Freedom on the Water
Ocean High was established in Marazion, Cornwall in 2008 by Lawrence Smith. Initially, Ocean High focused on power kiting and kite surfing. We were the first to introduce Stand Up Paddleboarding to Mounts bay in 2012 and kayaking soon after.
All our instructors are fully qualified by National Governing Bodies of British Kitesports Association for Kitesurfing and Paddle UK for SUP. The safety of our students is always our priority.
Lawrence Smith, Founder and Lead Instructor
Lawrence started kitesurfing in the very early years of the sport in 2000. His background is as a marine biologist and he was Curator of some of the UK’s largest public aquaria before travelling the world designing and building aquaria and ultimately setting up his own aquarium consultancy business.
His passion, however, was kitesurfing and that lead him to start Ocean High in 2008. He has been kitesurfing for over 20 years and a British Kitesports Senior instructor for 15 years and built up a wealth of knowledge on how to deliver lessons effectively and safely. He started Stand Up Paddleboarding 10 years ago and is a qualified Waterskills Academy Instructor and Adventure Guide.
His passion and knowledge of the marine environment adds a unique dimension to our SUP trips that can turn them into marine discovery sessions should our students desire. You’ll come back from a lesson with Lawrence having learnt the names of at-least 5 different jellyfish, 10 different species of seaweed and an abundance of fish names.
Louise - Senior SUP Instructor
Louise has a life long passion for the ocean and the environment. She has been paddleboarding for five years and recently qualified as a WSA Adventure SUP Guide.
As well as SUP instructing, Louise is a primary school teacher and prior to that worked as an instructor for a national outdoor education organisation.
Recently, Louise has worked with her pupils to deliver the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free message, which led to Marazion becoming the third school in the whole of the UK to be granted ‘Plastic Free’ status. Very soon after, the town of Marazion was also given ‘Plastic Free’ status due to the incredible hard work and support from the community.
In October 2019, Louise joined the eXXpedition crew on the second leg of their Round the World voyage to sail across the Atlantic from the Azores to Antigua. This voyage was researching the impact that plastic pollution is having on the marine environment, as well as the effects it is having on human health. They aim to develop creative solutions to tackle these problems. She jointly runs our education team with Peter. Louise also makes a cracking chocolate brownie.
Peter - Senior Instructor / Kitesurf and SUP
After years coaching and developing athletes in elite sport Peter retrained to become a PE Teacher. However his love of the Cornish coastline and all water activities made him want to find a way to unite his passions for instructing and getting people out on or in the water. This brought him to us here at Ocean High were he jointly heads up our education team as well as being out on the water instructing. Pete is permanently chirpy and happy. Lessons with Pete are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
