Nature of Surfwomen Book

An interactive photo & audio journey with women surfers in Costa Rica.

NATURE OF SURF WOMEN captures the essence of female surfers through beautiful images in this coffee table book. The women featured in this project stand out for their connection to the ocean environment and for their holistic, grounded, and vibrant approach to life. In many different ways, they have all experienced transformation and found release in surfing.

A mosaic of 30 women from ages 12 to 67 come together to form unique artistic images representing the beauty and strength of the female body. The book consists of 22 stories of soul-searching, best friends adventuring together, family challenges, finding surf buddies, and mother-daughter bonding. Each story has a QR code that links to the recordings of stories of personal transformation, adaptation to life in the jungle, and love of riding the waves, all mixed with the sounds of nature in Costa Rica offering an immersive experience of the book.

Legendary audio naturalist Martyn Stewart created an ambiance that will take the audience onto the waves and into the lives and hearts of these extraordinary women.

The introduction of the book is written by former professional surfer Holly Beck. It was surfing that helped her amid challenging family situations, enabling her to earn her MBA and create her women's surf retreat company, Surf with Amigas.

The book's epilogue, written by environmental activist Katherine Terrell, will be dedicated to today's most challenging problems in coastal towns all over the world.

This is not a book you will flip through and leave on the shelf. This is not a book you will flip through and leave on the shelf. Every page has a story to tell, and every story will take you on a mindful journey.

Ivana and Gabriela found a powerful synergy in their collaboration—two women, a surfer and a photographer, with a shared vision: to capture nature and water from the female perspective, to tell the story of women surfers outside mainstream media portrayal, and to celebrate women exactly as they are.