Trip to Vizag

On the east coast of India is a city called Vishakhapatnam (Vizag).  It has a number of great set-ups for long rights.  Actually, the plane ride revealed countless great set-ups all along the east coast.  I spent four days in Vizag this past weekend (Oct 1 - 4).  The waves were only knee to waist but still fun.  I must confess that I enjoyed the ease of riding small waves for a change.  The local crowd, about 10 beginners, was a blast to be around.  In India, there is the occasional surfer or two, but as far as I know, only 3 places with a local crew.  These guys have a beginning surfer's heaven at Rushikonda Beach.  There's no paddle out - only a no-duck-dive paddle over.  The wave at thigh high was a little bowl with plenty of speed and energy that went 70 yards or so, and they say that's nothing compared to when it gets good.

The local crew is a semi-organized surf club with private parking and a surf shack to store everything.  They are 2 Americans, 2 guys from Europe, and at least 7 Indians of all ages.  They have had little or no surfers to emulate much less anyone to instruct them on anything to do with technique.  They are self-taught having only the occasional Hawaii footage on TV and a book on learning to surf.  I coached them a bit on turning.  I told them to lead with the shoulders, and then the legs and board would follow.  Many of them took my advice a bit too strongly.  I had the line-up looking like a bunch of those Chinese hand drums that have balls attached to the end of 2 ropes.  In the end, they corrected their over-correction, and I could actually see improvement over the few days there.  They are a stoked bunch.  If you're ever passing through, they would appreciate any equipment you can leave.  No board should be considered too old for their quiver.

I also did my first India spearfishing in Vizag.  There's been too much swell in Kerala since I came here to access spearfishing from the beach. 



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...almost too pretty to eat.

Key word:  almost.