Surfing
Surfing
These 8 remote waves are blowing up right now... here's why
It seems the road less travelled is getting a bit busier...
Time and again you hear all about the "world’s best breaks": the big guns, the prime contenders. Far more interesting are those sweet, hard to find waves that only a handful of us have even heard about. There’s always a fresh ‘off-the-gridder’ to be uncovered on this surf-mad planet – here’s our rundown of eight of the most remote waves that are blowing up right now, and why. We'd say "go get 'em", but you might be too late...
Skeleton Bay, Namibia
Isolated, spectacular and eerie in equal measure, the dubious-sounding Skeleton Coast is fine fodder for an African pirate fantasy. At 976-miles, it’s also totally immense – you’ll need a fixer and a beige Land Rover for this mission, but it’s well worth the effort. Expect an inhospitable wilderness of (literally) roaring dunes, windswept canyons, rusted shipwrecks, seal colonies and perhaps even the skeleton of a marooned human sailor or two (!). So too, some of the deepest, greenest water and, thanks to the mighty Benguela current, the longest and strongest left-hand beach break in the world. As well as being incredibly difficult to get to, and full of hungry sharks, the water is incredibly cold here, so be sure to pack your wettie. Breaks like Luderitz, Walvis Bay, as well as Cape Cross and Ovahimba Point ought to dominate, with that golden window between May and September the best time for it
Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Home to over 17,500 islands, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the glorious enormity of Indonesia. Paradise is an endless discovery around these parts. Still, there’s one remote nook that you really ought to get to first: the Mentawai Islands, a bunch of sweet land masses out there on the west Sumatran coast that are just aching to be surfed. Why all the buzz? As locals will tell you there are probably more perfect left and right-handers in this stretch than anywhere else on the planet. Varying at an average of two to twelve feet (and sometimes up to 15), the point breaks, reefs and bays at Mentawai can’t help but keep dishing up the goods.
Another Mentawai field of dreams
© Scotty Hammonds
Malaita, Solomon Islands
We shift the lens to even more explicitly gorgeous island action: Malaita, one of the spectacular Solomon Islands, just under three hours by air from Cairns. While surfing has been a thing here since the ‘80s, the Solomons are still one of the most unexplored premium quality surf domains in the South Pacific, largely due to their geography, and the price of travelling here (so too, perhaps, the locals’ belief that the countless sharks that hang out here are sacred and have spirits living in them). Jaws or not, a steady stream of keen heads have been taking on this pilgrimage of late, and they haven’t been disappointed. Nor will you.
Severn River, UK
The UK, you say? Like … England? Yeah folks, you read it right. While not exactly celebrated by the world’s surf community, the UK actually dishes up a couple of surprises for those in the know: Gloustershire’s Severn River – the longest in the country – just so happens to lay claim to a pretty epic swell. How? Two words: tidal bore. Essentially, when the powerful tides of the Atlantic surge through the Bristol Channel they end up speeding through through the Severn, leading to a swell reaching heights of up to seven feet. A giddy unit named Steve King scored the Guinness World Record for longest ride here in 2006, crushing the unlikely wave for nearly 15km straight, proof that ‘English surf culture’ is far from an oxymoron.
38th Parallel Beach, South Korea
Appealing to wave-seekers and the geopolitically inclined, South Korea’s 38th Parallel Beach makes for one of the most unique, and unlikely, beach breaks in Asia. The 38th Parallel was the political line drawn up after World War II to mark North and South Korea, respectively (replaced later by the military demarcation line), and while it’s no longer part of the Korean Demilitarized Zone as such, there’s still such a base by the harbour here, with marching military heads and the odd barbed wire curl giving stiff reminder to the region’s past tensions, albeit doing little to take away from the postcard perfection and primo barrels of the local shorefront.
Liberia
Not long ago Liberia was hardly on anyone’s ‘list of places to visit’, let alone a spot for a bona fide surf odyssey. Civil War since 1989 was not terribly kind to the Liberians, with consecutive military dictatorships turning violence into staple of daily life. That all changed in the early 2000s thanks to UN peacekeeper intervention, leading to the democratic election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state. Given that Liberia’s West Coast is home to some of the most spectacular and surf-able waves in the world, this marked a particular fortuitous turnaround one for surfers. Offering an abundance of untouched, perfect, warm-water barrels, few notable surfers have made the trek here, but word’s definitely out that this newly stabilised nation is well and truly open for the riding.
Arabian Sea, Oman
The virtues of Oman as a tourism hub have grown massively of late, with a heap of buzz around its incredible architecture, dreamy desert-scapes, in-land fjords and friendly locals (to cite just a few of the awesome reasons you’d want to go here). Oman’s adventure sports get a big wrap too, with surfing high on the list. The long, east-facing desert coastline from the Strait of Hormuz in the north to the Republic of Yemen in the south may be little inconsistent for some, and prone to the odd shark visit; but it remains a wild choice for the sheer novelty factor alone, with breaks like Joe’s Point, Aseela and Bandar As Saqlah all attracting a new generational of riders keen to kick the Arabian swell just like Sinbad did.
Catching waves in Costa Rica
© Edu Munoz
Costa Rica
A mighty desirable place to be, Costa Rica has been having its moment in recent years, largely on the back of its sustainable tourism and downright spectacular natural splendour. Jungle meets beach after stunning beach here – as far as waves go, it holds its own, attracting a steady stream of boarders with every handful of paradise-seeking lounge lizards. While El Hoyo, aka ‘the hole’, provides a slightly more challenging session, be sure to check out Playa Tamarindo for consistent lineups, or Witch’s Rock for barrel perfection (if not the odd drooling, opportunistic crocodile by the river mouth).
