It’s a bright afternoon on Cape Town’s Muizenberg beach and I’m racing down the sand in a wetsuit, stopping to lunge or star-jump as coach Nikita shouts orders. I may want to lie down and weep as I overheat and struggle to keep up, but the group encouragement gets me through the bootcamp-style workout before we jog into the waves for a two-hour surf lesson.

This is day five of a 10-week South African surfing adventure with Ticket to Ride, a British company that runs surf holidays and camps around the world. I’m here to sample its longest trip (also run in Morocco), which offers the chance of qualifying as an instructor at the end – and fitness training is high on the agenda.

“Some people just come for the experience, but most end up doing the qualifications anyway,” says Chris Bond, TTR head of operations. “We’ve had complete novices qualify – it’s amazing to see the mental and physical changes people go through in 10 weeks of being in the ocean every day. Plus it’s a great way to see South Africa.”

After two weeks in Cape Town, the 16-strong group will journey east along the coast, the water warming and scenery changing, and finish up north of Durban two months later. It’s a route that the company’s founders, Linley Lewis and Will Hayler, did independently while backpacking before university, and went on to recreate as a group trip, using the best local coaches and surfer-friendly accommodation.

Besides surfing and training, there’s plenty of time for exploring. Community work with NGOs and charities is another key part of the itinerary, with days dedicated to anything from painting classrooms to teaching English or cleaning beaches.

“Giving something back is at the heart of what we do,” says Chris.

Muizenberg, with its surfy vibe, golden sandy beach, long, gentle waves and mountain backdrop is a perfect spot to begin. We’re staying at the oceanfront African Soul Surfer hostel, a bright, fun place with dorms and a couple of private rooms. After a tough afternoon in the waves, we kick back on the terrace with a beer, exchanging surf notes and playing pool.

You’d perhaps expect such a long trip to attract kids on a gap “yah”, funded by wealthy parents. But it’s a mixed bunch, aged between 18 and 30, and some have been doing two jobs for months to save enough to come. We’re mostly Brits, with a sprinkling of Canadians, Dutch women and a guy from Dubai, and of mixed abilities; some have been surfing for years while others, like me, have barely stood up on a board before. Many are travelling post- or pre-uni, but others just want a break from everyday life, like Taha from Buckinghamshire, a junior doctor who is stepping out of the real world for a bit. Some are planning a career change – hoping to swap the office for a life by the sea.

“It’s a brilliant mix of backpacking, volunteering and surfing – and what’s even better is you might get a qualification at the end of it,” says Jennifer Snell, 20, from Wiltshire, who combined an office job with working as a fishmonger in Tesco to raise the money. “There’s enough freedom, but everything’s organised for you – so you can really focus on surfing.”

The next day we’re out early on the water again. As a novice, I practise popping up on my board on the sand before taking to the waves. The instruction is patient and encouraging and after many failed attempts, I briefly stand up and wobble towards the beach. There are tattered signs warning surfers to look out for sharks – and a hilltop watchtower overlooks the bay – but in the water I soon forget my fears. (Chris, who has surfed here for 23 years, assures me he’s only ever seen one – and not while surfing.) More people die taking selfies (falling off cliffs, being hit by trains), or from coconuts falling on their heads, than in shark attacks, he tells me.

The buzz from catching a wave is amazing – and I soon appreciate the others’ addiction to surfing.

Staying a week or longer in each of the seven destinations means there’s time to get out and do touristy things. We visit the penguins at Boulders Beach and hang out at a local market one evening. Climbing Table Mountain and hitting the nightlife are on the agenda too, as well as surfing Cape Town’s more challenging spots, from Long Beach to Kommetjie.

But a big part of the programme is working on community projects in each location. In Cape Town, it’s Waves for Change, a foundation started by an former TTR employee, Tim Conibear, which runs HIV awareness and youth leadership programmes in the townships, using surfing as a platform for education.

We join the kids for a warm-up on the beach before they jump into the ocean to practise their surf skills with the help of the TTR group. Part of the deal is that the children must go to school, and attend after-school lessons at the project centre.

“These kids come from the streets, from gangs and broken homes,” says Tim. “We help them gain confidence, find a sense of belonging and learn important life skills – and they get a hot meal, too. There needs to be something cool to get them interested – and surfing has that cool factor.”

Our group will be back next day to help paint the shipping containers used as classrooms.

Sadly, I don’t have the luxury of 10 weeks at my disposal, so the next morning I set off ahead of the group with Chris to check out a few of the other places on the itinerary. It’s a beautiful drive to Plettenberg Bay, the next stop, and en route the group will get the chance to test the world’s highest bridge bungee jump, at Tsitsikamma. “Plett” has a long arc of unspoiled sandy beach – and the accommodation, Albergo for Backpackers, is a great spot with an open braai in the evenings.

Further along the coast, Jeffreys Bay is a surfing mecca – a stop on the world tour and backdrop to Bruce Brown’s seminal 1966 surf movie The Endless Summer. (It was also the site where surf champ Mick Canning once got attacked by a shark but we won’t dwell on that.) Island Vibe, the hostel used by TTR, sits on a bluff overlooking Kitchen Windows, one of J-Bay’s most famous waves, and I can imagine the fun the group will have here.

Etienne Venter, coach of the South African surf team, will be working them hard too. Swim training in local pools, video analysis of surfing techniques, lessons in surf etiquette and lifesaving skills are all taught along the way. “This is a turning point in their journey,” says Etienne. “They’ll really start to put into practice and fine tune what they’ve learnt so far.”

Time will also be spent in township schools here, helping with maintenance and teaching, as well as with the Supertubes Surfing Foundation, a community-run conservation project with a brilliant recycling initiative.

All too soon, it’s time for me to fly home from Port Elizabeth, sad not to have time to visit the more remote destinations on the itinerary, but keenly aware how just being out in the ocean every day for 10 weeks must have a profound affect on a person. As they venture further around the coast the landscape will change again, the dramatic mountainous scenery of the Western Cape transforming into the more tropical, lush east coast.

Chintsa on the “Wild Coast” north of East London brings warmer waters (as the Indian Ocean heats up, wetsuits are cast aside), empty waves and the chance to visit game parks. Then they’ll head to Coffee Bay in the Transkei, another Africa altogether, with traditional settlements and rolling hills, where accommodation is at the Coffee Shack camp, run by Dave Malherbe, one of the country’s most successful competitive surfers. Durban, South Africa’s “surf city” and Ballito, 45 minutes to the north, where the lifesaving and instructor exams take place, round off the trip.

Weeks later, back in the UK, I email Jennifer to find out how the rest of the journey went. She qualified and is now teaching with Ticket to Ride’s Newquay office over the summer, hoping to eventually work for a surfing or ocean conservation charity.

Catching waves alongside dolphins, the beauty of the Transkei, visiting traditional Xosha families, surfing legendary Jordy Smith’s home break, making lifelong friends … she’s hard-pushed to name the highlight of the trip. “I simply had the time of my life,” she concludes.

How to do it

The trip was provided by Ticket to Ride. The next 10-week South Africa surf instructor course starts on 9 September and costs from £5,445pp. Another course runs from 19 January 2017 at £4,995pp. The price includes airport transfers, accommodation, local travel, surf coaching, ISA level 1 surf instructor and surf lifeguard qualifications, and visits to tourist attractions (excludes flights). A food package, covering most meals, costs £500