Hi, I'm Shauni
I'm a surfer from The Netherlands, but I have been living in the jungle in Costa Rica for the past 5 years. Yes, surfing is what made me quit my job, sell my apartment and move to a town on the other side of the world, with consistent waves all year-round, and no need to wear a wetsuit!
I surf pretty much every day, but sometimes I would get back to the beach and I had no idea what I actually improved or learned that session. I did video analysis here and there. It left me a bit overwhelmed. There was still a lot to work on, and I needed something to help me focus.
At some point I started writing about my surf sessions in a random notebook. Not to count sessions, but to actually understand them. What I was working on. Whether it was starting to click. What a specific board felt like on a high tide session.
It became a ritual. Every evening, watching the sun go down, I'd open my notebook and write about the surf session from that morning. I slowed down. I started paying more attention — not just to the waves and my stance or upper body rotation, but to everything else that happened out there. A spotted eagle ray passing underneath me. A quiet session with a friend. Feeling frustrated, or grateful, or just really, really alive.
Writing it down changed how I surf, and honestly, how I paid attention to a lot of things. I liked it enough that I wanted other surfers to have the same thing. But something actually built for this, with the right prompts, not just a blank notebook.
That's Between Tides. It's the journal I wish I started using earlier in my surf journey.