Rare Breaking Local Spot

When is simply standing up better than getting tubed?

 

When it's your kid doing the standing.

Lighthouse Beach

This is the right off the north rocks at Lighthouse Beach.  It's a fickle break, and rights are in high demand here.  So if I have a chance to surf this one working at all, I usually do.  90% of the days that it works are in September and October.  It must have something to do with the nature of the swell and/or the way the sand is piled in after Monsoon season.  As best as I can tell, it likes a medium size swell with a big period - something like 2.5 ft. at 18 sec.  This day was 3 @ 12.

You have to enjoy bendy, mutant, refracting waves to appreciate this place.  Even then it will be a love/hate sort of thing.  The peak moves around like a whack-a-mole and there's always a rip running along the rocks which makes it impossible to stay in one place.  It's the sort of break where you see a lot of good ones and catch a few. 

Kovalam Surf and Sport Now Open

Noah Lane in Kerala

http://vimeo.com/40199663

Another Day at Jay Bay

3 ft @ 10 sec. from the SSW

I'll put you on the waves and Hareesh will put you on the elephants...literally.

April Approaches

All in all, April is the best time to catch waves in India.  This swell that graced us in mid-March was a sweet hint at what is to come.  "Thank you" to Chris Proud for providing the photos and video on this and the 2 previous posts. 

Jay Bay

Jay Bay.  That's what they're calling it, and momentum on the name has taken its course.  I didn't discover it, first surf it as far as I know, or try to name it.  I did endorse it to fellow guides (soulandsurf.com) as a fun spot that deserved an occasional check and noted that it is good for beginner and experienced surfers.  It's a little bay area between 2 jetties that was formerly a river mouth.  Recent construction has changed that.  Perhaps it's the case that water flow is sustained through pipes where they are blocking off the backwater and that the little cove won't fill in.  We'll see.  This was a fun little day that made the most of minimal swell.

Death of a Firewire

My Firewire broke towards the end of this 5 hour session.  Some of the waves in the video show the shallow end to this spot. Even if it looks float-able, I don't recommend it.  The wind stays light past noon about 10 days a year here.  The chance of that mid-day cleanliness being coupled with swell is pretty low.  Broken boards or not, it was a pretty special day.

Ed and Jay

Moustachios

The following is from a recently discovered (not that I'm the first to surf it) break that was right there under our noses the whole time.  Hence the name.  It's also the local facial hair of choice.  This wave is another quality river mouth left similar to its recently popularized cousin a little to the south of here.  I had intended to check this place out since looking on googlemaps prior to even coming here.  I never got around to it.  From the plane window flying back to our city a few weeks back I noticed a little white triangle peeling again and again in the same place.  I went straight there that night and gave it a look.  It's fun even when small which is hard to come by here, and it works at least up to head high as you can see.  This day was 2ft. @ 18 sec.  The tide was better later, but the wind was better early.  I can't wait to see it all come together.  If the tide is outgoing, then the water will be coming out of the river and is not very desirable.   There’s my disclaimer.  I was careful not to swallow the whole 5 hours I surfed.  Access isn’t obvious either.  This day I was joined by Ed and company (soulandsurf.com)from Varkala.  When 90% of your surfs are by yourself, a small crowd starts to sound real inviting.  It was fun to catch a few with friends.