Originally named ‘Balikbayod’ (Bah-lik-bi-yud), Returning Wave is supported by the 501(c)(3) US non-profit, The Wahine Project, and fiscally sponsored by Hack Club. 

We are a group of people who love the Philippines, love traveling, and would like to see surfing available to anyone who wants to try it, regardless of economic background. Have you ever traveled to surf in other countries and noticed the local children have an interest in surfing but don’t have access to surfboards? We did notice, and we began our program in the Philippines by bringing donated surfboards to the youth of the Siargao Cloud 9 area in 2007. More than a decade later, we have spread our reach to 13+ locations around the Philippines and collaborate with groups such as Surf to School Program, Share the Stoke, Brown Girl Surf and more. Learn more about our mission.

Local surf leaders manage the board borrowing program for the kids while our home base in the San Francisco Bay Area recycles surfboards and organizes Philippines surf trips to bring the boards you donate. We accept surfboard donations in Northern, Central and Southern California at our drop-off locations. 

Contact us to volunteer, contribute, or collaborate.