ABOUT US
ABOUT SUP ASIA
SUP Asia is the first and only stand up paddle board tour company in Cambodia. Our story began in 2010 when a small group of river enthusiasts decided to take the newly emerging sport of SUP to the remote regions of Cambodia with a focus on river conservation. For nearly a month the eight paddlers from Colorado, USA, along with a small Cambodian support team ventured 500 kilometers down the Mekong sleeping along the river, in pagodas and local homes, eating only local food and cut off from the developed world. The adventure, and Cambodia in particular, carved a deep place in the heart of one of the expedition team members. Anne Pizey quit her job as a journalist and returned a year later with the dream of spreading the love of SUP to Cambodia and sharing her love of Cambodia with paddle boarders. Anne combined her love of river sports with environmentalism and organized local river clean up projects and formed a youth leadership group known as the Kampot Green Team. One of those young leaders was a fisherman in her local village who found his passion with SUP. SUP Asia’s Sal Vino has been guiding for SUP Asia since 2015 and is a lead educator for SUP Asia’s mangrove conservation program. Anne met her partner Marcin Stankiewhicz several years after moving to Kampot and they combined their passions for adventure travel and their experience in tourism to grow the tours and the business. They were married (on a SUP on the beautiful Kampot River) shortly before the Covid pandemic. Together they rode out the crisis and in the meantime continued exploring remote regions of Cambodia on their SUPs. Today they are proud to say that SUP Asia has been offering tours for over ten years in Kampot, Kratie and Siem Reap, Cambodia. Along with their team, they continue working to educate young and old about the magic of nature and fun on the water.
OUR MISSION
Our eco-adventures aim to offer a cultural experience with low impact on the environment while supporting the local economy. A portion of our proceeds go to providing environmental education and recreational therapy to Cambodian youth through paddle boarding and mangrove conservation.
MEET OUR TEAM
Anne Pizey
Founder/Program Director
Anne Pizey is the founder of SUP Asia, a writer, gardener, and SUP river guide. She learned to SUP on the Colorado River in the U.S. In 2010 she led an expedition of stand up paddleboarders down a 480 kilometer stretch of the Mekong from Laos to Phnom Penh. She has been exploring Cambodia by SUP ever since. In 2013 she founded SUP Asia with a dream to educate locals and foreigners about the environment and to share her love of exploring Cambodia by SUP. Her work as a gardener and her love of rivers brings her to opposite sides of the planet and she now shares her home between Colorado and Cambodia.
Marcin Stankiewicz
Manager/Co-Owner
Marcin Stankiewicz came to Cambodia in 2016 while on a worldwide travel adventure. Marcin is from Gdansk, Poland. After cycling across Europe, climbing peaks in Caucasus Mountains, and motorcycling around South East Asia, Marcin found his way to SUP Asia to volunteer as a guide and office assistant. Marcin has a passion for adventure, photography and videography. With a degree in Sports Tourism and a love of water sports, he is a perfect fit here at SUP Asia. He is co-owner and works as a manager, graphic designer, and guide.
Sal Vina
First Guide
Sal Vina has been working at SUP Asia since 2015. Having grown up on the Kampot River and worked as a fisherman, Sal knows the ebbs and tides of life on the river. He loves to share his knowledge of Kampot and river life and he loves to SUP. We first met Sal when he volunteered to help us with our I Love Kampot River Clean Up Event. He is now a leader for our Kampot Green Team events and our primary guide in Kampot. Most recently Sal has been learning about the importance of mangroves to the ecosystem and providing our clients with a quality experience discovering the beautiful mangroves on the Kampot coastline.
Ryan
Education Director
Ryan Sapseed is our Environmental Education Director for our student travel programs. Ryan has been living and working in Cambodia on and off since 2013. He studied conservation at the University of Plymouth, has taught English in Cambodia and is fluent in Khmer. Ryan’s passion for the environment rings loud and clear and he has helped to build our Mangrove study curriculum and program working with high school and university students from abroad.
Sarath Chan
Guide & Entertainer
Sarath Chan is our local guide and entertainer. Sarath brings his love of all things Cambodia forward as he is a born and raised local who grew up joking around with tourists and went on to own his own tour company taking tourists up to Bokor Mountain and around the local area. He has been a kayak tour guide for 8 years and loves to SUP as well. He says he loves being a tour guide because meeting new people helps him to see things differently and gives him more time in nature. His other passions are singing and volleyball. He is a Cambodian celebrity in his own right. Don’t tell him we told you… but he can sing a catalog of songs in English, including Hank Williams.
Ling Ju
Receptionist
Ling Ju is SUP Asia’s friendly receptionist, assistant accountant as well as our public relations coordinator. She has also assisted us with our countrywide tours and is a SUP guide on occasion. She has been stand up paddle boarding since she was 12 years old. She has been on all of SUP Asia tours including the Mekong Dolphin Adventure and shares her excitement about SUP with our guests. She also enjoys riding her dirt bike, caring for animals, cooking, philosophy and music.
The Kampot Green Team
The Kampot Green Team is the newest addition of SUP Asia. This group of young eco warriors grew out of our I Love Kampot River Campaign and SUP Asia’s commitment to reducing plastic and recycling in Cambodia. SUP Asia hosts monthly outdoor education events for the team and helps guide the group to meaningful and educational environmental projects in and around Kampot. We partner with Plastic Free Cambodia and other eco friendly organizations to help keep Kampot green.