12:00a.m. 1st October 2008

World Surfaris owner Shaun Levings. Photo: Nicholas Falconer

Shaun Levings was in uncharted waters when he took promising young Sunshine Coast surfers, Joel Parkinson and Nick Wallace, on a promotional surfing trip to The Maldives in March, 1997.

Having grown up surfing the breaks at Avoca Beach on the New South Wales central coast, before getting a job at Thomas Cook Travel in the Sydney CBD, he had often dreamed of combining the two areas to create a niche surfing travel business.

But while he said he always had ambition, Shaun could hardly have imagined World Surfaris would one day become one of the world’s leading surf travel companies, boasting annual turnover approaching $8 million.

“I have to pinch myself sometimes when I realise how far we’ve come,” he said.

Not only has World Surfaris survived, it has thrived.

Earlier this year it sold its first franchise, in California. And a company-owned and operated outlet is set to open on the Gold Coast in November.

“You do need to be a bit cautious in the current economic climate. But it’s a booming niche industry,” Shaun said.

“A lot of ‘surfie bums’ from the 1970s are now professionals who drive around in BMWs and are happy to pay for a quality surfing holiday to locations the average person has never heard of.”

The list includes places like the Caroline Islands in Micronesia, described by Shaun as “the best right-hand break in the world”.

Based at Brisbane Road, Mooloolaba, World Surfaris offers 48 different trips to 10 countries.

Not only does the company offer trips to a range of great breaks, it can provide accommodation ranging from resorts to surf camps to live-aboard boats.

Shaun said while waves could be fickle, the agency endeavoured to maximise the chance that clients would have something special to ride during their trip.

“We promote holidays in peak season, but at the end of the day we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature,” he said. “The key has been providing a quality product with professional service.”