Coastalsurvey

Ten Tips for Traveling Solo

There’s a lot to recommend traveling alone. You go where you want, when you want and do what you want. There’s no group decisions or waiting
around. It’s the ultimate freedom. On the other hand, extended solo travel can be lonely and sometimes dangerous.
Here are 10 tips to keep the solo traveler safe and happy:

Travel light. [...]

Boards and Airlines

With most airlines the price for taking boards seems to vary with the mood of the person at the counter.

South of the Rising Sun: Surfing in Japan

“Where are you going,” the guy in the shop asked me as he pulled down the double padded board bag from the shelf, “Indo? Australia?”
“Japan,” I replied.
“Right … ”
There it was again, that nod of the head and look of bemusement that me and my girlfriend and had become so used to over the months [...]

Surfing in Yemen

Yemen – the empty quarter. We were nearing the end of a two week exploration of the coast, looking for (and finding) epic waves in warm water. Now we were heading home. We went the long way, the interesting way, by crossing a corner of the Empty Quarter. Two jeeps, driving across the endless burning [...]

Surfing in India, Part 1: Tamil Nadu

Day 1
Got into Madras, or Chennai as it’s called now, at about 5.30am. We had a slight hitch getting through immigration, as they insisted on knowing where we were going to stay. We had no idea where we going to stay, so we’d left that part on the form they gave us blank. The immigration [...]

East of Bali: Surfing Indonesia

May 5: The reef is more than a kilometer from shore. At low tide you can wade out through cultivated plots of agar seaweed, over steps of nubby coral and basins of sand. Big red starfish dot the aquascape like gumdrops on a cake and bright blue fish dart through the shallows. The reef is [...]

In Morocco, Part 3: South

The swell dropped after Christmas, only to be replaced by a new pulse from a system far off in the North Atlantic.
We were seated on a rug in front of Simon and Esther’s, passing a fat one around and watching our wetsuits dry in the sun, when a new truck pulled up. It was more [...]

In Morocco, Part 2: On the Point

A welter of trails ran through the thorny scrub that covered the dunes. Partway along the path, I found a camel barring my way.
The beast was enormous, perhaps two meters high at the shoulder, and it showed no inclination to move.
“Hey,” I yelled, throwing my arms up to shoo it away. “Hey, dicknose!”
The dromedary tore [...]

NZ Surf Report

kia ora,
west coast of nz reminds me a bit of oregon. warmer water though.
waves look about head-high, but i haven’t found any breaks yet; only
steep, grey beaches and water the color of cement.
in hokitika now; will be up in greymouth later today where there’s
supposed to be a breakwater that wedges up some lefts.
two more weeks [...]

CitySurfer's Journal: 2000

January 2000
Happy New year,
Thanks for the note. I’m still in Morocco surfing. Will stay here another two weeks then get out of the country, sell the van and fly to india. Trouble is, it would be easy to stay here all winter. New Years in Maroc was cool — just a few dozen surfers around [...]