NW Women's Surf Camps & Retreats

04/26/2026

Know Surf History. Hawaiian Big Wave Surfer Sion Milosky was one of the best! The way he paddled to get into huge waves that others would only tow into is so impressive. Humble, grounded and deeply connected to the Ocean and to his lovely family. A True surfer.

Sion Milosky was a Hawaiian big-wave surfer from Kalaheo, Kauai, known for his deep connection to the ocean, quiet humility, and fearless approach to heavy surf.

Surfing for Sion was rooted in passion and respect for the sea, a way of life centered on courage, presence, and commitment rather than recognition.

Before being widely known in the big-wave world, he worked in construction and other hands-on jobs, staying close to his working-class roots in Hawaii.

He rose to international attention through his performances in some of the world’s most demanding surf, including powerful swells at places like Mavericks and Hawaii’s big-wave breaks. In 2010, he earned global recognition when he was awarded the Ride of the Year at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards for a standout wave at Mavericks, solidifying his reputation as one of the standout chargers of his generation.

Beyond surfing, Sion was a devoted family man. He was married to Suzi Milosky, and together they had two daughters. Those who knew him often spoke of his grounded nature and how deeply he valued time with his family, always carrying that love with him even during the most intense surf missions.

On March 16, 2011, Sion paddled out at Mavericks in Northern California during a powerful winter swell. After successfully riding waves earlier in the session, he was caught inside a heavy set wave and held down in extremely turbulent conditions. Despite immediate response from fellow surfers and rescue efforts, he did not survive.
Sion passed away doing what he loved most, challenging some of the heaviest waves on the planet with full commitment and heart.

He is remembered as a devoted father, a respected waterman, and a surfer who embodied humility, courage, and deep respect for the ocean. 🌊

04/19/2026

Enjoy this video teaching the steps essential to your progressive success on your path of surfing. Learning in the cold water temps, in the constantly changing dynamic PNW conditions year round and becoming comfortable being in the Ocean takes dedication to practice, patience, and putting yourself in the child's mind of play, curiosity and non-judgement.

I hope your path in surfing is always exciting, engaging and keeps you forever young!

To learn to surf this summer check out the amazing surf opportunities offered at Seapeoplesurf.com online. Founder and Head Surf Coach Kayli Jones will be bringing her talents, skills and ocean experience to each of her clinics, camps and session there.

If you are an Alumni of our program, Kayli is offering a special discount for each of you, add this promotional code LEGACY when booking one of her Progressive Surf Series and/or Foundational Surf Day Clinics and receive 20% off.

04/14/2026

Five Gems of Surfing shared by North Oregon Coast surfer and retired Director and Head Coach of NW Women's Surf Camps, Lexie Hallahan.

These are invaluable in creating a safe, mindful, vibrant, progressive and connective experience with your surfing.

Enjoy!

03/17/2026

02/04/2026

“It’s been a Wonderful Ride!”

I am so Grateful.

When I had my epiphany in the summer of 2004 that I am to teach women to surf, I trusted this calling and my intuition that if I offered surfing opportunities to women, it would all somehow work out. With my mission and business plan in place, I started my first of three Day Surf Camps, for women of all ages and teen girls, on June 11, 2005. They filled shortly after launching the registration and I knew that I was on my path, so I offered five more Day Surf Camps that very first summer.

From NW Women’s Surf Camps inception, I embraced the organic process of growth and the aligned seasonality which exists with a predominantly summer held program and business. Fall for composting the previous event season, winter to hibernate, rest and rekindle my inner strength and creativity, spring’s launch and registration of the upcoming summer program, and summer’s delightful intensity with all the events.

Along the way, I have had unwavering support from my surfing and business communities; partnering with legacy businesses like Cleanline Surf Company and O’Neill Wetsuits, attracting PNW surfing women who have always showed up to coach events with me, holding a shared belief in a vision that we could create a solid and representational presence of women in the PNW line up, that would be lasting.

Each year, I refined and expanded the program so as to capture the interest and demand of an ever growing and diverse spectrum of students; from our primary focus of women and teen girls, to coeds, young kids, couples, college programs and company teams. It’s been creative, fun and challenging to meet the high bar of excellence that I placed on our unique program, ever striving to be the very best surf instruction and coaching being provided in the PNW. The team of coaches combined their individual experience and perspective with my proven teaching methodology and surf “herstory” to deliver a truly successful outcome for our students, launching them on their paths of surfing.

Connection, Empowerment and Transformation has always been our mantra. With a keen early awareness of what I was creating, my husband, Tom, came to call what we do “Big Medicine”. It is the juicy healing and discovery that comes from this mantra’s intention. We hope that each of you have discovered and experienced this with us!

In July, we held our last two Surf Weekender Immersions, celebrating 21 seasons for NWWSC and me. It was serendipitous that my coach Jeannine Mackie who has been with me since the beginning in 2005 and my newest coach, Kayli Jones, who has taught with me for four seasons, would be coaching together in these last two events. They were such memorable camps, a little time for me to sit back, enjoy and witness the wonderful teaching that they both share so openly to students, with their enthusiasm, spontaneity and flow. On the last camp day, I had the rare experience to be crowned Queen of the Surf with a NW flower hoku lei and a spontaneous paddle out circle with the students and coaches, to wrap up the last day’s celebration.

With that, I pass on the teaching torch to coach Kayli Jones and to the numerous new women surf opportunities, groups and connections that are being created and offered in the PNW.

I will be posting regularly inspirational images and videos on NW Women’s Surf Camps Instagram page, I invite you to follow us there to stay connected in our loop. Note: I am in the process of adding numerous NWWSC videos made in series over the years onto NW Womens Surf Camps You Tube Channel for your viewing pleasure. Check that space in early March for them; Surf Stoked-A Women's NW Surfing Perspective and Recipe for a Perfect Wave-Surf Science we taught in all events and lessons. There are other videos already posted up there now.

You are also invited and encouraged to share your own experience with us by posting comments, writing Google reviews, and/or mailing cards to NWWSC, P.O. Box 425, Seaside, OR 97138.

I am for the fourth time in my 65 years of this wondrous life "recreating" myself with my honey, Tom, in tow. See you in the waves this summer! Joyously content, Lexie Moon

01/02/2026

12.31.2025 Epic last Razor Clam harvest of the year! Godsmacked beauty to behold. We will be enjoying these lovelies for the first week of 2026...simply grateful.

12/25/2025

We send you and yours our wishes for a wonderful and peaceful Holiday Season! Enjoy friends, family and community connection. Take a sweet winter pause to feel the stillness of the season. 🌊 ❄ ✨

12/20/2025

Flojo taught us to be authentically yourself and you can realize your dreams, just as who you are! What an amazing woman!

July 16, 1988. Indianapolis Olympic Trials.
Florence Griffith Joyner walked to the starting line looking like she'd taken a wrong turn from a fashion runway. Purple bodysuit. One leg completely bare. Turquoise bikini bottoms. Nails painted with tiger stripes that pressed into the track.
Every other runner wore stripped-down gear designed to shave hundredths of a second off their time.
Then the gun fired.
10.49 seconds later, Flo-Jo crossed the finish line having destroyed the world record by nearly three-tenths of a second—a margin so massive it shocked the entire track and field world.
That record still stands today. Thirty-six years later. Untouched.
Florence Griffith grew up in the Jordan Downs housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles—seventh of eleven children. Her father was an electrician. Her mother was a seamstress. Money was always tight.
She started running at seven, chasing jackrabbits in the Mojave Desert to build speed. By fourteen, she'd won the Jesse Owens National Youth Games.
But talent alone wasn't enough. During college, she dropped out to work as a bank teller to support her family. Her coach tracked her down and secured financial aid so she could return.
At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, she won silver in the 200 meters. The press talked more about her decorated fingernails than her running. Disappointed with second place, she drifted into semi-retirement.
Then 1987 changed everything.
She married Al Joyner—the 1984 Olympic triple jump gold medalist. Together, they redesigned her training. Intense weight work. Squats. Lunges. She eventually squatted 320 pounds while weighing just 130.
They trained at 4 a.m.
Going into 1988, her personal best was 10.96 seconds—not even in the top 40 all-time.
Then came Indianapolis.
Over two days, she recorded the three fastest times ever run by a woman: 10.49 in the quarterfinal, 10.70 in the semifinal, 10.61 in the final.
Her 10.49 was faster than the men's national records in Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and Turkey.
Two months later at the Seoul Olympics, she crushed the 100-meter final, beating silver medalist Evelyn Ashford by three-tenths of a second.
Then she broke the 200-meter world record twice in one day—first in the semifinal, then again in the final with a time of 21.34 seconds.
Three gold medals. One silver. Two world records that have stood 36 years.
The accusations came immediately.
Her dramatic transformation sparked suspicions. Athletes expressed disbelief. Whispers of steroid use followed her everywhere.
Florence denied every accusation. She passed every drug test. The International Olympic Committee conducted extra rigorous testing during the 1988 Games.
Clean. Every single time.
But beyond the records and controversies, Florence Griffith Joyner proved something essential.
For decades, women in sports had been told to choose: be feminine or be athletic. Be pretty or be powerful.
Flo-Jo refused.
She painted her nails and ran faster than anyone. She wore custom outfits and dominated every competitor. She embraced fashion and femininity while breaking records that three and a half decades of athletes haven't touched.
She proved that discipline and self-expression aren't opposites—they're partners in greatness.
On September 21, 1998, Florence Griffith Joyner died in her sleep at her California home. She was 38 years old.
The cause: suffocation during a severe epileptic seizure. An autopsy revealed she'd been born with a cavernous hemangioma—a congenital brain abnormality that made her susceptible to seizures. The only substances in her system were Tylenol and Benadryl.
She left behind Al and their seven-year-old daughter Mary.
The world lost not just the fastest woman in history, but a pioneer who showed you don't have to diminish any part of yourself to be great.
Her legacy lives on every track.
Modern sprinters compete with decorated nails—a tribute to the woman who proved you could be both beautiful and the fastest person on earth.
Thirty-six years later, her records still stand.
Hundreds of world-class female sprinters with every modern advantage have tried to break them.
None have come close.
Maybe that's because Flo-Jo understood something profound: when you're completely, authentically yourself—when you stop trying to fit into someone else's idea of what you should be—you unlock something extraordinary.
The fastest woman in history competed in tiger-striped nails and one-legged racing suits.
And nobody has caught her yet.

12/18/2025

There is a powerful magic created when a diverse group of women (of all ages and backgrounds) come together for a surf immersion weekend. They connect with one another, learn new skills and perspectives, are courageous together with coaches in Mother Ocean with them, and they hone in their new skills in riding waves with a supportive circle of surf sisters cheering one another on. For 21 summer programs of NW Women's Surf Camps, we celebrated the unique, strong and beautiful aspects of being women. The circle was an essential part of our wonderful success! 💫 🌊 🏄‍♀️

12/12/2025

That first wave feeling! 🌊✨