado where
he owns his own business and serves as a volunteer firefighter
with the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department. “Snowboarding
is my second favorite activity but lacks in the spiritual
side compared to surfing. Building and opening the surf
camp has been a dream come true and I am blessed by the
support I have received and by the opportunity to make
such an amazing dream come true”.
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Christiaan "Otter" Bailey- Adaptive & Special
Needs Director: Christiaan was born in Santa Cruz, California
on March 31, 1981... Raised in both Santa Cruz and France,
he has been surfing now for 23 years, 13 of which as a
professional. Christiaan was also a professional skateboarder,
who unfortunately suffered a spinal cord injury in july
2006, while he and his team were filming a skateboarding
video... This however has not deterred him from continuing
to do what he loves in life!... He still spends a majority
of his time traveling the world surfing, as well as developing
specialized surfboards with Eric Roush and Surftech. His
role as a ambassador for the "Life Rolls On" foundation,
has allowed him to work very closely with a variety of
different foundations i.e. (UCP Wheels for Humanity, Challenged
Athletes Foundation, Access Surf Hawaii, National Association
of Amputee Surfers, Shared Adventures and many others...).
He is also currently a coach at "Ability First", a live
in sports camp based in Chico, California and geared specifically
for wheelchair bound youngsters ages 7-18... This gives
Christiaan the experience of working with children with
a wide array of disabilities and special needs, from Spinal
Cord Injuries and Spina Bifida, to CP and Muscular Dystrophy.
He is dedicated to addressing any and all of the special
needs and concerns our disabled guests may have... Christiaan
has been involved with Shaka Surf Camp since it's ground
breaking, and has also helped both develop and modify
the building plans to make our camp not just ADA compliant,
but fully wheelchair accessible.
To learn more, please feel free to visit or write Christiaan
at Myspace.com/SantaCruzSoulSurfer
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Christina Zeitler – Surf & Yoga
Instructor: Growing up on the beach in Santa Cruz, California,
I have always been enamored with the ocean. I had my first
surfing experience at age 8 in my Junior Lifeguard Program
and knew right away that it was something I would do the
rest of my life. I relocated to San Diego at age 17 to
go to UCSD and began to take my surfing to a new level.
I competed and traveled for years and finally moved on
to my true passion, teaching. After running the Surf Camp
at the Encinitas YMCA for 7 years, teaching literally
thousands of stoked kids the way of the waves, I moved
into coaching. I started at the local High School, moved
on to the USA Junior Surf Team and finally individual
competitors.
My life was close to perfect, yet, 20 years of surfing,
traveling and training had started to take its toll, and
my body began to feel some serious aches and pains. I
realized that I needed a change if I wanted to continue
playing at that level. This is when I discovered Yoga,
once again I knew, after only one class that this was
something I would do the rest of my life. The next few
years I practiced and studied extensively to become a
Certified Yoga Instructor. Now I feel I have found a blissful
balance. Teaching surfing and yoga, sharing my passion
for good health and the ocean, and living as they say
in Costa Rica "pura vida", the pure life.
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Danny Davis – Surf Instructor:
I was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii. I started boogie
boarding when I was a about 7, a friend and I while hanging
out at the beach one day, found a boogie board that had
washed ashore and that was the beginning of the end for
me. I actually got the courage at the not so tender age
of 14 to start standing on a surf board at one of the
local breaks called Kaisers, which was also the name of
the high school I attended and graduated from. Shortly
after graduating from high school I moved to San Diego
and was not at all satisfied with the cold water and small
waves. So traveling and finding warm water and powerful
waves was what motivated me to do whatever I had to, such
as working in the hotel industry..... I have been blessed
to surf and spend an extensive amount of time on both
the eastern and western coasts of Australia, 4 of the
islands of Indonesia, Guam, all over Mexico, Guatemala,
Nicaragua, el Salvador, Costa Rica and of course Hawaii
and California. I am truly blessed to have had surfing
find me and enjoy sharing what I have learned with people
who want it.
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