About

Biography

Gina is also known as MSG’s “ambassador of aloha”. She goes above and beyond to ensure that all our students and their families have top-notched customer service. She’s been with MSG since 2011 & has been many roles with us. She teaches our surf lessons, helps run the surf school during our busy seasons, and teaches and mentors our teen girls at our summer surf camp. Everyone loves Gina’s approachable and compassionate personality both in and out of the water. Currently Gina’s travel bug has taken her living months at a time in Panama and Mexico as she loves practicing her spanish and surfing skills. So if you’re a spanish speaking student, you may want to request Gina as your instructor!

Biography

Kelly Potts’ exuberance for life can be contagious; all thanks to her life-long participation in sports. As a teen she formed a passionate relationship with nature when she took up surfing, marrying sport with the outdoors, and since then has centered her life around adventure and wave hunting. It is with no surprise that Kelly decided to share the great gifts she gained through surfing with her Maui community by providing free surfing clinics and retreats for local females, as well as for indigenous girls and women in the Pacific Northwest. Through the sport of surfing Kelly helps females discover their inner lordess, while perpetuating sisterhood.

Learn more about Kelly and her surf clinics by checking out her website here! 

Follow Kelly on Instagram @kellypottssurfer

Biography

Kiki is our Brazilian powerhouse, gracing our students and campers alike with excellent surf coaching and heartfelt mentorship.  She’s a talented water woman, you’ll catch her stand up paddling, long boarding and short board surfing all the best surf breaks in Maui.    Kiki brings out the best in our students, while her passion and enthusiasm for the sport is infectious.

Biography

We are so excited to welcome Lara Claydon as a full-time instructor at Maui Surfer Girls, after being on our part time and on-call staff for quite a while! 

Lara Claydon is a professional Stand-Up Paddler, Longboarder & Ocean Athlete from Maui, Hawai’i. Competing professionally in Stand-Up Paddling since she was thirteen, post-high school Lara took two years off school to travel & compete on the Stand-Up Paddle World Tour full-time.

In August 2020, she started her first semester at Bond University in Australia, studying for her bachelor’s degree. In August 2022, Lara graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication with a minor in Public Relations. Lara hopes to pursue a successful communication and public relations career in the surfing industry, allowing her to continue competing and travelling worldwide.

When Lara was 5-years old, her family moved to Maui, and since then this island has been her home. She went to school at Lahaina Intermediate and Myron B. Thompson Academy for High School which is an online school based in Oahu. However, she played sports for LahainaLuna High School all four years, swimming and Lady Lunas Waterpolo. Myron B. Thompson Academy allowed Lara to travel and compete professionally in Stand-Up Paddling while also studying on the road.

Lara started surfing when she was 2-years old, when her dad took her surfing for the first time.  Since then she fell in love with the ocean and the sport itself.

Lara loves teaching surfing because she loves “sharing the joy that surfing brings, seeing students smiles and joy after catching their first wave ever – nothing compares to that feeling that you got to be a part of that. Sharing the beauty of the ocean and my home is also one of my favorite things.”

When she’s not surfing, Lara loves to workout, hiking, diving, dirt biking and relaxing at the beach, especially at sunset with friends.

Follow Lara : 

Instagram: @lalaclaydon

Facebook: Lara Claydon

Website: www.laraclaydon.com

Biography

The official mascot of Maui Surfer Girls, Luna is now retired from surf instruction! She started surfing when she was only 5 month old, and she’s a natural on a board, whether surfing or skateboarding! She’s a black lab, pointer mix, so when she’s not surfing, she’s fishing for minnows and sand crabs along the shore. She’s not on the water as much these days, but occasionally she’ll come down to the beach to greet students and campers.

Follow Luna on Instagram @lunasurfdog

Biography

Meet Maggie Venters!

Maggie grew up in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, where she started surfing at 8 years old. She recently moved to Maui to enjoy warmer, clearer water!

Maggie loves teaching surfing because it empowers people and shows them what they are capable of!

 When not surfing, she love snorkeling, searching for waterfalls, and relaxing in my hammock at the beach.  Prior to joining Maui Surfer Girls, she was a surf instructor in Costa Rica and San Diego for many years.  

Follow Maggie on  Instagram  @maggiev620

Biography

Natalie is from California where she grew up snowboarding in Lake Tahoe. “I used to come on vacation with my family as a child to Hawaii. I would sit on the beach and watch the surfers and told myself that one day I am going to move to Hawaii and become a surfer. When I first moved here after college, I did not have a surfboard but would borrow boards and go out on my own as much as I could. After many wipeouts I finally got the hang of it. My love for surfing grows everyday. Surfing has made me a better person. It has made me more humble, patient and loving. When I teach I get so excited when someone catches a wave because I know the stoked feeling that they are experiencing.”

Natalie has been teaching surf lessons with Maui Surfer Girls since 2016, and in 2017, she also joined our teen camp staff as a welcome addition.

Biography

Liz Smith has been our marketing manager since December 2015, and she is also serves as the surf school manager.

“I went to high school at Seabury Hall with Dustin, although we were a couple years apart, but we reconnected when we were both on the alumni board a few years back. Then she posted that she was hosting a women’s surf camp and I jumped on the opportunity! I hadn’t surfed very much, so I was looking forward to spending some quality time on the water. But I quickly realized that camp wasn’t just about the surfing. As an adult, bonding so closely with a group of women was such a life-changing experience. All of the Maui Surfer Girl staff is so amazing… when Dustin asked me to come on board (pun intended), I just had to say yes!”

When she’s not working, she can be seen driving her kids to and from Carden Academy and numerous after school activities!

Biography

Carole Berthiaume was a surf instructor with Maui Surfer Girls from 2013-14. In 2018, she returned to Maui after a few years back in the mainland running her own surf school in South Carolina. Carole has 23 years of surfing experience including competitive surfing. Her degree in Marine Biology goes hand in hand with her love of the ocean. She is ecstatic to be back teaching surf lessons with MSG and had a blast with her first Teen Camp, also in 2018, helping to inspire the next generation of female surfers!  In 2020, she transitioned from surf instructor to our awesome retail and social media manager!

Follow Carole on Instagram @nrg_rider

Biography

After several years of going back and forth between Maui and Oahu, we are so excited to have Raye a full-time Maui Surfer Girl now!  She’s worked at both our women’s and teen camps, and helped us with our surf lessons during our busy seasons.  She’s moved to Maui with her son Raiden and partner Lance, who is also teaching for us now!

Raye is known for her versatility; she dabbles in a variety of other sports, including cycling, Capoeira, pole vault, circus arts, etc.  In addition to teaching sports, she has also worked as a musician, artist, actor, and balloon twister.

Follow Raye on Instagram @the_katt

Biography

Lance and his wife Raye (and their son Raiden) moved to Maui in 2019 to be a part of our full time team! Prior to joining us, they were working as surf instructors on the North Shore of Oahu for several years!