A Surfing Sensei
Matt Lindsay, founder of LUXSurf Travel, is the professional wave hunter you want on speed dial.
Welcome to The Type 2 Traveler’s guide files. I believe guides are unsung heroes. They’re perpetual students and teachers. When I go through my digital rolodex, these are the people who have shepherded me through the outdoors over the years. Whether you’re looking for a backcountry ski guide or someone to lead you on a hike in Hawaii, these are the folks to call.
The secret to a great surf trip is finding a surfing sensei, like Matt Lindsay. The Australian founder of LUXSurf Travel, a San José del Cabo-based surf guiding company, has a sixth sense when it comes to chasing swell. He’s also an expert coach who can take your riding to the next level, whether you’re a beginner or life-long wave rider. I met Matt a few years ago when I scored an assignment to explore the surf-lined coast of the eastern cape of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. I’d spent many years surfing the peninsula’s better known Pacific coast between Cabo San Lucas and Todos Santos. This more rugged, undeveloped side with its wild donkeys and cardon cacti-studded landscape felt like the Wild West so I enlisted Matt to guide me around the breaks of La Fortuna, Nine Palms, and beyond. It turned out to be an all-time surf trip, not just because the waves were firing, but also because Matt was able to progress my surfing in a matter of days.
Matt is originally from Burleigh Heads, a wave mecca on Australia’s Gold Coast where he still spends his off season. While surfing competitively he also worked as a teacher at Palm Beach Currumbin State High, a school known for grooming future pros like Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson through its surf excellence program established by former world champion Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew. Phil McNamara, the legend who coached Fanning to three world titles, took Matt under his wing as and encouraged him to get his coaching certification. “I was the youngest one in the course at 18 but I had an eye for it,” he said. “I had the mindset of a teacher and surfer.” Matt went on to work as McNamara’s assistant and eventually took over his role as the state coach for Surfing Queensland.
He’s coached pros like Japanese surfer Kanoa Igarashi and has guided celebrities and A-listers, like Rob Lowe and Mark Zuckerberg. After stints working for surf travel company Perfect Wave and pioneering luxury surf company Tropicsurf, he relocated to Los Cabos, Mexico to start his own boutique surf travel venture, LUXSurf Travel. Here, he talks about the allure of the East Cape, the magic of the Maldives, the DNA of a good surf coach, and his addiction to discovering new waves, even mellow, small ones.
“It’s just as cool to find the next dream beginner wave spot.”
