It was different to what I expected and really great!
This is the second time I have booked with world surfaris and both trips were terrific!
I was talking to a few other guests at Kingfisher and we were speaking about what our hopes and goals were for the trip. I actually think that this would be an excellent question for your travel consultants to ask during the sales process. Then the locations suggested could be tailored specifically to what each surfer was hoping to get out of the experience. I think this would be really useful for all surfers who were undecided about where to go, and especially beginner or intermediate surfers who don’t really know the waves they’re going to and whether or not they’d be a good match. E.g. I had no idea that in some ways it’s actually safer to catch the bigger set waves because they break into deeper water. I’d call myself an intermediate surfer, and in the company of advanced surfers, I was happy to catch the medium to smaller waves but unfortunately that meant that my waves sectioned more than the sets, and broke in shallower water which meant (ironically) quicker take offs, and more reef scrapes when I was trying to eject from close out sections. In speaking with the other guys (who have travelled LOTS of places to surf) it became clearer to me that I would probably have benefited more by doing more research about the types of waves I needed and then choosing my destination accordingly. The onus is totally on me to match my ability to the types of waves I want, but I thought your sales team could be even better by spending some time to genuinely drill down into what types of waves might best suit the surfer.
Overall the experience was unreal, but unless I improve dramatically by the next time I go, I don’t think I’d be rushing back to surf bintangs (super steep take off) or lances left (quick backhand take offs required) as they were pretty challenging.
One last piece of constructive feedback… it would be really helpful for the surf guide or resort owner to facilitate a team meeting early in the day to get a sense of what people are keen for, and then insert their expertise and recommendations. I found myself seeking their advice and then having conversations with a range of people in an attempt to try and create some clarity and some momentum. It’d be good if the expertise was shared over breakfast or something so consensus could be reached early.
Simon P
