Camille Spaccarotella: Chasing Waves for Singapore

For most people, surfing and Singapore are two things that rarely belong in the same sentence. The country is known for its skyline, dense urban landscape, and busy port waters — not rolling surf breaks or world-class waves. Yet, quietly and steadily, a small but passionate surfing community has continued to grow, producing athletes who compete internationally despite the odds.

One of them is Camille Spaccarotella, a Team Singapore surfer and Sunday Shades ambassador who is helping to put Singaporean surfing on the regional map.

Born and raised in Singapore, Camille grew up with a deep connection to the sea. Living near the coastline meant the ocean was always part of daily life, shaping both her identity and eventually her athletic career. But her introduction to surfing did not happen through structured training or a local surf culture. Instead, it began during a family holiday in Bali.

What started as a fun vacation activity quickly became something much bigger. Camille, together with her father and brother, fell in love with surfing almost immediately. From that point onward, school holidays were no longer ordinary family trips — they became surf trips centered around chasing better waves and spending more time in the ocean.

Unlike surfers from countries with established surf cultures, Camille faced a unique challenge from the very beginning: Singapore has almost no natural surf breaks. Consistent training opportunities were limited, and competitive pathways were far less accessible compared to nations with year-round surf conditions. Every opportunity to surf required intentional effort, travel, and sacrifice.

Still, the limitations never stopped her progression.

Over time, surfing evolved from a holiday pastime into a serious pursuit. During her gap year before university, Camille began competing more regularly, transitioning into the world of competitive surfing.

A major milestone came in June 2023 when she represented Singapore at the Asian Surfing Championships in the Maldives. Competing against stronger and more established surfing nations, she secured a fourth-place finish overall for the Singapore women’s team, earning a copper medal for Singapore and gaining valuable international experience.

From there, her momentum continued to build.

In 2023, Camille won both the Tioman Surf Festival and the Desaru Kejora Surfing Cup in Malaysia. She also placed second at the Cherating International Surf Festival in both 2023 and 2024, before going on to win the National Surf Contest Hikkaduwa Series in Sri Lanka in 2024. Each event sharpened her technical ability while also strengthening her mental resilience as an athlete competing far from home.

Another breakthrough came in 2024 at the QS3000 Baler International Pro in the Philippines, where she reached the quarterfinals against some of Asia’s top-ranked surfers. Later that year, she also placed fourth at the Red Bull Ride My Wave competition in Sri Lanka.

But perhaps the most significant achievement of her career so far came through her performance at the 2024 Asian Surfing Championships in the Maldives. The result secured her qualification for the Asian Games, where she will represent Singapore.

In doing so, Camille became the first Singaporean surfer — and the first female Singaporean surfer — to qualify for the Asian Games.

The results came quickly once she committed. In 2023 alone, Camille won the Tioman Surf Festival and the Desaru Kejora Surfing Cup in Malaysia, and placed second at the Cherating International Surf Festival — a result she would go on to repeat in 2024. That same year brought even more milestones: first place at the National Surf Contest Hikkaduwa Series in Sri Lanka, a quarterfinal finish at the QS3000 Baler International Pro in the Philippines — one of the more prestigious events on the Asian circuit, contested against some of the region's highest-ranked surfers — and a fourth-place finish at the Red Bull Ride My Wave competition.

At the 2023 Asian Surfing Championships in the Maldives, she helped Singapore's women's team secure a fourth-place overall finish, returning home with a copper medal. Her performance at the 2024 edition was the one that changed everything. It clinched her qualification for the 2026 Asian Games, making her the first Singaporean surfer — male or female — to achieve that distinction. Most recently, she placed second at the Dongsha Open Shanghai Pro/Am in China in October 2025, continuing a run of form that shows no sign of slowing.

Every one of these results was earned competing against athletes from countries with surf cultures decades older than Singapore's, training facilities that are world-class, and ocean access that is daily rather than seasonal. Camille had none of that infrastructure behind her. She had dedication, family support, overseas training trips, and the willingness to go wherever the waves were — and to outperform surfers who had been groomed for exactly these competitions since childhood.

It is a milestone that carries special meaning not only for her personally, but also for the development of surfing in Singapore. Her journey has been built almost entirely through overseas training, persistence, and self-driven dedication while competing against athletes from countries with significantly more established surf ecosystems and easier access to quality waves.

Most recently, she added another impressive result to her resume with a second-place finish at the Dongsha Open Shanghai Pro/Am in China in October 2025.

Despite Singapore’s limitations as a surf destination, the local surfing community remains deeply passionate. One place that became especially important to Camille during the pandemic years was Longkang Point.

Located along Singapore’s East Coast, Longkang Point is one of the country’s few known surf spots. The wave typically works during the Northeast Monsoon season between November and March, though conditions are often inconsistent and significantly smaller than traditional surf destinations. Even so, for local surfers, it represents something important: a rare opportunity to surf without leaving the country.

During Covid, when international travel was restricted, Longkang Point became a gathering place for Singapore’s surf community. For Camille and many others, it helped maintain a connection to the sport during a difficult period.

Singapore’s surf scene has also continued evolving through newer training spaces such as Trifecta, which offers one of the closest experiences Singapore currently has to a dedicated surf training environment. While artificial wave facilities are not the same as surfing in the ocean, they represent a meaningful step forward for the local surf ecosystem and reflect the growing interest in the sport.

For Camille, the journey is still only beginning.

Her focus now is to continue developing as a competitive surfer, gain more experience internationally, and challenge herself against stronger fields of athletes — all while balancing university studies alongside the demands of elite sport.

In many ways, her story reflects something larger than surfing itself. It is about pursuing an unlikely path in a country where the sport barely exists naturally, and proving that passion, consistency, and resilience can still create opportunities where none seem obvious.

And for Singapore surfing, that wave may only just be starting.

That is the spirit behind every pair of Sunday Shades: built for those who go anyway, push anyway, and perform anyway.