Lifeis Better When You Surf® - Candice Land

I’m not sure how many times in life you meet someone who leaves you feeling both inspired by their commitment and quietly wishing you had a little of what they’ve got. Candice Land is one of those rare people—deeply passionate, endlessly curious, and totally committed to helping others thrive.

As the founder of The Female Surfer, she’s built a powerful platform that supports women in and out of the water through training, education, and genuine connection. In this interview, she shares her journey from learning to surf in Ireland to working with the WSL’s best, and how she’s changing the game for female surfers everywhere.

GSI:  Hi Candice, please tell us about yourself, where you live and what you do? 
CL: Hmmm, I think one thing you should know about me is that I am incredibly curious about life and the world of human performance. This curiosity generally drives everything in my life. 

I have been an Exercise Physiologist and Sport Scientist for 20 years now, and my lifetime's work is understanding the UNIVERSE that is human performance. It's incredibly fascinating and a forever-changing industry, so I feel incredibly youthful in this profession. 

Currently, I reside in Kingscliff, on the Tweed Coast, in Northern NSW.  It's a lovely place. I work as a clinical Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Scientist and Sports Nutritionist, supporting surfers with injury prevention, rehabilitation and sports performance. I specialise in female sports performance and injury management in particular, and as an avid surfer, I have somehow created a world out of supporting fellow surfers. I am fortunate enough to work for the WSL medical team and, as a result, have been exposed to the best practitioners and surfers from around the globe. 

GSI: When did you start the Female Surfer?
CL: I started The Female Surfer in 2017, I think. I remember I had been working with the WSL medical team for a couple of years, as it was that experience that drove me to start The Female Surfer in the first place. There were several key moments I witnessed with female CT surfers that made me question everything I was doing - actually more like the things I WASN'T doing as a practitioner, despite my experience. 

At the time, the WSL was working towards equal waves and equal pay with the CT athletes. I could see that despite the tour women's capacities, the industry was asking them to perform on a male stage, and to meet and match the men. But they aren't men! And so I began looking into ways I could support them better as a practitioner. This lead me to research, observe and disect clinically what their unique challenges were, where there were gaps in the support they were receiving, and how as professionals, we can better help our female surfers - without driving them into burnout, ongoing injury/illness, psychological decline or a premature exit from competitive sport. 

As a business, it started as an educational platform, where I could present information to female athletes and coaches. My first presentation to the WSL medical team was in 2019 at the Pipeline Masters (before it was a competitive event for female CT surfers again), and it was titled "Acknowledging the Pink Elephant in the Room - Gender Specific Considerations for Female Surf Athletes". There were many jaws touching the ground during that presentation, but now, as you can see via social media, discussion around the challenges female athletes experience is becoming more prolific.

The Female Surfer has evolved and grown into a platform where female surfers and coaches can access advice, training programs, and protocols, as well as online support from anywhere in the world.

GSI: Can you tell our readers what Female Surfer is, and who it helps? 
CL: The Female Surfer is a training and education platform for females who want to "surf their best waves".  It's also a great portal for coaches and parents of female surfers. From this platform, I run online training, online workshops, and several surf conditioning courses that cater to those who want to dip their toes into surf conditioning, to those who want to prepare for competition or their ultimate surf trip.

It's super fun! The goal is to support female performance. This is my wheelhouse as an Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Scientist and Sports Nutritionist. I am interested in not just teaching females how to train for surfing, but how they support themselves as athletes (recreational to advanced). We cover everything from goal setting, to recovery and sports nutrition, to balance, cognitive training and stress management. The framework is all about females, so I have imprinted gender specific support all the way through the programs, tools and materials, from community inclusion, to PDF tools such as the focus tools I mention below. EVERYTHING has been designed with the female surfer in mind and the platform is there to help females THRIVE as surfers.

GSI: How old were you when you learnt to surf? Where was it, and who taught you?
CL: I think I was 24 or 25 when I learnt how to surf. So, a late bloomer. I grew up in the tropics of North Queensland, so I didn't have access to waves. Nor was I exposed to surfing in any way, shape or form. I learnt how to surf when I lived in Ireland for a bit. Yup, no joke. I moved to a fishing village on the West Coast, and the beaches were so amazing. I wanted to do something random, so I decided to learn how to surf.  As it turned out, I soon moved in with the lads who ran the surf school in Dingle, County Kerry. I would tag along with my wetsuits (plural, I had to wear two because I was so cold!) and jump in on a lesson. Or I would borrow a board and try to figure it out on my own. The funny thing is, because I was Australian, people would just assume I ran the surf school. That was until they saw me surf! Haha, it was pretty funny. I honestly have to thank those guys for my origins in surfing, and I am eternally grateful to have learnt in Ireland. 

GSI: What is the best tip you have for anyone learning to surf?
CL: Use focus as your ally. This tip is specifically for female surfers, but it can help anyone. As females, we tend to be more empathetic and able to put ourselves in other people's shoes. This is a superpower in a way, but in a sporting context, it can mean we care too much about what other people think of us. That sort of social-emotional attachment to sport/surfing can mean that our progress, confidence and enjoyment are impacted by what we think other people think of us. Our heads can become very noisy!

Try to focus on one thing per session. It could be your bottom turn, or where your hands are on your board when you pop up, anything. By focusing on what you want to work on in a session, you cancel out the noise of other people's opinions of you.  Your focus shifts from the external world around you, to yourself, what you can control, and your performance. 

GSI: Tell us about a surf session that really sticks in your mind.
CL:  Wow! What a challenging question to answer. Some of my surf sessions stick in my mind for all the wrong reasons. For example, getting absolutely worked at Margies! 

I'm a bit of a solo surfer. I love the quiet moments in surfing, where it all links together,  and you can feel your fins cutting through the ocean and hear the waves doing their thing.  I have had magical moments like these all over the world, but most recently at Clarke's Byron Bay. I was surfing at sunset. The Pass was mentally crowded, so I paddled down and stuck to the beachies by myself. The sun hit the ocean, and for 5 minutes or so, the water turned bright pink. The wind was minimal, so the world around me was quiet. I saw a magic peak pop up and paddled effortlessly into a perfect 3-foot a-frame peak that was silent, bright pink and pitched into a small barrel.  All I could hear was my board on the wave.  All I could see was the pink ocean and the sunset. It was nuts! Perfect speed, perfect line. It felt otherworldly!

GSI: What is your favourite surf spot?
CL: Not my local hahaha! Nah, it has its days. To be honest, the most magical place I have surfed in the world has been the Maldives. There's so much on offer there. My preference is to stay on a boat, so that we can hunt down waves but I enjoy the glassiness of the waves and the hollow ones are my favourite :-).

GSI: What is your favourite GSI board at the moment, and what do you like about it?
CL: My favourite board is the Salt Gypsy Chi Chi! I am loving it! I am surfing the 5'6 (30L), which I chose using the weight categories on the GSI website. I had some experience with the Chi Chi during my Maldives trip with Salt Gypsy in 2024. I loved the rail, but surfed that board a bit bigger (6'0).  As a small person, I really notice the volume in boards, so I knew that I needed to go shorter, and I must say, 5'6 is perfect. 

For context, my local is a moody sort of break, with a near constant sweep that can be brutal. The beauty of the Chi Chi is the 'volume, without compromise' I call it. It paddles so easily, even as a small board. I feel like I am sitting on top of the water more and this helps me make it over sections a whole lot easier. The 'without compromise' reference is the rails! It surfs like a short board should. That's what surprised me the most, despite the volume, the Chi Chi still feels like a performance short board under my feet. It can still do all the things I need it to do! It's my favourite all round board because I can still be confident that it will surf well in larger and good quality surf as well. It's the perfect surf trip board and it's worth having 1-2 in your quiver. I will be bringing my Chi Chi to the Maldives again AND Indonesia this year. 

GSI: Our company mantra is ‘Life is Better When You Surf®️”. How does that statement resonate with you?
CL: Life IS better when you surf! - I am actually going to write that on a piece of paper and stick it on my wall. Particularly for the days where I prioritise everything else over surfing. 

To be honest, I don't think I can add much more to that statement. To me it's a Universal Truth! Just like gravity hahaha. You feel it in your soul! If I am feeling down or overwhelmed by life, it's often when I haven't surfed in a while. All it takes is one surf and I feel connected and whole again. My life feels - well, better!