5 Minutes With… Yvette Cave
All The Elements community member, ocean diversity advocate and founder of Wave Wahines Yvette Cave is shifting what it means to belong in blue spaces. Here’s a 5 minute introduction to her work…
Yvette, tell us in one sentence about you and what you’re passionate about?
I'm a mother of three who wants to leave the world in a better, more equitable place than it is now, through the power of surfing and ocean connection.
What does that look like in practice?
I founded a surf club called Wave Wahines , for women and girls and we have surfed with 1000s of women and girls over the last 9 years.
We run fully-coached surf sessions, skate lessons, community beach cleans and I am a surf therapy facilitator. We ensure sessions are affordable and have a bursary for this who may not be able to afford to attend otherwise.
Our work has included supporting women living in refuge fleeing domestic violence, resettled communities fleeing war and our local community.
We have created the first female-focused surf contest run annually, and have run trans and non-binary youth surf sessions and surf programs with urban-based communities.
We ensure connection and surfing is rooted in fun and love. The focus is on the positive impact we can have on mother ocean and not just the impact mother ocean can have on us.
Where do you feel most connected to the outdoors and why?
In the ocean or near any body of water.
The water on earth is all that there ever has been. The ocean local to me, that I swim and surf in, is the same that my ancestors in Mauritius and Bangladesh will have splashed in, and that my children play in. It connects us all, whether it’s coming from the tap or falling from an idyllic waterfall!
“surfing was something that wasn’t available for my children and others at the time of wave wahines inception and having seen the joy and lives it has changed I could never not do this.”
What is one thing you wish more people knew about the work you do?
That it's mostly voluntary and I have to work a full time job alongside it to survive!
How has the All The Elements community supported you with your work?
Having community and a safe space to be myself in my own skin has been vital to staying in the space I occupy.
Whats coming up for you next?
I am heading away after receiving a Churchill Fellowship to learn how other countries have made surfing, and ocean advocacy and activism, more accessible for diverse ethnic communities .
I am travelling to the US, Hawaii, Australia and Bangladesh.
Where can people find you at Kendal Mountain Festival 2025?
I’ll be presenting some of the films, joining All The Elements on the Patagonia Action Works stand on Friday 21st from 10:30-12:30 and speaking on the Deuter Bothy Stage on Friday at 6.15pm.
Where else can people find and follow your work?
You can find Wave Wahines on Instagram @wave_wahines and Facebook @NDwavewahines.
And follow me on LinkedIn @Yvette-Cave.
