Take a trip to Australia this summer without having to leave your home with a new Netflix series. Surviving Summer follows a rebellious teen girl, Summer (Sky Katz), as she’s shipped off to Australia after being kicked out of yet another private school. Though she isn’t into surfing or being halfway across the world, she grows to like the town, the people, and their favorite pastime.

The series was created by Joanna Werner and Josh Mapleston. Werner also serves as a producer. She previously worked as a producer on Dance Academy, Dance Academy: The Movie, and H2O: Just Add Water, showing her experience in children and teen content. Mapleston is also credited as a writer for the new series. He has previously written episodes of Dance Academy and Home and Away.

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With Surviving Summer season one riding the waves to Netflix soon, here’s everything you need to know about the series. Be sure to grab your board and beach towel as we dive in.

Surviving Summer: The Plot

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Summer Torres (Sky Katz) has been kicked out of two different elite private schools in New York. Apparently, that’s what happens when you ride a skateboard on fire through the school and into the pool after hours. At least, that’s what the trailer shows us. She’s sent away to Shorehaven, a small town in Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia, assumedly as some way to “rehabilitate” her or force her to gain a new perspective on life. While Summer isn’t pleased about this turn of events, she seems to settle in, make friends, and maybe even find love with some surfers in her home away from home.

Summer isn’t the only one in a sticky situation. Ari Gibson (Kai Lewins), a teen that looks like a pretty skilled surfer, might be down on his luck. An older individual tells him he can’t keep treating everything in his life like a transaction because eventually, he will be “short-changed.” It seems like whatever that person was referring to may happen during the show, maybe between another male surfer Marlon Sousa (Joao Marinho), based on their fight in the trailer. Of course, that may not be the worst thing Ari’s experienced. He has an interesting scar on his back that audiences don’t know the origins of, but there’s a strong chance he got it from surfing.

Ari isn’t the only skilled surfer on the beach this summer. Bodhi Mercer (Savannah La Rain) and Poppy Tetanui (Lilliana Bowrey) seem to be competing in the girls’ division of the surfing competition but appear to be on friendly terms. Despite Summer’s initial disdain for her situation, she seems to come to terms with her situation and make the best of it.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a teen show without romance. It looks like Ari and Summer hit it off, though what will happen when Summer returns to New York isn’t certain. The trailer also contains a scene of what might be Bodhi and Marlon kissing in the ocean, based on their wetsuits. We’ll have to wait and see what happens when the series drops.

Surviving Summer: The Cast

Sky Katz stars as the titular character Summer Torres. Fans of That’s So Raven may recognize the young actress from Raven’s Home, the spin-off presently airing on Disney Channel. She portrays Tess, Raven’s (Raven-Symone) daughter, and Nia’s (Navia Robinson) best friend. Kai Lewins (Wild Boys) is Ari Gibson, the male surfer who might see a struggle over the course of the series. The other main characters include Joao Marinho as Marlon Sousa, Savannah La Rain (Mako Mermaids) as Bodhi Mercer, and Lilliana Bowrey as Poppy Tetanui.

Other cast members listed on IMDb include Dustin Clare (Pacific Rim: Uprising) as Thommo, Chris Alosio as Manu, Asmara Feik as Honey, Natalia Bond (Big Words, Small Stories) as Freya, Mitchell Hardaker as Griff Temple, Cantona Stewart as Prawnie Tetanui, Tatiana Hotere as Luciana Sousa, Ilai Swindells (Retrograde) as Nico, Danielle Horvat (House Husbands)​​​​​​​ as Molly, Kate Beahan (Devious Maids) as Margot, and Jackson Gallagher (Neighbours)​​​​​​​ as Trav Morphett​​​​​​​.

Release Date

Surviving Summer is splashing onto Netflix on June 3, 2022, with ten half-hour episodes.

Everything Else We Know

One of the teen surfers in the series, Lilliana Bowrey, is a competitive surfer in Australia. She has been a junior surf champion in Queensland five times and is still competing today, placing fifth in both the Harvey Norman Tweed Coast Pro Junior and the Oakberry Gold Coast Pro Junior earlier this year.

Surviving Summer isn’t the first to feature an actual athlete from the sport a show or movie follows. The 2006 film Stick It features several actual gymnasts as characters and stunt doubles, just to name one. Most notably, the Olympian Nastia Liukin portrays herself in the movie, and several other known gymnasts, like Yang Yun and Allana Slater, do as well.

Ready to hit the beach? You don’t have much longer to wait until Surviving Summer swims onto screens everywhere.