Who we are
Lifelong Ocean Lovers
Tide & Seek was founded by husband-and-wife team Serai and Matthew Dowling, both lifelong ocean lovers who have been exploring the Cape’s wild ocean spaces for decades.
Together, they’ve built a reputation for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary — blending natural history, culture, and community into immersive, sensory rich experiences, carefully shaped around the ocean, weather, tides, and group needs to ensure the highest quality experience on the day.
Serai Dowling
Ocean Experience Facilitator
Serai has been swimming in the Cape’s coastal and inland waters for over 27 years. Serai is a qualified ocean therapist, writer, researcher, artist, and photographer, known for creating immersive ocean experiences with the Western Cape’s tidal pools and coastline. Her work weaves together ecology, place, and belonging, with close attention to safety and the quality of each experience.
She holds qualification in Strategic Management, mediation, ocean therapy and a certificate from the Trauma Research Foundation on the impacts and treatment of trauma and brings both professional training and lived experience to her practice. Living less than 200 metres from the sea, she works locally and attentively, guided by a simple motivation: we protect what we love.
She is the author of A Guide to Tidal Pools of the Western Cape and co-author of A Guide to Wild Swimming in the Western Cape, bestselling field guides that have inspired thousands to rediscover the shoreline.
Matthew Dowling
Master Coastal Tour Guide
Matthew is a qualified culture, history, and adventure guide and photographer known for his engaging storytelling and deep knowledge of the Cape’s layered past, from shipwrecks and fishing villages to mountain trails and sacred sites.
He’s as comfortable guiding a historical walk through Simon’s Town as he is leading a dawn swim in the icy Atlantic Ocean.
He is the co-author of A Guide to Wild Swimming in the Western Cape.
Our Approach
Tide & Seek creates carefully crafted ocean experiences that balance curiosity, care, and adventure. We believe that meaningful time in and around the sea fosters deeper understanding, respect and reciprocity for shared coastal spaces.
Our work brings together natural history, heritage, ecology, and immersion in beautiful surroundings, offering experiences that are both enriching and restorative. Safety, comfort, and environmental care are central to everything we do.
Our aim is simple: to foster curiosity, confidence, and care, so that time spent in the water becomes time spent learning how to be in better relationship with the coast.
Tide & Seek is fully licensed and permitted for tour operations, guiding, coastal foraging, and heritage interpretation. We work with trusted local partners and hold all relevant permits to ensure safety, ecological protection, and cultural integrity.