The dream(Nov 1st +)

[FruitPunch]

Hey everyone. I live in a northern region of Canada. Last year I surfed a little in Hawaii and I got totally hooked, but it was just a week.

So anyways, I'm taking two months off to travel. It would be between Nov 1st and Jan ~1st. Here are my options in terms of interest

-Vietnam
-Hawaii
-Australia(Gold coast) isn't out of the question, but financially and culturally speaking Vietnam feels better to me.

What's most important for me is finding local surfers who are willing to lend me a hand and probably cheap board rental, affordable living etc. I have a reasonable amount of cash for this trip.

Let me know what you guys think.

[jaffa1949]

Vietnam does have occasional surf but not a lot of surfers and little or no surf infrastructure to supply board rental or stuff like that. Others might know more but it is pretty much off the surf highway.
As for the season ?????? Great cultural experiences available though.
Hawaii, you are starting to head into the prime surf season during that period with all the associated influx of pros and hangers on, there are still wave spots that can accommodate someone at your level .
Chaos level of intensity in the water.
Australia; the Gold Coast and Surfers( millions of them) Paradise, it ain't because of the crowds of northern hemisphere tourist escaping the northern winter. BTW it is not cheap either!

Personally I'd go Central America and use all that money you saved to prolong the experience.

[drowningbitbybit]

Gold coast... culturally...

Don't see that in the same sentence very often

Gold Coast Nov 1st - Jan 1st = Crowds.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Gold Coast, but if I had a 2-month surf trip planned over Christmas, it wouldn't be to the GC.

[FruitPunch]

Thanks for the reply guys. Well, do you have any suggestions? I'm not super interested in southern america, but I mean if it can make things easier for me I wouldn't turn it down. My vacations are fixed to two months though, I can't prolong it any longer due to work.

What about islands around Vietnam? I mean I was going to buy a Scooter and just ride the whole coast initially.

[jaffa1949]

I thought about it and an ideal solution Taiwan, Northern Hemisphere swell season, culture, good surf spots and a Travel and surf team I am happy to recommend, Surf Taiwan. My contact Sammy Hawkins. Google that and have look!
Cost reasonable, good knowledge of breaks matched to skill. Cheap meals . If you want more details ask but go to their site see what you think! Crowds not really.
I certainly plan to go again

[pico_train]

Hi FruitPunch,

Fellow Canadian here. Have you considered Morocco. It's surf season then, decent infrastructure and relatively cheap for you. Not too too far either. Culturally interesting too.

South Africa is cheap too for you. Not prime surf season but there will be decent waves and plenty of surf infrastructure for you depending on where you go. Culturally interesting too.

Out the two, based on time of year, I'd go to Morocco. Wicked place.

Good luck with the trip you lucky bugger!

Picotrain

[FruitPunch]

I'm currently on the West Coast for work, so Morocco will have to wait

I looked at surftaiwain.com, it looks like a decent bundle, but I think I'd appreciate it more if I was a good surfer. I've decided to head over to California for a week then I'm flying over to Bali. I'm hoping that with a bit of time I meet some locals that are willing to rent me a board and offer me rides to some sweet surfing spots like last time in Hawaii.

I'll probably have extra cash, since cost of living and food is cheaper than Aus, so I'll probably end up in Taiwan at the end. Although I wish I could just bring my car with me... save me a lot of cash and relying on people all the time !

Thanks again for the suggestions, I'll stick around this forum... and hopefully I'll have some sweet pictures to share.

[dtc]

What about Sri Lanka? Its 'prime' surf season around then. I've never been, but as a country it always seems very interesting. I imagine, without looking it up, that India is probably having its surfing season then as well. India is the most amazing country in the world. Surfing is probably so so however.

Bali is, pretty much, a resort island nowdays. Which means you can get whatever you want, for not much money, but its not exactly an isolated tropical paradise (its full of holidaying Aussies on the drink, very much so around Kuta) nor are there a huge number of waves suitable for anyone under intermediate - most of the waves are reef waves rather than beach or point waves. But they are spectacular waves.

However, there are quite a few places relatively close to Bali, on adjacent islands, that are pretty good and have breaks more suited to us lower level types. If you search this forum (eg: 'bali for beginner') there are some suggestions, esp from Jaffa who has been there quite often. You may find some of the surfcamps worthwhile. Keep in mind that its wet season, but like more tropical areas its usually an afternoon thunderstorm than pouring all day. Also keep in mind that it will be full of said Aussies on their Christmas holidays and/or recently graduated high school students on their post school celebrations and hence the waves around Kuta will be fairly crowded. (I'm an Aussie so I'm being nice here ...); in any event its a pretty busy time.

If you are in Bali, you can easily pop over to Perth if you have an interest in Australia - summer surfing is not the best but its not terrible. The whole board hiring thing is not really available in many places; if you are spending much time in Aust you should just buy a board from some backpacker and sell it at the end. Cruise up to Margaret River or down south.