The Central Coast is known for its numerous scenic hiking trails and light blue ocean waves. But locals and visitors alike just scratch at the surface of all the outdoor activities there are to do. Central Coast native Connor Woolpert is launching an app that offers outdoor experiences at your fingertips.

It’s called Adventure Aide, and it hosts a variety of activities such as surfing, paddle boarding, hiking, and mountain biking to name a few. A person can sign up to be a guide of whatever activity he or she is passionate about and offer it to the app.

• PHOTO BY PETER JOHNSON
• WANDERLUST: Getting out and finding a good surf spot or trying mountain biking for the first time is now just a few buttons away.

“It’s built around the idea that everybody deserves the opportunity to do what they love to do and be able to share that opportunity with other people,” he said.

After submitting their adventure to the app, Woolpert and his team review it and accept it. A user of the app can then look at the activity, see what days the guide is available, and sign up for the adventure. Similar to many apps the guide and the activity can be reviewed, by other adventurers. The guide also has the choice of charging for the experience or it can be offered for free. There is also a messaging feature if the guide and adventurer need to communicate before their activity takes place.

This was an idea that Woolpert had been tossing around for about seven years. It all started with inspiration from his dad, a lifelong surfer. His dad had a friend that wrote “prey for surf” on the refrigerator, accidentally spelling pray incorrectly. This got Woolpert and his father thinking about how people are really prey to their passions. For Woolpert and his father, it’s surfing.

“That’s the ideology that we found, you know doing what you love and how it always draws you back,” Woolpert said.

In his teens he really wanted to create something that encapsulated a person’s passion while also having the ability to share it with others.

After tossing some ideas around, an app that connects like-minded adventurers seemed like the perfect fit. Fast forward a couple of years later with the help of his father and the Adventure Aid team, that idea is becoming a reality. Woolpert said he would describe the app as a tool to get away from the everyday and get out to explore the coast through outdoor activities.

“Those adventures are curated and created by locals, people that have a passion for anything,” he said.

This is only the beginning for Adventure Aide, Woolpert said. For now, activities will be limited to day trips but the hope is for people to enlist three-day camping trips or hikes. The other goal Woolpert has is to reach a global scale where people can use the app around the world to find local activities in their area.

As for Woolpert, once the app is launched in June, he will also be sharing his passion by listing a surfing session. Although he enjoys a lot of different outdoor activities, surfing is just in his blood.

“If I can give someone else the opportunity and teach someone else a little bit, it’s totally worthwhile to me,” he said. 

Fast Facts

Former SLO Mayor Jan Marx is receiving the Women Lawyers Association’s Outstanding Women Lawyer Award March 1. The award is given annually during Women’s History Month to female lawyers in San Luis Obispo County working toward promoting the advancement of women.

Atascadero Community Band is hosting a free show, The Sounds of Distant Lands, March 5 from 3 to 5 p.m., at Atascadero Bible Church, 6225 Atascadero Ave. The band will be performing arrangements that include choral and folk music. Donations will be accepted and the proceeds will go toward funding the North County Chorus Germany Tour. For more information, visit atascaderoband.org.

Staff Writer Karen Garcia wrote this week’s Strokes & Plugs. Email tips to [email protected].