Adaptive surfing enables people with physical, visual, or intellectual disabilities to experience and compete in surfing. Surfing NZ has developed adaptive surfing programmes, and the International Surfing Association (ISA) includes para-surfing at world level. New Zealand has excellent surf and growing adaptive surfing communities on the North and South Island coasts. This guide covers the key funding sources.
Surfing NZ has an adaptive surfing programme:
- Para-surfing as a discipline
- State adaptive surfing development
- ISA Para Surfing pathway
- Inclusive surfing
Contact Surfing NZ and your regional surfing organisation for Sport NZ investment access.
Paralympics NZ has interest in para-surfing development:
- ISA para-surfing on the Paralympic pathway
- Disability sport development
Sport NZ funds surfing through Surfing NZ:
- Para-surfing development investment
- Community participation
RSTs fund community adaptive surfing programmes.
RSTs fund adaptive surfing:
- Equipment grants for adaptive boards and beach access
- Disability sport inclusion
- Community water sport
Key RSTs:
- Aktive Auckland: Auckland coastal adaptive surfing
- Sport Wellington: Wellington surf community
- Sport Bay of Plenty: Bay of Plenty surf scene
- Sport Otago: Dunedin and Otago coast
Gaming trusts fund adaptive surfing programmes:
- Four Winds Foundation: Community sport organisations
- Grassroots Trust: Youth and community sport
- Pub Charity: Equipment and community grants
- Lion Foundation: Community sport
Gaming trust applications for adaptive surfing:
- Adaptive surfboards (wider, stable) — $500–$2,000+
- Beach wheelchairs — $1,500–$5,000
- Adaptive vests and tethers
- Programme delivery and instruction
Key equipment:
- Adaptive surfboards: Wide, stable boards for prone/seated surfing — $500–$2,000+
- Beach wheelchair: Essential for beach access — $1,500–$5,000
- Adaptive tethers: For upper limb impairment surfers
- Buoyancy aids: Safety equipment
Beach wheelchairs transform access — a priority equipment grant item.
CCS Disability Action and related organisations:
- Equipment grants for disability sport
- Community access for people with physical disability
- Ocean participation for disabled New Zealanders
Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People:
- Disability participation support
- Adaptive surfing potentially fundable through disability plans
Adaptive surfing's therapeutic dimension:
- Ocean therapy: Well-documented therapeutic benefits of water and surf
- Rehabilitation through surf: Post-injury rehabilitation
- Hauora (wellbeing): Holistic wellbeing through ocean connection
Ocean therapy framing resonates with NZ funders that value hauora outcomes.
Adaptive surfing and cultural connection:
- Ocean relationship: Surfing as expression of relationship with Moana (ocean)
- Māori and Pacific disability: Disability sport for Māori and Pacific communities with disability
- Whanaungatanga: Community and belonging through shared ocean experience
Lottery Outdoor Leisure and Sport: Outdoor disability sport including adaptive surfing.
Strong applications demonstrate:
- Participant numbers: Surfers by disability classification, age, and gender
- Adaptive equipment: Boards, beach wheelchairs — specific and justified
- Beach access: How access barriers are reduced
- Ocean therapy outcomes: Wellbeing and rehabilitation dimensions
- Disability inclusion: Accessible programme for diverse disability types
- Cultural connection: Māori or Pacific relationship with the ocean
- Organisation governance: Affiliation to Surfing NZ and state body
Tahua's grants management platform helps adaptive surfing programmes manage grant applications across Surfing NZ, Paralympics NZ, Sport NZ, RSTs, gaming trusts, and disability funders, tracking equipment, access, and wellbeing outcomes.