LA Style with the Dump Rider Crew

I was lucky enough to surf with some locals while transiting through Los Angeles. Considering the size of that place, having access to a car and some new friends is necessary to get around. Public transit in LA is a pretty scary concept and it would take a committed surfer to bus to the good surfing beaches.

My Hawaiian friend, Randy who I met in Pacitan, Java put me in contact with Matt, his younger brother. Through Matt, I met various members of the Dump Rider Crew - a group of local LA surfers.....'struggling to improve' (ain't that the truth!) and surfing at every opportunity possible.  'Leave egos at the door, and surf for the love of it!' is this crew's philosophy.

Old Man's, San Onofre State Park

My first surf was at San Onofre State Park over a long weekend. A 4 - 6 foot swell was forecast and Matt had a friend with a beach side campsite on the army base. Christina, a fellow yogi, surfer and good friend of Matt's, picked me at from the hostel at a very early hour and together we drove to Matt's place in El Segundo. From there, we piled into one car and took off an hour south in San Diego county.

The swell was rolling through when we arrived with a number of different peaks firing nicely. Being a long weekend and all, it was unbelievably crowded but a wave is a wave is a wave and its always nice to get wet. I didn't even stop to consider that the water temperature would be significantly less the Costa Rica and my bikini's and rash guard were not going to cut it. 

The first duck dive was a killer and I was lucky enough to score six on the head on the way out. It is always nice to time the entry well. I tried to take off on a few but struggled to find my rhythm. It was really crowded, really cold and my buoyancy in the water was different to that of Indonesia and Central America. I felt like I was sitting lower in the water and just couldn't move through it at the same pace as I had. I gave up after 45 minutes, sprinted out of the water and run to Rick's campsite to warm my hands up over the stove top. 

The rest of the crew - Khang, Sheryl, Rick, Christina and Matt dribbled in over the next few hours and joined me for coffee and breakfast. I'm not sure anyone had an epic surf, with that crowd it was almost impossible but each had a few fun waves. 

The wind picked up for the rest of the day, so we sat reading, eating, chatting and waited out the late afternoon glass off. I managed to borrow Matt's wettie for the session which made all the difference. I had such a fun surf at Old Mans on a 6'1 Spyder (similar to a fish) belonging to Rick. At 22 inches wide, it was so easy to paddle on to the waves and pull down the line. After such a dismal surf in the morning, I was relieved to have some fun and take nice little waves. 


My final surf with the Dump Rider crew was at Manhattan Beach, their local break. The wave is a series of beach breaks running from the sewerage factory along the coast for a few kilometres. It reminded me way too much of surfing Scarborough Beach over summer to really enjoy myself but it was nice to meet more of the local crew and catch up with Christina and Matt again. Looking forward to surfing waves in the warmer waters of El Salvador!

Wise words from a well travelled friend

Pavones, Costa Rica

Niall and I hired a car and drove to Pavones, Costa Rica to ride the second longest left in the world. We timed it on the back of a large swell coming through for the weekend hoping that we would avoid the crowds but still get to surf this amazing point break at its best.

It was here that the homesickness hit. It pervaded every thought, feeling, moment and took the happiness and enjoyment out of everything. The swell was pumping, my travel buddy, Niall was having the surf sessions of his life and I just wanted to go home.

I felt so lost, so far away from everyone and everything I loved. I emailed a good and well travelled friend. Here is what he wrote back. 

Travelling is not easy.
Everything is heavy.
The food, the little risk, the bad beds, the roosters, the rats, the annoying people....
I understand you when you say that you are tired.

Take it easy...slow down...eat well and try to sleep well.
So you will soon have the batteries full again and you can continue to travel.

but remember...all the heavy things are actually good for your spirit and your knowledge.
I am sure you are learning a lot during these days...
A lessons that only travelling can give you.

Ancoro Imparo.

Surfing with las chicas at Santa Teresa

Fun peaks at Playa Santa Teresas

After five weeks of intense travel driving a motorbike through Java and staying at a shag shack in La Libertad, I was excited to catch up with my friend Niall in San Jose. We planned to head straight to the coast, find a cute little apartment and surf fun waves for two weeks. 

Santa Teresa seemed like the best place to do this with a plethora of yoga schools, restaurants and a mixture of reef and beach breaks within easy reach. It is a tiny jungle village on the Nicoya Peninsula, a five hour bus and ferry ride from San Jose. As long as I have good coffee nearby, fresh fruit and vegetables, things to explore, a running route of some description and good waves to surf, I am a very happy camper.

We totally scored with the accommodation staying at Hotel Meli Melo paying $30 a night for a twin room, shared kitchen, wifi and living area. The waves were crazy fun. We were so lucky to time our arrival with a building swell. Playa Santa Teresa is a series of super fun peaks that easily holds a crowd. Its a great wave on a smallish swell maxing out at around 5 foot. On the other side of the peninsula are several reef breaks that fire when the swell gets bigger.

Aside from the waves, the town was full of chicks that ripped. Every session there was at least 3 – 4 girls in the water, more then holding their own. I got to meet and chat to a couple and was so inspired by their stories...................Evie Johnstone is a Jaco based surfer trying to break into the professional circuit, Josie Green had been surfing for four years and blogs about surf life and surfing chicks in Santa Teresa, Veronica Quiros designs surf bikinis (Tica surf) and teaches Spanish and Margerit is a local artist and owner of Zwart Cafe / Art (a perfect local whilst on vacation). These were just the girls I chatted to in the line up.

I was also stoked to discover a wicked brand of surf bikini – Calavera. Every girl that surfs has a ridiculous obsession with bikinis and finding the perfect pair that will stay on when wiping out is pretty important. I don't know how many times I have paddled out the back, sat up on my board and realised my bikinis are undone and my nipples are pointing to the line up. I spotted Evie wearing a pair whilst surfing and paddled over to her to ask her who made them. Luckily for me, she is a Calavera sponsored rider and had a few pairs for sale. They are the only bikini I have ever surfed in that truly stays on in all conditions and their pretty damn sexy as well!

Avoiding Mama Roca at Punta Roca – El Salvador part 1

Punta Roca, El Salvador.

I flew three days from Bali through Malaysia, the United States and into San Salvador, El Salvador overnighting in Kuala Lumper and Los Angeles. My friend James had arranged a pick up for me at San Salvador, so I headed straight to La Libertad, a little town on the east coast. Without exception every one of my friends who had travelled to these parts had told me not to stay in this town but James was staying at one of the surf camps and I was excited to hang out with a friend from home.

Punta Roca and La Paz were the two local breaks, both right handers breaking over rocky bottoms. La Paz was the easier of the two capable of holding a nice sized, very fun wave that you could ride from the point to the shore. Punta Roca on the other hand, is a nasty bitch of wave. It has a horrible entry over barnacled covered rocks with a nasty shore dump. It is super fast, a little critical and crowded with rippers.

I was pretty scared. Punta Roca really pushed all my buttons but I surfed it twice a day with James and managed to take a few nice ones each session. I found the entry incredibly quick and could do little more then speed down the face holding on. The wave in the photo above was taken by an American photographer, Seth. I remember that particular wave so clearly as it was the first one I made without going oner the falls. I was stoked that I looked relaxed as I certainly didn't feel it.

Going right has always been one of my weaknesses. Although I am regular (my right foot is at the back of the board) I spent my formative surfing years in Western Australia (lots of lefts) and surfing around Indonesia (amazing lefts). I am so much more consistent on my backside particularly at the pop up and feel more in control when turning. El Salvador has a lot of rights which means I am forced to spend more time facing the wave and working on my rhythm.

Ciao Bali

An empty line up, Kuta Reef, Bali

I said good bye to Bali on a swell of 6 – 8 foot sharing Kuta Reef with 70 of my nearest and dearest. Sometimes you can jag that wave with 4 or 5 others in the water but with a big swell running and school holidays there was no chance of that. It was horror and I really felt the three weeks I had spent out of the water riding Red (my motorbike) around Java.

Needless to say the Australian men surfing those last few days were not the countryman I am proud of. It only takes one or two overly aggressive men (or women for that matter) to ruin a surf. People were dropping in, snaking and yelling at each other, generally committing every single surf sin possible.

I love surfing Kuta Reef. It is a really fun wave that can handle some size, even barrelling at the end section. I have surfed it with good friends and a handful of other surfers. The downside it is the closest decent wave to Kuta/Legian area so when the swell is on it, so are a million others.