Trip Writeups

[thatsincentive]

Hey everyone.
So I love reading reports/write ups whatever of people's surfing travels. However, when I search the forums and the internet in general, I can only find threads where people are asking questions about travel, i.e. when to go where, which waves are good for my skill level etc. When I do find a report, half the pictures are of them drinking beer in front of their resorts or something, and I guess I'm looking for the less refined experience.

It seems so hard to find good travel reports. Does anyone know where I can find these? I may have some to post pretty soon too.

[BaNZ]

When I do find a report, half the pictures are of them drinking beer in front of their resorts or something

If I'm drinking beer, I'm either exhausted from a long surf session or the wave sucks.

There are a few trip reports. Jaffa and Billie do have a good write up and you should look into it. They also take very good photos and not only just beer.

[jaffa1949]

Hey everyone.
So I love reading reports/write ups whatever of people's surfing travels. However, when I search the forums and the internet in general, I can only find threads where people are asking questions about travel, i.e. when to go where, which waves are good for my skill level etc.

It seems so hard to find good travel reports. Does anyone know where I can find these? I may have some to post pretty soon too.

What exactly would you like in travel write ups? I post quite a lot, with pictures and wave descriptions.
We tend to delete come to my resort advertorials although we often post regular forumites reviews of destinations and where they stay.
We deliberately are vague about secret out of the way spots I have posted plenty of photos of the actual waves in rare places, personally I've seen the good and bad surfing brings to new areas.

Read back through the various threads, I have covered, Taiwan, New Zealand, Tonga, Lord Howe Island,lots of Indonesia, from the Mentawais to West Timor and in between. Currently surfing Austria preparing for an Atlantic campaign.
Ask,specific questions and we can answer,!

[BoMan]

Here's a link to explore.

https://surfing-waves.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4

[Big H]

Sitting around drinking beer is when the cameras tend to come out.....I have a mountain biker friend who always shares his adventure pics with me.....usually more than 50% are group shots in some jungle warung restaurant in various poses.

[thatsincentive]

Sorry guys I didn't mean any jest by the beer/resort comment, I have absolutely nothing against either and only wish I could enjoy a beer in front of a perfect wave after a long day of surfing it, then curl up in bed.

I just guess I should have been more specific in saying I'm more interested in camping and surfing myself so would love to see some more reports involving camping/backpacking. It seems cool. Overland travels are pretty sweet too.

These links are obviously extreme examples, but if you haven't seen these reports you should do yourself a favor.

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/r ... rd.922561/
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/a ... ca.662219/

I guess to answer your question Jaffa, this is exactly what I like in travel write ups. Enjoy, and I'll be sure to check out yours as well, as well as Billie's, thanks for the help Banz.

Hey thanks for the link BOman. I'll be sure to go back through that and try to more closely scrutinize the reports from the numerous questions.

Thanks everyone, and if anyone has more links to stuff like that post em, I'd be interested. Thanks guys.

[jaffa1949]

Well a for instance, I have travelled in Indonesia since 1979, by Indo ferry, bus and truck back. This was all before Google earth and areas untouched before they were discovered, same with the coast of Australia before suburbia hit beaches where once you could park under trees at a wilderness beach, old farm houses could be rented for $5.00 a week between 6 guys.
A visual report on this is Morning of The Earth, putting the wanderlust into most Aussie surfers.
Most third world camp,surf trips are quite dangerous now. One such spot is probably the most perfect lefthander you could encounter Desert Point in Lombok, you can ferry then bike it to the Point, used to have basic grass huts and pretty cool guy that would bring beer from nearby. The point has been raided by machete wielding thieves/ westerners of any ilk are wealthy targets. There is protection in camps and supporting a local enterprise gives some safety and support among the crowds.
If there is a camp often a bush camping blow in is not tolerated.
In the Mentawais there are feral home stays, very cheap, some boating to other breaks, dodgy boats, basic diet, not as disease free, malaria ( all types including deadly Falciparum), dengue, encephalitis, rabies and other stuff, + poor sanitation and suspect water.

Sounds dire get a good family at an out of the way break, treat them well and respect local customs, you could end up well loved and welcomed back.
The reverse is true and jungle justice will be a karmic answer.
Much of what I know came from just going on a whim and a prayer, always with a get me out of here plan.

Sometimes it was 3 weeks before the next boat or something out of a remote break. Pretty daunting when your health and sanity are challenged

Injury is an issue too, so medical self sufficiency is vital

But what do you get at the end of the road?

[thatsincentive]

Cool post, Jaffa thanks for that! I'll check out Morning of the Earth, sounds really cool!

[Onelove]

I just spent 2 more weeks in costa and actually journaled every day the first week. I will write something up. I am actually going to begin doing budget surf retreats there under my wife’s yoga retreat business, so the more I discuss it and kick it around the better it prepares me.

[RinkyDink]

There was a time I wanted to be able to access information about surf breaks. I still think it's smart to do some research if you're going to drop a lot of money on a surf trip. After surfing pretty often over the last two years, however, I've come to realize that finding my own breaks, being in the right time and place, and using my ingenuity is more rewarding than taking somebody else's advice. When I get a nice wave to myself or with a couple of other surfers, it feels like I've won the prize. Anyway, the best way to get information about a patch of coastline is to just watch the cams in the area you're interested in travelling to. I wish I could find reliable information about the vibe in the water of some places, but sometimes you just have to trust that your good character and ability to stay out of other surfer's way will keep you from getting into trouble. I'd love to hear more about this place,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSW__8NMVd0

but there's another part of me that feels like that would ruin the surprise.

[jaffa1949]

Fortunately Rinky, most of the search type breaks have no cams, even in in places like Australia the 53 beaches of say Sydney are not all cameraed. Indo forget it! Someplaces even the net struggles, the unknown awaits

[jaffa1949]

There was a time I wanted to be able to access information about surf breaks. I'd love to hear more about this place,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSW__8NMVd0

but there's another part of me that feels like that would ruin the surprise.

Ok Rinky here you are, it is in Gnaraloo ( great name for a surf destination) 1200kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia, a good lot of dirt roads, frequented by hurtling road trains , (think B Triple semi trailers ) It is even further north from Gracetown and Margaret River where shark attacks nearby shut down the competition.

The wave you wonder about has a limited camping ground area, with limited lots, like all of Western Australian surf zone, great whites are something to be aware of. There have been a lot of frequent shark attacks on the local dolphin population,.Think safety.
The camping is in pretty close to full desert so you need both a reliable vehicle and enough + supplies water etc for your stay.
Injury well you have be a pioneer level or have medivac access, bit like the remote ends of Baja California.

Rough friendship and rough justice are evident amongst the crew and there is absolutely no surf cams........ responds to the same swell trains that hit Indonesia. Surfing take your A game, lower grades will mean fewer waves or a relocation to another spot off elsewhere!
That’s about as much as I can tell you, anymore and my tongue and pixel poking fingers would be fed to,the goannas

[RinkyDink]

Rough friendship and rough justice are evident amongst the crew and there is absolutely no surf cams........ responds to the same swell trains that hit Indonesia. Surfing take your A game, lower grades will mean fewer waves or a relocation to another spot off elsewhere!
That’s about as much as I can tell you, anymore and my tongue and pixel poking fingers would be fed to,the goannas

Thanks Jaffa. It reminds me a little of the days before the Baja coast was conquered and settled by American Californians. Maybe one of these days I'll get a chance to brave the roads and sharks and Aussie mayhem to take a trip out there. The thing I like about being in the wilds of a place like Australia, as opposed to a place like Morocco for example, is that at if something does go wrong, you don't have a language barrier to contend with. Thanks again for the info.