Beau Nixon, Stand Up Paddler and SUP Surf Coach

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Beau Nixon, Stand Up Paddler, SUP Coach, Podcaster, Commentator and Founder of Travel With A Paddle

Beau Nixon was born in NSW, Australia and before he could walk his dad had him on the nose of his longboard. Growing up by the coast he got into competing at longboarding, winning the Australian Junior Longboard Championships. He was then introduced to Stand Up Paddling in 2002 and the rest is history. Nixon would compete in as many SUP events as he could and became Australian Open Stand Up Paddle Champion. He qualified for the SUP World Tour and competed for a number of years along with honing his skills as a Stand Up Paddle Coach and surf guide. 

In 2019 Nixon created his own SUP Travel Company called Travel With A Paddle. They offer epic SUP Holidays to locations like Costa Rica, The Maldives and Mozambique. He is also a writer and contributor for SUPboarder Magazine and commentates for the APP World Tour. 

Tune in to find out about how Nixon got into SUP, advice for getting into Stand UP Paddling, what trips he has planned and loads more!

Beau Nixon Rad Season Podcast Episode

First SUP Experience

Beau Nixon: My first  go at SUP was on a board that was 11’2 and 35 wide or something. It was so thick. It was massive. Oh, my God, I hated it the first time I tried it. It was one foot, onshore conditions and I couldn’t stand up and I couldn’t turn it around. Absolute shocker. I was like, I’m never doing it again. 

I ended up trying it again, because a mate convinced me to give it another go. I tried it again in cleaner conditions and I can see the appeal. It’s similar to longboarding I guess. It was a big, longboard, I could walk to the nose. You get a lot more speed from the paddle as well when you’re paddling. That was really amazing.

That felt really natural to me to be able to switch the paddle over and use it as a tool to turn. I’m not sure why it felt so natural. 

SUP World Tour

Oli Russell-Cowan: How was that first year on tour?

Beau Nixon: It was pretty awesome. The first event was a trials event. I had to go through the trials, which to qualify through to the main event. Then you could be on tour if you get to the top 24. The first event was in Hawaii and I made it through the trials. I got 17th I think in the event. This was the first event of the year, so it was setting the scene for who was going to be going into the next event. 

Oli Russell-Cowan: This was at Sunset Beach, right?

Beau Nixon: It was at Sunset in 2012. 

Oli Russell-Cowan: Was it big and heavy?

Beau Nixon: It was some of the biggest surf I’ve ever taken on out there. I had some custom board shaped. A 9’6. This was when boards were still pretty big. Kai Lenny was there, he was probably on the smallest board and it was like a 8’6 or something. I remember taking off on this wave and just the drop. The look on my face. I was like, Oh my god.

I made that wave and did a couple of turns. I got a four or five but ended up getting through and qualifying. 

Oli Russell-Cowan: Had you done any seasons out there or spent some time over there before?

Beau Nixon: We did a family holiday to Hawaii during a surf season. That was my first introduction to it, but not really any big waves. I had so many practice sessions just to get psyched up and just trying to understand how to ride big waves.

I’ve always had a love of big waves. It’s always been enjoyable for me to take a pounding or try and surf the biggest waves around the coast, where I grew up. We got some big waves, but nothing that big.

Watch the FULL Beau Nixon Episode on Rad Season’s YouTube channel or Facebook Page.

You can also follow what Travel With A Paddle is up to on Instagram at travelwithapaddle and on their website travelwithapaddle.com

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Oli Russell-Cowan

The concept for Rad Season came about when I was trekking around Latin America. I found it difficult to find cool events and festivals going on that were a bit different and had an element of adventure and general radness to them. I knew that there was always something rad worth going to somewhere in the world, but there was no single platform bringing them together for like-minded people. With over 15 years experience in international business development, spanning multiple industries including action sports, events, media, digital, ICT, travel and tourism, I decided to combine them all with Rad Season.

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