From the East Coast to the World Stage. Let’s help get Te Waiotu to El Salvador.

East Coast Surfriders is proud to get behind one of our own, Te Waiotu Fairlie, as she prepares to represent New Zealand at the ISA World Longboard Championships in El Salvador.

Te Waiotu is an 18-year-old surfer from the East Coast who has grown up in and around the ocean. Over the past few years, she has quietly worked her way through the competitive surfing pathway, representing her region, competing around Aotearoa New Zealand and developing into one of the country’s exciting young longboarders.

Her journey hasn't always been straightforward, with losses, long drives, early mornings, difficult competitions and plenty of lessons along the way. But Te Waiotu has continued to paddle out, put in the work and back herself.

In 2026 that commitment came together. She won the Open Women’s Longboard division at the Papamoa New Zealand Festival of Longboarding, adding to a growing list of national results, and earned the opportunity to wear the silver fern and represent her country on the world stage.

This journey takes her from the beaches of Te Tairāwhiti all the way to El Salvador.

Getting a young surfer, her longboards, from the East Coast of New Zealand to Central America comes with significant costs. East Coast Surfriders have created this Givealittle page to give our surfing community, whānau, friends and supporters the opportunity to help Te Waiotu get there.

Every donation, big or small, helps carry this East Coast girl a little further on her journey.