The surfEXPLORE Podcast, Episode 3, CHINA Hainan Island, surfing in the south China Sea with The surfEXPLORE Group - point waves and beachbreaks, swell generated by the northeast monsoon, source materials from the new book surfEXPLORE: Discovering New Surfing Locations Worldwide from Schiffer Publishing.

These excerpts recount various surf exploration projects undertaken by the "surfEXPLORE Group" across numerous developing and politically volatile global regions, highlighting the challenges and discoveries involved in finding unridden waves. The narratives consistently detail the seasonal nature of surfing conditions and the logistical complexities of travel, including dealing with poor infrastructure, high costs, bureaucratic hurdles like visas and permits (e.g., in Angola, Indonesia's Papua provinces, and Western Sahara), and even direct political unrest (e.g., in Liberia, Eastern Samar, and the Comoros). Across destinations like Angola, Taiwan, and the Philippines, the texts also show how political and economic history influences local development and interaction with visitors, often revealing waves previously unknown to the surfing community.

These texts offer an extensive overview of global surfing exploration undertaken by the surfEXPLORE Group, detailing trips to remote, often politically volatile locations across Africa, Asia, and the Indian Ocean.

The excerpts consistently describe the seasonal nature of surfing conditions in each region, emphasising the importance of timing to catch the best swell and wind, from the typhoon season in the Philippines and Taiwan to the groundswell of the Indian Ocean in the Maldives and Madagascar. 

Episode 2 features the southwest African country of Angola with the surfEXPLORE Group in the Cabo Ledo area and further south in search of new waves, source materials from the new book surfEXPLORE: Discovering New Surfing Locations Worldwide from Schiffer Publishing.

The surfEXPLORE Group's mission to Algeria for unridden Mediterranean waves required clever border negotiation and meticulous scouting. They raced a powerful Mistral storm to a remote left point. Their preparation paid off: they surfed overhead waves in a spectacular scene with a winter rainbow, riding a spot never before touched by a surfer.

#surfing

#surf_travel