One Love, One Life

Female surf instructors bring their passion to Nova Scotia’s beaches

It’s exhilarating to stand on the windblown headland above Lawrencetown Beach on Nova Scotia’s eastern shore and watch the clusters of surfers as they catch waves in the moody, grey waters of the Atlantic. But observing these athletes as they carve and weave along the rugged coastline is one thing. It’s another to don a wetsuit and join in — with adequate instruction first, of course.

And that’s where Eastern Canada’s first female-owned-and-operated surf school, One Life, comes in.

One Life was founded in 2006 by a group of young surfers as a way to make the male-dominated sport more accessible to women. For co-owner Beth Amiro, 29, that means being able to draw on the insecurities she felt when she took up surfing at Lawrencetown 10 years ago. Although the sport appealed to her as a healthy and challenging activity, she didn’t see a lot of other women participating at the time.

“It’s not really that women had any fewer advantages in surfing, because in this sport, you’re respected for your ability, not your gender,” says Amiro. “I just think a place like One Life is a way to make it easier for women to feel like they can gain that ability. It’s certainly easier when you see other women enjoying it and succeeding at it.”