Surf Update - January 2016

I feel like Christopher Columbus returning from America!

As I hoped and suspected, (some of) the surf here in the Gambia is EXCELLENT! I had a week of holiday over New Year and headed down what’s called “the coastal road”, with my board in the car, stopping at various beaches along the way. Below is a summary of my findings so far, working southwards (the distances are all from Fajara where I live and work). In general, up near where I live the surf seems not to be great, but then the further south you go it seems to just get better and better…

Note on wave heights: I’m always terrible at judging wave heights; it’s always a slightly impossible task. So I’m opting for the slightly easier to gauge measure of waves against an average surfer’s height as they ride the wave - knee height / waist height / chest height / head height / over head height…

1. Cape Point (c.2km north)

This was where I hung out with Mama on Christmas Day - a big beautiful beach with a nice restaurant. I knew the surf wouldn’t be great - this beach turns the corner from all the West-facing beaches to face North-East - but I thought it’d be worth taking the board to say I surfed on Christmas Day!

I gave it a go. Most of the beach faces North-East and is quite exposed - looking out to the wide river mouth estuary, so there are few waves, but it could be really excellent for windsurfing when the wind’s up. If you wander towards the point itself though you see some waves breaking off it, coming in from the Atlantic. These were worth having a try, but were only just powerful enough to surf. I did spot some nice-looking more substantial waves further out, but being a big river estuary into the Atlantic Ocean I wasn’t surprised when I began to feel some quite strong currents… So I wasn’t going to paddle out there alone - the only surfer around, with very few people on the beach!

2. Fajara (near home)

This is the closest spot - by a nice residential area, just north of the main touristy area, so a little quieter, but still quite a few people around.

In terms of surf, the waves here are pretty constant and not small (would often be at least shoulder height if one could stand up) but they almost always seem to be very “dumpy” - that is, after building up they “close out” or crash all at once. What you want is for the wave to “peel” gradually from one side to another as it comes in, so that you can surf along the face of it. When trying to catch these waves at Fajara, at the crucial moment when you need to pop up and stand on the board, the wave suddenly builds and crashes, most likely sending you over the front of the board.

So it’s not great here.

But… just a teeny bit further north, there is a small rocky point… No one swims there therefore and I’m nervous to surf there because of all the rocks on the shallow sea bed under the waves. But there are a couple of spots with beautiful waves breaking off the point, peeling both ways. If I get to a level where I’m very confident of my ability not to be thrown off my board onto the rocks (though even the best can never guarantee!), then I might give it a go…

The rocky break at Fajara point

3. Senegambia (c. 5km south)

This is the beach by the (not pleasant) main touristy area. Crowds of topless and sunburnt overweight beer-swigging tourists… Welcome to the impression we give of the West!
 

Senegambia Beach

But it seems the waves are a bit better here than Fajara. I’ve only been to surf once, and it was my first surf here in the Gambia (was nice that I’d found a couple of other [European] surfers to go with). It was again pretty dumpy but occasionally there were some nicer waves holding up a bit longer. One of the tricky things about surfing, and particularly scouting out surf in a new area, is that every wave is different and every day is different. There are so many conditions and factors that effect what waves appear. So this spot has promise and could well be good on some days (maybe with a stronger off-shore wind holding up the waves?).

4. Tujering / Batukunku (c.25 km south)

When you reach here you’ve passed Tanji, the southernmost main town of the populous northern stretch of the coastal belt. The beach here, like all the way south down to the Senegalese border, bar the odd fishing beach, is very empty and beautifully clean. Just the occasional juice shack with the very occasional customer.
 

Batukunku Beach

Tujering and neighbouring Batukunku are very promising surf spots. The waves were frequent, a nice height (about waist height to shoulder height), and peeling nicely left-to-right and right-to-left. Absolutely beautiful. Only downside: the beaches are so deserted, safety is again a slight concern!

5. Gunjur (c.45km south)

I spent a night at a very pleasant eco-lodge (Footsteps) near Gunjur. The beach is a 10 minute drive from the lodge, over very bumpy off-road conditions. It would probably only take 15 minutes to walk. The beach is, again, empty and beautiful. (This is just 1km or so north of a fishing beach.)

This was definitely the best spot I’d found so far. Very much like Tujering but somehow it just felt even a smidge better! Ah! Was so good! Again, no one around though, except a juice presser with no customers and no swimming ability - he was captivated by the surfing, which he’d never seen before. So another idyllic spot but you’re on your own in case of emergency! 

There was a very strong off-shore wind the day I went - apparently common for this time of year (the edge of the ‘Harmattan’, massive sandstorms from the Sahara desert. That really helped hold up the waves as they came in. 

6. Boboi (c.55km south)

This has been a favourite spot in the Gambia since I first came 11 years ago in 2005. Now that I’ve discovered it also has beautiful surf, it’s unquestionably my favourite spot in the country!
 

Boboi Beach Lodge is a basic but comfortable place right by the beach, just north of the (almost) border town of Kartong. It’s got very friendly staff (and dogs), good food at a decent price, and above all the most exquisite sense of peace and quiet. I stayed in a treehouse with a stunningly beautiful view out to sea.

And the surf was good every day! Some parts of the day it calmed down, which gave me time to do some reading and get my breath back. It’s similar to the beaches above at Tujering and Gunjur, but you’ve got the added benefit of being right by your treehouse and restaurant! The dream!

—

“Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” (1 Timothy 4:4)

I thank God so much for the amazing playground that is the sea! I find surfing so refreshing and fun and exhilarating. Surfing can be a very unforgiving activity and has taken a lot of hours in the sea to learn, with lots of frustrations, discouragements and wipe-outs… And I’ve still got a long, long way to go! (I’m at the stage of just beginning to turn into waves rather than simply riding them in straight.) But I was thankful to notice whilst surfing over new year that I’d turned a corner from only occasionally catching waves that I wanted to, to usually catching waves that I wanted to!

And nothing compares to that sensation of gliding across the face of a wave, propelled purely by the moving and rising wave underneath you. Oh, it’s beautiful! One of countless unnecessarily beautiful gifts in God’s amazing world. Thank you, Father!