The Rush was conceived by British surfer and Portugal resident Ben Kadori and was founded in collaboration with prominent Portuguese surf professionals.

"The vision for The Rush," Ben recalls, "began on a surf trip to Costa Rica with a group of friends, all highly motivated to improve our surfing. I realised that to attain our surf goals, we must find and surf the best waves for our level, and when we are out of the water, to have complimentary activities such as video analysis of our filmed sessions, train Yoga, surf-skate and strength and mobility.

I also realised that the key to achieving all this while on vacation in a foreign place was at the hands of the local surf professionals. Without them, our chances of finding the perfect waves for our level were very low as it takes local knowledge to predict which surf spot will produce which wave quality on a given forecast, and trying on your own means wasting your days on wave hunting instead of actually surfing. The challenge was finding the right local people and services to make it all happen. So, we started connecting with local surfers, and that changed everything. We were introduced to off-the-radar surf spots that were empty and firing, while the main spots were crowded or blown out. We met incredible people who shared decades of knowledge and completely transformed our experience.

Lightbulb moment

That was the lightbulb moment—why wasn't this readily accessible to all surfers? Why should anyone rely on guesswork, luck, and endless research to create a successful surf trip? I wasn't looking to start a company, but the need was there. I needed this, and I knew thousands of other surfers did, too."

Ben spent years working in business development, sales, and partnerships in the hi-tech sector and built on his knowledge and experience to realise his idea. "It started with a company I founded before, The Rush, a travel company dedicated to running curated surf trips in Peniche and working with local top surfers, coaches, and photographers. It was an incredibly formative first step that taught me the limitations of organised group trips: that every trip required numerous participants to align on dates, budget, and skill level. These are factors which, more often than not, do not coincide. These limitations left surf travellers lacking a simple way to book high-quality surf services that fit their needs. That insight resulted in The Rush platform. With The Rush, surfers can book world-class experiences on their terms, solo or with friends, having total flexibility to choose service providers from a pool of vetted local pros, removing uncertainty from the booking process."

Credits: Supplied Image; Author: THE RUSH; Ben Kadori

Ben shared his vision with Joao Tavares, a Computer Science master, fellow passionate surfer, and World Surf League Judge, and with Ran Bar-Yosef, a scuba diver and serial entrepreneur who has built and scaled multiple successful businesses. The three founded The Rush platform and joined forces with some of Portugal's top surf pros, such as Vasco Ribeiro, Tomás Fernandes, Guilherme Fonseca, Xico Alves, Carina Duarte, Ivo Cação, João Guedes, João Bracourt, Tó Mané and Pedro Mestre, to offer the highest quality of coaching and photography to all levels, from beginners to Nazare big wave enthusiasts.

"Surfing has been my anchor, something that has helped me through some of the most challenging times in my life. It has given me peace, focus, connection, and joy, and I know I'm not alone. What excites me every day is that The Rush isn't just a business - it's a way to do good in the world. It's a chance to bring people into something real—the ocean, nature, adventure, health and human connection.

“I look at the world around us and see things moving towards isolation, digital life, and virtual experiences. Surfing is the opposite of that. It's real. It's about being present, experiencing nature, pushing yourself, and finding your people. The fact that I get to build something that facilitates that for others while also helping local surf professionals make an honest, dignified living makes me proud beyond words."

The Rush platform has been recently launched and is accessible online at URL: therush.us

Author

With a passion for surfing and writing, Yariv Kav moved to Portugal´s wave capital from his native Israel. He was awarded a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Manchester back when Oasis was still cool, and a diploma with distinction from the London School of Journalism in Feature and Freelance Writing. Loves travel, languages and human stories.

Yariv Kav