Back in December 2009, Sofie and I rocked up in Varkala for the first time. We’d travelled the southwest coast of India looking for waves and somewhere to stay a month or two. We timed our first look at the coast with a proper swell.
Main beach was pumping.
I surfed every day. Hardly saw another surfer. Sofie did her yoga teacher training.
After a few weeks we started exploring.
I found Edava on a mid-sized swell and thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
A year later we were back with as many boards as we could carry. Rented a four-bed place near the south cliff. Bought an ambassador.
That was the start of Soul & Surf.
Varkala sits deep with us. It came from risk, from wanting something different, from trying to build a life that felt more honest.
We gave it a go. We lived it. We grew it.
After five or so years it became its own thing. Sofie, a just-born Kit, and I moved to Sri Lanka. Others stepped in and carried it forward. Bit by bit it, year by year it has turned into something hard to define.
A home, for guests and staff. A place people came to reset. And so many have told us it helped them reassess their direction.
That feels good.
A year ago, our dodgy landlord made things clear. Unless we partnered with him and gave him a large % of every rupee we earned, we were out. Anyone who has run a business knows that doesn’t work.
We negotiated one more year. At an extortionate rent because we hoped we’d find another place, or that he’d change his mind. Neither happened.
So yesterday, April 30th 2026, we closed the doors on our cliff-top home.
To everyone who’s been part of it: Guests, regulars, team, surfers, cooks, yogis, volunteers, DJs, dancers, photographers, artists, designers, filmers, therapists, friends.
A heartfelt thank you.
You helped build something that lasted 15 years. This chapter in Varkala has ended.
For now.
Read MoreIt hurts. As founders, losing the original home cuts deep.
More than that, it’s the team. Thirty-plus local staff out of work at the end of May. We’re doing what we can to support them through it. They’re good people. Skilled, solid, and part of a growing surf scene in Varkala that we’re proud to have founded.
To the Varkala Soul & Surf family. We love you. And I’m sorry we couldn’t save it.
Love, Ed, Sofie & Kit
x
Read LessYou know that dream you carry around with you each day?
It’s kinda important.
Wasn’t it what you were put on planet earth to do?
