In that first encounter with the sea, the Alto Peru Project was born.

Some of those boys and girls are now young people who are part of the Project, which developed based on an idea that was gaining strength: surfing can be a means to heal people psychologically and spiritually. It's in this conception of the healing and medicinal potential of the sport that the Alto Peru Project draws its strength.

In 2011, in South Africa, Waves for Change began its activities with the aim of educating young adults about HIV/AIDS in South Africa (lsiqalo, 2011). Godfrey, Devine-Wright & Taylor (2015) studied the results of a surf-based intervention called The Wave Project and found significant changes in the well-being and communication of 84 participants between 8 and 18 years old who had some mental health difficulty or were at risk of social exclusion.

Today, there are several academic studies that show the impact of interventions that use surfing to bring about changes in mental and physical health. In different countries and with various populations, surfing is used to enhance physical and mental well-being. The Alto Peru Project is also affiliated with the International Surf Therapy Organization (ISTO), a global community of surfers, researchers, and institutions that use surf therapy to promote physical and mental health.