Many of us dream of laying roots in some balmy, wave-rich location far from where we sprouted - to grow food and let the ocean dictate the day. Few of us do it.

Christian and Ka'ale Sea have spent the last 21 years together - surfing, diving, planting, growing a family. They have three daughters, all homeschooled on the remote West Coast of Sumba Island, Indonesia, where they own and operate Ngalung Kalla retreat. 

Christian started life in the Atlantic, on the 48-foot wooden sailboat his father rebuilt. Launching from their homestead on St. Thomas, Christian chased waves in Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, Hawaii and Australia before settling on the Big Island of Hawai’i, where he earned a degree in Marine Science and eventually worked up the nerve to ask out Ka'ale. 

Bree Ka'alemalu Sea - Ka'ale  for short - is a surfer and dive instructor who was homeschooled on the wild Puna Coast of the Big Island. In her late teens, she took off to explore the wider world spending time elsewhere in Polynesia, Thailand, India, Nepal and Indonesia. She eventually settled back on the Big Island where she studied Hawaiian culture and, together with Christian, nurtured a rustic homestead and put permaculture principles to practice in the jungle.

They spent ten years as the in-house waterman and woman at one of the best hotels in the world before packing up their truck to camp on the land that is now Ngalung Kalla Retreat. Over the past decade they’ve established flourishing food gardens to help feed visiting adventurers, and have built a collection of cliff-top Sumbanese guest houses to share. 

Together, they've had many beginnings, most initiated by their commitment to the water. Listen in to hear about their experiments in systems thinking, remote parenting, and building spaces that keep us present. 

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Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound Engineer: Ben Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Dave & Ben

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast 

Send us a text

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Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

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