Meet Kaydi Archer – WSSM

​My name’s Kaydi Archer, and I’m a 16 year old Floridian now living part-time in Puerto Rico. I write and model for Women’s Surf Style Magazine (WSSM). I’m currently a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast University majoring in Special Education, to eventually earn my doctorate in Deaf Education. I am a master surf instructor and volunteer American Sign Language interpreter for the Deaf and non-verbal for Surfers for Autism. When I am not volunteering or in class, I spend my free time big-wave surfing in Puerto Rico. There’s no feeling more exhilarating than gliding down the open face of a huge wave.

Meet Kaydi on Instagram: @KaydiArcher.

1. What’s your favorite surf spot?

My favorite surf spot of all time is Wilderness, Puerto Rico on a big day.

2. What’s your favorite beach to just hang out and relax?

My favorite beach to just hang out and relax is beautiful Playa Crashboat.

3. How and why did you get involved with Surfers for Autism?

I got involved with Surfers for Autism several years ago when I noticed the large event going on down the beach from where I was surfing. Nothing fills me with more joy than helping a special needs child stand up on a surfboard for the first time. It’s a life changing experience not only for the children and family, but also for all of the volunteers. I am now a master surf instructor and volunteer American Sign Language interpreter for this amazing organization.

What people don’t see from the shore is how much goes into each event before a single board hits the water. We arrive hours early to set up the tents, check the boards, assign flotation vests, and go over the safety protocols one more time. Families start showing up before the sun is fully up, some having driven three or four hours to be there. You can tell the ones who have been before — they come in knowing the rhythm, waving at familiar faces. The first-timers are easier to spot. The parents usually look a little nervous, gripping their kids’ hands, unsure what to expect. By the end of the day, that nervousness is almost always gone.

The volunteer crew has become something of a family over the years. People come from all over for these events, and you meet folks you would never have crossed paths with otherwise. Teachers, firefighters, retired nurses, college kids doing their first volunteer hours, parents who started as participants and stayed on once their own children outgrew the program. Everyone brings their own skills to the table. One of our regulars is a physical therapist who helps us adapt the equipment for kids with more complex needs. Another is a photographer who donates her weekend to capture the moments families will treasure for years.

There’s a guy who has been coming out to the events for about three years now. During the week he writes web copy from home for a whole mix of clients — a boat rental company, one of those fastest payout online casino Canada review sites, a couple of local restaurants trying to build out their menu pages. On the beach he’s one of the most patient volunteers we have. He has a way of reading kids who struggle with sensory overload, slowing everything down, giving them time to feel the board under their feet before anyone asks them to stand up. He told me once that the events are the only thing that makes him put his phone away for a full day, and I think that’s true for a lot of us.

That’s the thing about this work — it strips away whatever you brought with you. Whatever stress you walked onto the sand carrying, it’s gone by the time you push your first rider into the break. I have watched a ten-year-old who had never spoken a full sentence to a stranger look back at her mom from the lineup and yell her name with pure joy. I have watched dads cry on the shoreline watching sons they thought would never try something this bold paddle out and catch their first wave. These moments stay with you. They rewire how you think about what is possible.

So if you ask me why I keep showing up, that’s the honest answer. It isn’t the title or the certification or even the ocean, though I love all of those things. It’s the families. It’s the slow, steady trust that builds over a morning. It’s the parent who pulls you aside at the end of the day and says, “He hasn’t stopped smiling since he got out of the water.” There is nothing else in my life that comes close to that feeling, and I don’t expect there ever will be.

4. One word that describes how you feel when you catch that “perfect” wave?

One word that describes how I feel when I drop into the “perfect” wave: indescribable. Okay, also magical, weightless, and exhilarating.

5. What’s your favorite “after the beach” snack?

My favorite after the beach snack is a ‘coco frio’ (ice cold coconut). First drink the water, then cut it open for the meat.

6. What’s your very first memory of the beach?

My very first memory of the beach is collecting shells with my grandmother at my home break.

7. Who’s your surf inspiration?

My surf inspiration is Lakey Peterson. I’ve never seen someone surf with so much power and drive.