Surfing Waves

Hey all,

My mates and I are planning a surf trip for this upcoming summer and I wanted to get some input from the surfing waves community about where we should go! We are all intermediate surfers at best, and are obviously looking for a destination that won't break the bank ($1700 at max)! .Thus far, we have brainstormed Fiji, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Brazil, Peru, Nicaragua, and perhaps the Easter Islands. We plan on staying in local lodging via AirBnB. We don't know if these places would be above our skill level (we got pretty good in the summer but had to take a break because of school). We plan on surfing a lot in the months leading up to the trip, which is about 6 or 7 months, so hopefully we can get our skill back, if not get a little better from our prime in the summer.

Also, if anybody has any other ways of saving money, or additional things that we should plan for besides the obvious, please let me know!
P.S: what kind of boards should we plan on bringing? (we were thinking just shorties)

Thanks,

A surf trip noob

Cheap from Orange county surely mean Central America - all of Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica (even Mexico) are cheap to very cheap destinations with surfing. As a first overseas trip, maybe Costa Rica or Panama has better infrastructure/easier; but you can research all that stuff. You could go down to Sth America as well (Brazil etc) but I suspect Central America will be more suited.

Fiji is pretty much intermediate plus surfing on coral reefs staying at expensive resorts or a boat; Maldives is the same except more expensive. Sri Lanka is cheap but will cost more to get there and get around, but will offer a great non surfing part of the holiday if you are into different cultures and not just banana pancakes and beer. Easter Island is very expensive.

Easter Island has Hawaiian level surf with volcanic reef set ups. Expensive to get to , central,Americas but Air BnB I don't know ! Most surf destinations know their worth and home stays can be interesting but challenging .
Really rewarding if you get a good one!
Fiji , Maldives , Resorts only. Mentawais some home stays. At feral level, epic to get there and no real wide ranging access. At feral level there is no lifesaving care anywhere, third world travel means you are on your own survival skills . So seriously needs travel insurance of the best kind, ( most resorts require you to have full medivac insurance) any less you could bankrupt someone near and dear.
What are your first aid skill, will you take medication against tropical diseases.
BTW $1700 might cover airfares. You are seriously out of your league in cash anywhere outside of central America.

As for boards , they can quite specific for where you choose to go. Good paddlers, transportable ( airline issues).
Cruise beyond this forum Google surf..... Wherever get a set of places with cost then search out reviews for the same.
Keep talking on the forum , look at the surf map on Surfing Waves there is information there too

WOW I went on Airbnb for surf stays, it looks quite feasible , I'd still consider Central America use the saving in travel costs for a longer stay! Please report back so others can follow in your footsteps!

Mexico. Cheap and close. You could probably drive there.

Hi! If you think in Portugal I'll have all the pleasure helping you getting a surf trip for you and your friends. I can arrange and organize all including the flights. All the best and good waves

Thanks for the replies everybody! My buddies and I decided to go to Costa Rica for our grad trip! We got our flights for about $400 and AirBnB for 8 days for about $10 dollars a person. We are staying by playa negra, which I heard breaks about head high on average around May (which is when we are going).

Have blast,
since graduation is past.
It's really cool
finishing school,
and thanks for replying , you know not many do that, so I certainly appreciate that.
Let us know about your adventures and keep writing on the forum so it's not just old farts opinions!