Blogs

With all the negative hype surrounding Japan at the moment, and possibly a lot more to come, I thought it might be time to take a look at some of her remaining beauty. For surfers, avoid Fukushima and surrounds like the plague, but if you like the idea of heading a little south and further offshore than rock-bottom ticket air ticket sales to the island nation will surely attract your attention.

I’m calling this blog series ‘Journey Japan’, and will do a succession of posts relating to safer surf travel destinations in the South. Remember the Fukushima situation is one that will take years to contain, so please travel safe and use this only as a guide. At the end of the day, trust in your own instincts and don’t go anywhere you feel might not be safe.

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Just go?

The advance of the Internet has had a profound effect on surfing. Back in the day, deciding where to surf was a combination of strict weather report scrutiny beginning days earlier, calling up your local surf shop for a wave report and hoping they don’t lie to you, and driving up and down the coast well before dawn trying to work out which local break is peaking.

These days knowing when and where to surf is as simple as a few clicks on your iphone, with the added comfort of being able to search for the best break before dawn from the comfort of your own bed.

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Chasing Summer, or Swells?

I’ve come to realize that Japan’s seasons are difficult to adjust to. The hottest and longest Japanese summer to date was recorded this year and even the east coast with her usually friendly sea breezes was no escape from the heat. And then it was all over in a day. Sometime in early October, the summer switch was set to off, autumn on. I experienced this first hand, surfing quite comfortably in bikinis on a stinking hot morning only to be rugged up in a thick jacket and putting a beanie on my kid the next.

Japan’s weather is weird like that.

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