From Spain to El Salvador, our round-up of the best surfing
sites from Make The Most Of Your Time On Earth covers some spectacular
breaks. So whether you’re a seasoned surfer or you’ve never
been near a board in your life – let alone caught a wave or hung ten –
give one of these surfing experiences a try.
Surfing utopia at Raglan, New Zealand
The laidback town of Raglan, about 150km southwest of Auckland, is
beloved by in-the-know surfers for both its legendary left-handers and
its bohemian vibe. Lines of perfect breakers appear like blue corduroy
along the shore here, watched over by the majestic Mount Karioi or
“Sleeping Lady”.
For beginners, the best place to paddle out is sandy-bottomed
Ngarunui Beach, 5km out of town. For seasoned surfers, the wildest rides
are found at Manu Bay, around 8km from Raglan, which starred in the
cult 1960s surf flick,
Endless Summer. Manu’s exposed point
break provides one of the longest and most consistent waves on the
planet and it regularly hosts pro surfing competitions. Ideally, it’s
best sampled at low tide when there are offshore, southeasterly winds,
but you’ll find it packed with grinning, wet-suited locals whatever the
weather.
Have a swell time in Taghazout, Morocco
Ice-cream headaches, chilly wetsuits in snow-covered car parks and
blown-out waves beneath leaden skies; a north European winter can make
the most dedicated surfer think twice. Why bother when in a few hours,
many landlocked surfers could access perfect right-hand points, blue
skies, 16°C water and the exoticism of Africa? Small wonder Taghazout is
spoken of in revered tones.
The ramshackle fishing village, 20km from Agadir international
airport, has come a long way. A hippy hangout in the 1960s, Taghazout is
now known for great winter waves. Come late November, the first
visitors arrive to join a clique of hardcore locals. By January, when
low-pressure systems barrel west across the North Atlantic to lash
northern countries with storm-force winds and rain, the breaks are busy
with an accomplished international crew. And it’s cheap, too, when
double rooms sourced from local families cost around 450dh a week and a
tajine can be had for the price of a beer back home.
Surfing the coast of light: from Tarifa to Tangier, Spain
No Spanish town is more synonymous with wind than Tarifa. Facing down
Morocco across the Gibraltar Straits, it’s both a windsurfing magnet
and a suicide blackspot where the relentless gusting can literally drive
people mad. But don’t let that put you off; you’re more likely to be
driven to distraction in the concrete inferno of Costas Brava, Blanca or
Sol, an orgy of development from which the Costa de la Luz has thus far
abstained. In contrast, Tarifa is a whitewashed rendezvous, a
chimerical canvas where the Med meets the Atlantic, the Poniente wind
meets the Levante and Africa meets Europe.
Climatic conditions for wind- and kitesurfing are optimal in the
afternoon and early evening once the Levante hits its stride, although
beginners are usually schooled in the morning. There are several rental
places in Tarifa itself, and other facilities further up the crescent of
bleached-sand beach. When the sun goes down, Tangier’s lights start
beckoning, and it is possible (just) to get your afternoon’s surfing fix
before heading to Morocco for the evening, avoiding the daytime scrum
of quayside touts, and arriving just as sunset breathes new energy into
the city’s pavement cafés.
Catching a wave on Vancouver Island, British Columbia
For some of the wildest surfing in the world, head to the
shipwreck-strewn west coast of Vancouver Island, also known as “the
graveyard of the Pacific”. Flanked by the lush temperate rainforest of
the 130km-long Pacific Rim National Park, the waters here are ferocious.
Swells reach up to six metres, and epic storms uproot trees, sending
drifting logs down the face of waves. Whales have been known to sneak up
on unsuspecting surfers, diving under their boards and lifting them
clean out of the water. As if that weren’t enough abuse, barking,
territorial sealions often chase these thrill-seekers from the ocean
back to shore. On land, it’s just as wild – bald eagles soar between
giant trees, and wolves and black bears forage for food amid piles of
sun-bleached driftwood.
Even in summer, when swells ease to a gentle one to two metres, the
water remains bone-chillingly cold, hovering around 13°C. Still, plenty
of wannabe wave riders flock to the chilled-out surf centre of Tofino to
practise their “pop-ups”, but a thick skin – or a thick wetsuit – is
required. Come winter, the waves start pummelling in from the Pacific
with all the force of a boxer’s knock-out punch. For the novice, this is
the time to peel off the wetsuit and watch the waves roll in from the
blissful confines of a seaside hot tub.
Surfing at La Libertad, El Salvador
It’s not surprising that the beach in La Libertad is packed on
Sundays. The port town is less than an hour’s drive from the choked
capital of San Salvador, its oceanfront restaurants serve the finest mariscada (creamy seafood soup) in the country and, of course, there’s el surf. The western end of the beach here has one of the longest right point breaks, prosaically called punta roca
(rocky point), in the world. On a good day – and with year-round warm
water and consistent and uncrowded waves there are plenty of those –
skilled surfistas can ride a thousand yards from the head of the point
into the beach. Amateur surfers, meanwhile, opt for the section of
gentler waves, known as La Paz, that roll into the mid-shore.
It’s rare to walk through the town without seeing one of the local
boys running barefoot, board under arm, down to the sea or hanging
outside the Hospital de las Tablas while a dent or tear is repaired.
Some, like Jimmy Rottingham, whose American father kick-started the
expat surf scene when he arrived in the 1970s (witness the psychedelic
surfboards on the walls of Punta Roca restaurant), have become semi-professional.
Puerto La Libertad is 34km south of San Salvador; there are
frequent buses. In La Libertad, you can rent boards from Mango’s Lounge
and Hospital de Tablas.
