Our Story: A Family-Run Women’s Surf Camp in Tenerife
She Surfs was born from a mother, the ocean and a simple question: why does surfing have to feel like a competition?
It started with our mum
She Surfs was founded by our mum, Carmen Elena Romero. Long before we ever stood on a board, she was the one who taught us to swim and showed us how to love the sea.
Water and movement have always been her life. A former athlete of the Venezuelan national triathlon team and former coach of Venezuela’s national synchronised swimming team, she is also a dance teacher, swimming instructor and personal trainer. She founded Altiux Gym in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, and her own synchronised swimming club, Laboratorio de Sirenas.
Years later, she joined a surf lesson of her own and noticed something we had never questioned: surfing, and the way it was taught, was built around men and competition. More waves, more pressure, less room to simply learn and enjoy.
With surfing now at the heart of her children’s lives, she decided to create something different. In 2024, She Surfs opened its doors as a surf school made with women in mind.
Raised in a house led by women
We grew up in a matriarchal home, surrounded by strong women: our mum, our grandmother Europa, and our twin sisters Valentina and Valska, who today are instructors at Altiux Gym. These women shaped the way we see the world, and the way we teach.
That, together with our mum’s lifetime in sport and our own training as physical education teachers, is why most of the people we teach are women, and why we teach the way we do.
Meet Pichi & Tico, and our team
We’re Pichi and Tico, known in the surf world as Pichi & Tico Bajanchi. Raised by the women in our family and trained as physical education teachers, today we lead She Surfs, both our surf school in Playa de las Américas and our surf camp in San Blas, Tenerife.
We know what it means to be a woman learning to surf in a space that wasn’t built for you, because we grew up hearing it at home. That’s why we’ve built a team that includes female surf instructors, and why every lesson is calm, patient and fun, with a maximum of 4 women per instructor.
At the surf house in San Blas, only our host sisters live with you. The house is a women-only space.
The She Surfs Method
Our method is simple: fewer students, more attention, more fun.
Maximum 4 students per instructor
A surf lesson lasts 120 minutes. Shared between 4 students, that’s up to 30 minutes of focused attention each. In a typical group of 8 or 10, it drops to just 12–15 minutes. We choose quality over crowds.
Drysurf: learn on land, surf with confidence
We’re the only surf school in Tenerife training with Drysurf, a surf simulator that recreates the movement of a surfboard on land. Before you paddle out, you practise your pop-up, stance and balance again and again, with your instructor right beside you to correct your posture.
In one hour on Drysurf, you can practise 40 to 60 take-offs, something that could take a whole week in the water. So when you meet your first wave, your body already knows what to do.
Rhythm and music in every lesson
We mix rhythm and music into every session, because learning feels easier, and a lot more fun, when you’re moving to a beat.
Resilience, support and patience
No pressure, no competition. We teach at your pace, celebrate every small step and support you through every wipeout.
“The best surfer isn’t the one who catches the most waves, it’s the one having the most fun.”
For us, that says it all: the most important thing is that you enjoy every moment.
2026: From surf school to surf camp
Two years of lessons taught us something: the magic doesn’t end when you leave the water. It happens over breakfast, on the way to the beach, in the stories shared after a good session.
So in 2026, our mum joined us in Tenerife to create the She Surfs Camp: a women-only week in our sea-view surf house in San Blas, with a maximum of 6 guests, 5 surf lessons and the same family spirit that started it all.
Come surf with our family
Arrive as a guest. Leave as part of the She Surfs family.
Our host sisters
At our surf camp, two host sisters live in the house with you all week: welcoming you on arrival, sharing breakfasts and making sure you feel at home from day one. The surf house is a women-only space, just you, the other guests and your host sisters.