Rodney Stevens, Clarence Valley Independent

When Shayne Sutherland and his partner Courtney Ann started Surf Camp Down Under, they had the goal of becoming the best surf school in Australia, and on Saturday night their ambitions were realised.

Surf Camp Down Under was awarded the Surf School of the Year award at the 2025 Australian Surfing Awards at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, December 6.

Shayne said they were honoured to be named as a finalist against one of his idols, Manly Surf School, and the Central Coast Surf Academy.

Nineteen awards were presented across three categories, High Performance, Media, and Participation and Community.

Surfing Australia announced the win on their social media channels on Saturday evening.

“@surfcampdownunder earns the 2025 Surf School of the Year Award, presented by @cooee.toys, delivering excellence in surf education, water safety, and all-around incredible learn-to-surf experiences,” Surfing Australia posted.

After coaching thousands of people as a surf coach, Shayne said when he relocated to Yamba he initially worked with Shane and Justin Henwood from the Yamba Backpackers, now Wobbly Chook Brewing Co, coaching backpackers to surf.

“The Wobbly Chook Brewing Co still support us to this day; they are the best people in the world,” Shayne said.

On October 27, 2018, Shayne and Courtney started Surf Camp Down Under with a gazebo and a few boards, and a burning ambition to succeed.

“I was inspired by showing people the best, healthiest way to go surfing,” Shayne said.

“I’ve been coaching surfing for over 18 years, and I’ve personally taught about 20,000 people to surf.

“They were from all walks of life, from pregnant ladies to 88-year-old men, to Fijian kids, to European backpackers, business-people, and people with disabilities.

“I find it rewarding to share my knowledge with people and show people a good time.

“Also seeing the local kids progress, which is what our main focus is, watching them go from strength to strength and gain confidence.

“About 90 per-cent of our market is locals, and being surrounded by such a beautiful community is one of the best things in the world.”

Being crowned Australia’s best Surf School was always a goal for Shayne and Courtney.

“That was always the goal…it definitely was something we wanted to achieve before we started,” Shayne said.

Several locals who have done the Surf Camp Down Under program have gone on to work for Shayne and Courtney.

“One of the most rewarding things is also being able to give jobs to local kids,” he said.

“They were teenagers doing our programs and now they’re getting paid, so they’ve come full circle.”

As Courtney is 40 weeks pregnant, Shayne said they sent one of their surfing coaches Nic Guthridge to the ceremony.

“Nic went up on stage and accepted the award and then he gave me a video call, it was about 9pm here, and I was actually half asleep.

“Our competitors that made the top three, Manly Surf School is like my idol, he’s someone I really look up to, and I thought there was no chance we were going to beat him, and Central Coast Surf Academy.

“When he called, I expected him to be all sad and say we didn’t win, but because it was a video call he had the award, so I was pumped.

“The adrenaline was high and we were screaming on the phone…it was really nice.”

Without the support of the Lower Clarence community, Surf Camp Down Under wouldn’t be the success that it is, Shayne said.

“I just really want to thank the local community, they’ve been incredible,” he said.

“Everyone has backed us from day dot, which has been really nice.

“It’s such a beautiful community that we live in, and we are really happy about that.

This article appeared in Clarence Valley Independent, 10 December 2025.