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The coastline of the middle east, the last surfing frontier? Likely. Countries of Somalia, Yemen, Oman, Iran, and Pakistan all have significant coastline exposed to Indian Ocean swells (check out how long Somalia’s coast line is). A quick search on Wannasurf.com listed one spot in Somalia, none in Yemen, 12 in Oman, and not surprisingly none in Iran or Pakistan.

Yemen is an elusive surf destination. A very conservative Muslim country that has in past been an enclave of Al Qaeda. The government isn’t too keen on tourism and you’ll likely be the only surfers in the country. A few adventurous surfers hit up Yemen and charged the various breaks down there. Check out the article at the LonelyPlanet.com.

“You’ll need ample time, determination and money; but for the experienced wave rider looking for quality surf spots and empty beaches, Yemen is the ultimate adventure playground. The mainland has a number of gentle points, some good-quality beach breaks and one world-class wedge that, day after day, chucks out massive barrels with a predominantly offshore wind.”

“If circling hammerheads and the risk of terrorism aren’t enough to put you off, you could be among the first to blaze a trail to this top-class surfing destination. Local tour operators are only just starting to latch onto what they’ve got. For the moment independent surf travel is all but impossible - you’ll need to employ a tour company to source jeeps, guides and permits. Though this all adds up, making a Yemeni surf trip anything but cheap, you’ll be getting some dream waves in return.”

The writer claims Yemen offers long reeling points, beach breaks, and wedges. Suqutra, Yemen’s largest island is located conspicuously offshore in the line of swell pumping off low pressure systems during the monsoon season from May to September. No doubt you’ll have the place to yourself.

So the time to go is between May and September. You’ll want to bring your standard short board, a satellite phone, a copy of the Koran, and any connections you have with the US State Department.

Wired Magazine has a good post on Delta’s new excessive boardbag fees for surfboards. They are $175 each way for domestic flights and $300 each way for international flights. What’s interesting is that they don’t charge for golf clubs (heavier than surfboards). Here’s a list of sporting goods you can check for free on Delta: golf bags weighing under 50 pounds, scuba gear, snowboards, pistols, rifles, shotguns, fishing equipment, javelins, parachutes, ski gear and vaulting poles. In general airlines have jacked up fees for surfboards in recent months (list of boardbag fees on major airlines). Some of this is understandable considering what’s happened with gas prices in recent months and how airlines have started charging to check in any bag. But Delta’s fees are just plain excessive. Either they don’t care if surfers fly on their airline, they want to actively discourage them, or they just think they can get away with it. Sign a petition here to protest these fees on Delta.

Cannibals and surf exploration don’t mix well. In 1975, traveling Australian surfers, Kevin Lovett, John Giesel, and Peter Troy were traveling Indonesia on motorcycles in search of new perfect waves. They were drawn to the island of Nias off the coast of Northern Sumatra by a horseshoe shaped bay a the Southern end of the island that looked promising for surf. They were right. They discovered Lagundri Bay and surfed it alone for three months. The discovery set would set the surf world on fire and open the door for further exploration of Indonesia. (An account of surfing the remote islands of Northern Sumatra).

Kevin Lovett later learned that the three of them had been targets of cannibal practicing tribes on the island during their stay. The blog, Strange Maps of the World, presents a early 20th century map of the world highlighting areas that practice cannibalism both historical and present. A good guide when heading off to Papua New Guinea, Vanatu, or other unchartered areas. [Link to larger image of Map] “Indonesia, Micronesia and the rest of Oceania are marked by many contemporary instances of cannibalism, in Australia, New Guinea, Borneo (Dayaks) and Sumatra (Bataks).” Don’t think we were not immune to it, while Europe seemed free of Antropophagie (Greek for “eating of humans”) - something that may more than anything indicate a bias in the map, North America certainly was not.

Check out Driftnik.com for the guide to the places where you can learn to surf for $20/day (hint Central America and Asia). Beats trying to learn in the crowded line-ups and cold water.

Last week I posted my story on my boat trip to Northern Sumatra. Here’s a sick video by Patagonia and their sponsored surfers (the Malloys, Belinda Baggs, Fletcher Chouinard) of the their trip to the same area.

YouTube

I recently published my account of a surf trip to Northern Sumatra aboard the Mikumba run by Sumatra Surfariis, a great charter operator for Indonesia, in Everywhere Magazine. Everywhere Magazine is part of 8020 publishing that also publishes the photo-focused magazine JPG Magazine, filled with user submitted and voted on content. They’re both great magazines, check them out. Here’s the full pubished account below (link to story an Everywhere Magazine). Check out my photos at JPG Magazine. Incidently, the photo at the header of this blog is from this boat trip to Northern Sumatra without a doubt one of the last great unexplored areas of surfing. Unlike the Mentawais, there are only a few charters that operate in the area.

Points North - Surf Exploration in Northern Sumatra

We plan for months. My packing list is two pages long. There are of eight of us, surfers traveling from New York, California, and Hong Kong. We are embarking on a two week excursion on a converted Indonesian freight boat to remote tropical islands to explore and surf. We are going to surf waves that most surfers only see in magazines and videos and will have these waves to ourselves.

We start in Sibolga, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia after over 30 hours of flights and an overland trip across Sumatra. Sibolga is the last port before Banda Aceh, the northern most province of Sumatra and the one hit heaviest in the 2004 Tsunami. From the dirty anonymous port, we chart a course west. The islands where we will be searching for surf are so obscure and unexplored that after the 2004 Tsunami the Indonesian government relied on the help of the handful of surf charter operators in the area to chart courses to the isolated villages to bring relief supplies.

[Continued after the break]

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In spite of the shipwrecked Taiwanese Fishing Boat on the reef at Padang Padang, the Rip Curl Pro Search 2008 proceeded without incident first at the wave at Padang Padang and then as the swell dropped up the point at Uluwatu and Racetrack (section of Uluwatu). Interestingly enough, the press never stated where the event was being held electing to say instead “Somewhere in Indonesia.” Uluwatu hasn’t been a secret spot since it blew up on the surf scene 30 years ago and was featured in the movie “Morning of the Earth.” Padang Padang got especially timely exposure when the Taiwanese fishing boat ran aground there a week before the contest was supposed to be held. So much for keeping a spot secret.

The Balinese authorities who blew their chance to drag the grounded boat off the reef the first few days it after it had grounded there, recently decided burning the it was the best alternative (WTF?!). According to their spokesman, “The objective of burning the boat was to reduce it’s size. The next step will be to cut up the remaining wreck and have it removed piece by piece to a place where it will not distrub the tourist beaches in the Bukit areas.” The ROLE foundation has been providing updates on the situation in Bali.

You would think that aside from furthering an environmental disaster after the fuel and oil have already leaked out onto the reef and waters, you would want to minimize the impact of further damage to the environment. You might also think that cutting apart a burned and broken boat would be more hazardous and dangerous than one that was intact. Not so for the Indonesians. At this point, I don’t think it can really get any worse.

News broke last week that a missing Taiwanese fishing boat suspected of illegal fishing practices ran aground on the reef at the World-class wave, Padang Padang in Bali, Indonesia. The captain and crew fled in the night and boat the sat on the reef, and sat. The swell was completely flat for a few days, an ideal time to extract this boat from the reef and avert a potential disaster. Well, the opportunity to remove the boat came and went. Local officials made little effort to extract the boat. They actually tried to use a couple of Balinese fishing boat to pull it off the reef at high tide. Well, turns out they arrived late and if anyone has been to Bali, you would know that it would take about 100 Balinese fishing boats to pull that thing off the reef. As of the most recent swell, the boat was pounded onto the inner reef, puncturing her hull and spilling oil and fuel on the reef and across the line-up. See images and story below (from Surfline.com).

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Everyone’s looking for the new Costa Rica to find their patch of beach to build a bungalow and their perfect wave out front. First there was Costa Rica, now Panama and Nicaragua. Scott Balogh of  Red Frog Bungalows writes on Bocas Del Toro, the stunning, uncrowded islands on the Caribbean side of Panama with epic surf and beautiful turqoise barrel. The crowds haven’t yet arrived and land is still available. It’s close to the U.S., cheap, and is going off when the rest of the tropics are flat (December to March, June to July).

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I’m not sure I would substitute Israel for your next surf trip to Central America, but Israel does get consistent waves. From December to March, exposed beaches get hit with regular storms blowing off the surprisingly long fetch of the Mediterranean. Epic uncrowded waves? Unlikely. Fun surf in remarkable and unique surroundings? Absolutely. Lori from the Surfing Village shares info on surfing in the Holy Land, in particular surfing in Haifa, the stunning city in the North of Israel with Israel’s best waves.

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