Tupira Surf Club -PNG -Trip journal

Trip Report by Shaun Levings of World Surfaris.

Mon 23 Nov: Early morning check-in with Air Niugini from Brisbane for 0930 flight to Port Moresby.  Comfortable 3 hour flight arriving in PNG around 12.30pm.  Takes over 30 mins to get through Customs and passport stamped before collecting luggage and clearing immigration.  There is an ATM machine there that should take your regular card (check with your bank in advance) so I withdrew some PNG Kina to cover my costs whilst I would be at Tupira Surf Club (best to get Kina cash in Port Moresby on arrival rather than getting in Australia as the exchange rates are better and no fees. Please note: There is a currency exchange counter at the international terminal also.)  It’s a short 200 metre walk from International to Domestic terminal where the flight to Madang departs from.  Even though I had 3 hours connection time in Port Moresby I knew that domestic check-in can be a bit of a shocker so I made my way down there to check in approx. 2hrs 15mins in advance. I’m glad I did as the queue for my flight to Madang was long and slow moving .  The air conditioning at the domestic terminal wasn’t working so I lost about a litre of sweat waiting for the next hour to get to the check-in attendant.  Finally got my boarding pass and within no time was inside the Air Niugini F28 aircraft bound for the coastal region of Madang.  A quick 1 hour scenic flight (nice to get a window seat to see the highlands and finally the coast) and we’re touching down in Madang.  Met on arrival by representative of Tupira Surf Club, collect boards and bag and load them in the truck and we’re on the North coast highway to Ulingan Bay. It’s approx 120kms of sealed road (with BIG pot-holes) from Madang to Ulingan Bay where Tupira Surf Club is located.  We only get a short period of daylight before the sunsets around 6.30pm but I can still make out the simple villages lining the highway with traditional thatched huts and the bare essentials (water tank etc.).  We dodge a couple of stray pigs on the road and locals walking home after work.   The main thing that stikes me is how lush the vegetation is due to the regular tropical downfalls that cool things off.  Massive fig trees are everywhere along with an abundance of mango trees, coconut palms, tropical ferns, pawpaw &  bannana trees etc.

The beach at TSC

After a 2 hour drive we arrive to Tupira Surf Club set on picturesque Ulingan Bay.  I’m greeted by friendly faces & beetle nut smiles.  As I’m the only guest (actually the only white fella within coo-ee)  I’m sat down to dinner and feel like the king.  Chicken and local vegies is the fare tonight and it’s very tasty.  Simple flavours but very fresh from their own village gardens.

A couple of SP Lagers (white can) served by Terry the bar man and I’m ready to crash after a long days travel.  I can hear the surf in the background also so I’m keen to be fresh in the morning to get out there and wash off some travel dust ! 

My lodgings are very basic in the guesthouse that sleeps up to 10 guests in 5 twin bedrooms.  A bed and a mossie net is basically it but the high ceilings and the screen windows allow ventilation and even though there are no ceiling fans it’s pleasant sleeping temperature.  Pillow was a bit hard but bed comfy, generator goes off as last guest goes to bed (me) so it’s nice and quiet with the crashing of the waves lulling me off to a deep sleep.

Generator comes to life at 6am which is the perfect wake up call.  I check the surf and it’s worth a paddle.  Colac one of the local kids (nephew of Tupira Surf Club president, Al Mom) is staying in the guest house also and he’s keen for a wave.  We grab a quick coffee and a bannana, wax up, fins in and out there.  I wear reef boots as the rocks to jump clamber across to get in are a bit sharp for my soft office feet!  Colac basically runs across them barefoot.  Once in deep water it’s 1 or 2 duckdives and an easy paddle to the take-off zone.  This is as the swells pretty small at only 2-3′.  On a bigger day it would be easier to paddle out from down the bay rather than straight through the line-up as we did.  Buoyweather says the swell is NNE at 2-3′ with 10sec period and 3-5knot SSW wind.  Ideal conditions really as Tupira point works on any hint of Nth or East swell.  NNE is optimal and SSW winds are offshore.  Too lucky but wind is predicted to swing to NE later in the day so we better make the most of it.  It’s about a 3-5 min wait in between 3 wave sets so Colac and I are loving life and hooting each other as we drop into some punchy rights that run for approx 80-100m and are extremely whakable! Take off, bottom turn, hit the lip, race the section, cut back and set up for a nice racy end section that I’m told barrells on a good day.  It’s critical to get off the wave before it goes dry on the limestone bottom.  A couple of the sets are overhead and really racy.  Great fun and it’s only 2-3′ and we are basically surfing the end section of the wave.  I’ve seen photos of it at 4-6′ and it starts breaking way out round the point with a really good barrell section connecting up to where Colac and I were surfing.  On it’s day a 200m wave !

Punchy right hand point

The suns hots and it’s humid so we take breakfast of home made scones and jam, pawpaw and coffee in the dining bungalow then chill out under the fig tree for a while.

I’m here for only 2 days so not to much chilling allowed as I’ve got to suss this place out so I know what to tell the punters.  Al grabs the truck and a few of us head off on a surf check to a few known breaks.

We drive approx 15mins and bush bash for 5 mins through the local village down to Sukular point.  There is a wedgy left at 2′ but unfortunately the NE is up and it’s onshore and crumbly but you can tell it’s going to be a punchy short intense left barrell.  Some Japanese Pros surfed it in Feb 09 at 4′ and were getting big barrell according to the local chief.

There is another right just on the other side of the left and we can see another right off in the distance.  We drive 5 mins back towards Ulingan Bay and come to Medibur village.  We meet the local elders and I”m surrounded by the kids curious to see the white fella.  They don’t see many!  Out the front of the village is a nice looking right hand set up and we see a set come through at headhigh and we’re out there quick as a flash.  Tide by now is dead low so it’s kind of sketchy and dry and the winds a bit funky.  Hardy the 38 yr old caretaker at Tupira SC is a goofy footer whos only been surfing 12 months and he’s taken to surfing like a duck to water.  He gets a couple of good one as does young 18 yr old Colac who has been surfing a similar duration.  They learn on reef and point breaks so it’s a steep learning curb but they are fearless and go for it.  A few classic wipeouts and a bit of skin off every now and then but that does not deter them.  ‘Bullies Right’ we nickname this wave after the traditional name of the village, Bullisiman Village.  With 4′ of Nth swell and mid tide this place is going to go off and offer a great barrell.  It’s hollower than Tupira Point but shorter.  I must return to score this place!  Bid farewell to the kiddies after a few photos and back to Tupira SC for lunch of salad and ham rolls, fruit and juice. 

I discuss hospitality with the staff at Tupira surf club as it’s brand new to them. They are straight out of the village and catering to westerners is new to them but they seem stoked.  They are learning fast and I tell them that the guests we send here won’t be expecting 5 star service.  Just a good effort, a hearty meal and cold beer served with a smile.  They love the atmosphere at the club as they watch the surf  whilst they work or in their breaks and their kids or friends are learning to surf also on some old boards donated to Tupira Surf club c/-Andy Abel at Surfing Association of PNG (SAPNG).  The kids have been told that if they focus on their surfing they might get a spot on the Tupira Surf Club team to compete at the national titles.  That means a plane trip and none of them have been on a plane and some never even been to Madang (2 hours south).  If they do well at the nationals they could represent PNG in the South Pacific games overseas, WOW what an opportunity.  This is a youth initiative by the SAPNG that aims to keep the kids out of trouble by getting them surfing…it’s definitely working and they have the surf bug and some are showing some real natural talent.  Hopefully someday a surfer from Tupira Surf Club will be the national champion and maybe even go on the pro tour.

Now you might ask, Is it going to be crowded with local kids.  This was my question and the answer is definitely not.  The paying clients at Tupira surf club will get priority in the surf over the kids and the kids can surf at times when TSC guests are not out there.  Obviously if there is only 1 or 2 guests then they will probably enjoy surfing with the local kids as I did but they are certainly mindful of not overcrowding the condtions for the guests.  There are other breaks also they can surf.    The SAPNG management plan currently caps the maximum number of travelling surfers in the Tupira region at 15 surfers.  So there is no fear of crowding here in the near future !

Boat exploration

TSC boat

Mid afternoon we take a boat ride from Ulingan Bay (5 mins walk to boat from TSC) and we are at Bullies right within 5 mins, Sukular lefts and rights within another 3 mins and then down the coast to a few other set-ups within 15 mins max.  It’s soooooooo easy to access these other breaks by boat and Tupira Surf club is looking at getting a longboat made in the near future to transport guests to the surf.  In the meantime, Isadore (Tupira SC manager) is happy to use the speedboat (pictured) with 110hp to zip around to these breaks.  We are working out a price to include 1 boat trip per day into the standard package and it should only increase the price by about $20 per person per day (based on min. 4).  More info to follow on this.

After the boat trip we decide Tupira rights are the place to surf again and it’s glassed off for the dusk session.  It’s actually pumping and we all get our fill of racy rights before dinner.  I’m stoked as I get fully shacked on 1 wave with a view of the sunset through the tunnel

Hearty dinner and a few cold New Guinea Ice beers and I’m ready to crash after a big day. 

Wake up to 3′ Tupira rights and good conditions….quick coffee and scones…Surf 2 hours…read a book under the fig tree…chat to the locals….surf again…midday sun is HOT !!! Lunch…siesta time…entertain the local kids and I’m entertained watching the micro groms surfing in the re-form just off the beach.  Classic little bare bum piccanniny kids with great balance and ocean awareness…theres gotta be a national champ in that crop.

Future champs

 Evening glass off again and and another classic dusk session with a few of the older kids hooting and hollering.  A great vibe in the water and so refreshing.  They call me into the bigger sets with “you go white man” !   I’m grinning from ear to ear with the experience.

 My last evening was spent laughing and carrying on with the staff and a few more cold beers.  Generator off and I’m laying under my mossie net in my bunk thinking back over the last couple of days and how lucky I am to have had this experience.  As surfers we are so fortunate to travel to remote places and not just surf uncrowded tropical reefbreaks but to meet friendly locals who live simple mainly self sufficient lives and don’t have our western creature comforts yet are so happy.  We can learn a lot from these people and I love coming home to tell my kids about the experience.  I’ll take my family back to Ulingan Bay one day to go surfing with the local grommies and run around after soldier crabs…no x-boxes, computers etc. around here…just people making the most out of the natural environment.  NB. No rubbish to be seen as such compared to SE Asia. 

Early morning departure from Tupira Surf Club and I bid farewell to Keneka (kitchen manager), Terry the barman, Isadore the camp manager, Hardy (caretaker) and his 2 boys plus other staff who help behind the scenes.  Photos all round and I’m presented with a Bilum bag handmade by the local village sewers.  It’s a traditional carry bag woven and decorated with shells and vibrant colours.  I’m honoured to receive it.

Tupira Surf Club staff

Thanks for having me guys, keep smiling and this white man will be be back.