Surfing and Yoga go hand in hand! It's the perfect complimentary activities, where one benefits the other to create a perfect mind, body, spirit connection. Surfing requires focus, agility, and connection to ones core. As does yoga. This doesn't mean that if you have no yoga experience, you won't be able to surf. I've taught hundreds of students that have no experience in yoga or surfing, but were able to stand on their surfboard during their first two hour class. However, if you're interested in learning or wanting to improve at surfing, take a yoga class or two to work on your flexibility. This will help you progress as a surfer at any level.
Throughout my years of teaching, I've witnessed incredible progress in students who have some experience in yoga. My pop-up technique includes practicing three yoga positions - "up dog" or "cobra", "down dog", and "warrior" positions...otherwise known at the "Sun Salutations" in yoga. If you've never taken a yoga class, no problem. In my land lesson, I go through how to do each of these postures, which helps my students get flexible enough to go from the laying position on the surfboard to standing.
The latest rave now is SUP yoga! This is practicting yoga postures on the deck of a stand up paddleboard, while balancing on the water. It's a great way to combine yoga with an ocean sport like "SUP". With a wide and stable SUP board, you'd be surprised at how many yoga positions you can do on the water. It's a great core strengthening workout, while improving ones focus and balance. Maui Surfer Girls is now offering SUP Yoga at Ukumehame Beach Park at 7am on Fridays. So the folks that live in Maui or visitors can join us every Friday!
Experience for yourselves the great combination of two activities that will undoubtedly calm your mind and invigorate your body: surfing & yoga!
Surfing and Yoga go hand in hand! It's the perfect complimentary activities, where one benefits the other to create a perfect mind, body, spirit connection. Surfing requires focus, agility, and connection to ones core. As does yoga. This doesn't mean that if you have no yoga experience, you won't be able to surf. I've taught hundreds of students that have no experience in yoga or surfing, but were able to stand on their surfboard during their first two hour class. However, if you're interested in learning or wanting to improve at surfing, take a yoga class or two to work on your flexibility. This will help you progress as a surfer at any level.
Throughout my years of teaching, I've witnessed incredible progress in students who have some experience in yoga. My pop-up technique includes practicing three yoga positions - "up dog" or "cobra", "down dog", and "warrior" positions...otherwise known at the "Sun Salutations" in yoga. If you've never taken a yoga class, no problem. In my land lesson, I go through how to do each of these postures, which helps my students get flexible enough to go from the laying position on the surfboard to standing.
The latest rave now is SUP yoga! This is practicting yoga postures on the deck of a stand up paddleboard, while balancing on the water. It's a great way to combine yoga with an ocean sport like "SUP". With a wide and stable SUP board, you'd be surprised at how many yoga positions you can do on the water. It's a great core strengthening workout, while improving ones focus and balance. Maui Surfer Girls is now offering SUP Yoga at Ukumehame Beach Park at 7am on Fridays. So the folks that live in Maui or visitors can join us every Friday!
Experience for yourselves the great combination of two activities that will undoubtedly calm your mind and invigorate your body: surfing & yoga!
In this technological world where we are getting more and
more separated from each other and nature, it is even more vital for our minds
and bodies to connect in nature within a community of others. I think this is why we are seeing more and
more retreats, camps, and outfitters with an eco-tourism and personal
development component.
For the past 13 years I’ve had the privilege of running an
all girls surf camp every summer, as well as a year around surf school for
girls and guys. We’ve had hundreds of teen
girls attend from around the world at our little oceanfront cabin facility on
Maui’s west shore. There’s been one
common thread through the years -- girls really thrive in and out of the ocean
when they are surrounded by other girls and female mentors. They are thirsty for self expression, self
reflection, and self confidence. Peer
and mentor acceptance are also vital in developing their strengths and unique
qualities. Especially in this crucial
window of a girls self-esteem development, their teen years can be a brutal
coming of age time where bullying at school and on social media sites are more
and more common place. Having a safe
refuge away from facebook, parental pressures, boyfriends, temptations with
drugs and alcohol…sometimes summer camp is the only place a girl can develop
their strengths and sense of self in a non threatening environment.
For parents of a teen girl, here’s a few of my coaching tips
for building a competent and confident surfer girl in and out of the water.
1. Develop her passion – whether it be surfing, a
hobby or academic subject, having a healthy outlet when she’s got boy problems,
hormonal shifts, peer pressure, or stress, it’s vital to do what she loves. Having something to focus on that brings joy
into her life can defeat depression and low self- esteem. Becoming good at something she loves is the
building blocks to confidence that brings more and more happiness and
opportunities for success into her life.
Even participate in her passion or hobby to show her you care for what
she’s interested in.
2. Encourage time spent in nature – Any time a girl
can unplug from her iphone, tv, computer, is valuable time connecting with her
true self and feelings. It’s like
pushing the reset button on your computer.
It refreshes her to make solid decisions based on what her gut is saying
and not what someone else wants for her.
Developing a sense of inner peace through time spent alone in nature is a valuable tool to her success. Surfing
is the perfect way to do this.
3. Teach and model a healthy lifestyle, especially
eating healthy. To be successful at
surfing or any activity, a girl must fuel her body properly. Our meals at our surf camp are the perfect
fuel to our active days: fresh mangos,
oatmeal, salads and sandwiches, quinoa and vegetables, burrito bar, Hawaiian
food at our luau, among other healthful meals.
4. Develop
open communication with your teen girl.
You don’t have to be her best friend and have her divulge her secrets to
you, but make sure you are available frequently to listen and connect with her authentically. Despite her wanting to
push you out of her life, give her lots of hugs and express that you are here
for her no matter what. Unconditional
love & a present parent can go a long way for a teen girl’s development.
I’m not a parent of a teen girl, but a mentor of many. I’ve seen
through the years that these tools above have been helpful with my own journey
coming of age. When I was a teenager
into young adulthood, I struggled with low self esteem and depression. If I didn’t have my surfboard and varsity
sports growing up, I would’ve been miserable.
Even growing up on the beautiful beaches of Maui, seemed to feel dulled
by my depression. There is something very
invigorating, and biochemically uplifting to our brains and psyche’s when we
spend time being active in nature, especially the cleansing power of the
ocean. It’s been my life mission to
share the gift of surfing and our active Maui lifestyles with future
generations of teen girls at our surf camps as well as families, couples, guys and
girls of all walks of life at our surf school.
Sometimes just one two hour surf lesson can plant a seed of confidence
& invigoration to become more active in nature in ones daily life back
home.
So what are you waiting for?
Let’s get our teen girls active by sending her to our surf camp or
signing up for a surf lesson while you’re in Maui!
What was I thinking attempting a full Ironman recently? With no triathlon experience, an old ankle injury, and a restless mind, this Maui surfer girl was in way over her head. My girlfriend has done three prior Ironmans and said she'd help me train for this Florida one, saying "Hey it's the easiest Ironman course on the circuit. Go for it!" I wouldn't put "easy" and "ironman" in the same sentence, but I admit, I've used "small Jaws" in a sentence to describe some of my sessions at Jaws. Surfing Jaws is one thing, the ironman takes super human stamina and this ADD brain would have to focus on a task
for seventeen hours, ya right?! I must be crazy to test these limits in myself? So for the past year, Chrissy and I have been training hard together. We've travelled to outer islands for bike rides. We've done ocean swims with our dog Luna and masters swim workouts in the pool. We've ran before sunrise to avoid Maui's heat. The preparation and pre-race jitteres were harder than the race in my opinion. Finally it was time to pack up our gear and head to Panama City Florida.
The swim was
INSANE! Well really the 112 mile bike ride followed by a marathon was equally
nuts! But as an avid waterwomen, I got a big thrill out of swimming with three
thousand athletes on that two mile rolly ocean loop. What a rush to swim in a
sea of neoprene and bright green and pink swim caps. While taking in the moment, I literally took
in gulps of sea water with every other breath. The ocean was morning
sick the day of the race and it was making me sick too. Luckily I trained in Maui's rough waters so I
felt right at home (besides swimming in a full wetsuit).
One of my
favorite images during the swim was seeing the sunrise between the high rise condos along the Florida coastline between strokes. The sunrise calmed down my adrenaline. It
seemed so surreal that I was in the middle of three thousand swimmers in sixty
degree water attempting my first triathlon.
When three hundred days of the year I'm in a bikini floating on a surfboard
with a few students in tow. This was far from that peaceful ocean. I ended up surprising myself when I later learned that I finished
the swim in a decent time: one hour and fifteen minutes – twenty third in my
age group.
Ahh the bike.
It was a relief to start the bike. I trained mentally and physically the most
for the long ride ahead. I knew I would spend at least seven hours in the saddle and
in the aero position primarily since it was a flat course. I got a little
worried about my pace, when in the first mile of the bike ride, a middle aged
woman blew past me riding a spiffed out “Huffy-style” bike with a kickstand on
it. I later coined her “kickstand lady”
and surprisingly never saw her again.
112 miles of
flat highway miles = BORING! But I learned to amuse myself along the way. Lucy Woodward, our MSG surf instructor and a
multi-continental touring cyclist, suggested I play memory games while I
rode. She said I'd be entertained for
hours by picking a random date in my life and recount what I was doing and
feeling on this date. It sparked a flood of entertaining memories, but
this ended up occupying maybe one accumulative hour. I believe I recited my favorite Yogananda
affirmation for psychological success at least twenty times. Exhaustion and delirium were setting in. But oohhh the relief I felt getting off that bike seat in the transition area.
It was all I could do to peel off my sweaty bike shorts and put on my
running shorts and shoes.
Ohh the
marathon! Being that my doctor told me I couldn't run on my ankle again after my fall - I
was scared to put it through the marathon. Little did I know that
my lower back and hamstring threatened to seize up on me for most of the marathon before my ankle gave me trouble. I could barely walk upright after being
in the crouched over aero position for seven hours. On the first mile of
back pain I began to question if I'd even finish. Then I remembered what
my physical therapist told me. The minute a negative or doubtful thought
entered my mind, replace it with a positive stream of thoughts. Or in my case,
talk to others in the race and make new friends! By the end of the race I had
new facebook friends, a lot of life stories, and buddies who shouldered each
others pain to the finish line.
The run was
two-13 mile loops. Hearing the cheers of
the crowd, city lights, and “you are an Ironman” echoing through the course was
like a mirage. The lowest point of my race
was the moment I realized that these people weren’t cheering for me. Sadly the people cheering didn’t know who was
finishing and who was on their first lap. I had to say a couple times, “Thanks
but I’m on my first lap.” I’ll never
forget on mile 14, mentally struggling to cope with the second loop, this
little boy looked me square in the eyes and said in the most sincere,
enthusiastic tone, “You are going to be an ironman!” I believed him and got another wind of
energy.
From mile 15
until the end, I realized that this is anyones race. I witnessed the fittest athletes on their
hands and knees puking on the side of the course. Then I’d walk/run with
several fifty-sixty year olds and athletes twice the size of me. I gained strength from witnessing the incredible
willpower of all these athletes. I even
saw a woman in full fire fighter gear with a tank on her back running this
marathon. What an inspiration! If she can get through this race, then I could
get through my spasming back and hamstrings, arthritic ankle, and the
incredible chaffe between my legs.
Thank God for vasoline!
A parade of
goosebumps ran up my legs when I heard with great relief and almost disbelief…“You
are an ironman!” The announcers voice
resounded louder and louder through the lit up streets. My
footsteps became more perky along with my conversations with two other athletes
that had carried my hopeful spirits and long winded stories to finish this
race.
On the last 100
yards of the race, a blue barricade on either side was lined with cheering
spectators. Blurry fist pumps and arms
reaching out to me came into focus for those last footsteps. It was all the strength I could muster to raise
up my hands to meet their high-fives running by. In sixteen hours and 24 minutes, almost awaking
from a dream, I hear, “Dustin Tester – You are an ironman”. I felt like collapsing the second I crossed
the finish line. I was immediately
draped with a foil blanket, a medal, and cameras aimed at me.
If there was
one thing I learned from my Ironman experience is that the power of the human
will comes not only from the mind, but from the heart. Those athletes really touched my heart and
gave me strength to finish this Ironman.
Witnessing their strength boosted mine.
I was also so thankful to have a supportive girlfriend to inspire me to
do this race. She believed in me from
the start and pushed me to train when I was doubtful and overwhelmed. I learned that I’m much more than the
“limitations” of my ankle injury and my ADD brain. As the Ironman saying goes…”Complete
an ironman, and you have bragging rights for life.” I
don’t plan to brag, but I plan to take this inner strength with me for life and
hopefully inspire others to do the same.
Luna and I surfing on a glorious morning at "1000 Peaks" - Ukumehame Beach Park
Meet our special member of our Maui Surfer Girls surf family, Luna! She is truly a one in a million pound puppy rescue that can surf, skateboard, skimboard, stand-up paddle board, and she has even tried kitesurfing! In November, Luna will have accomplished all this before she turns 3 years old!
She's a beautiful Lab-Pointer mix that has the perfect blend of a loving, sensitive lab and athletic, smart pointer. I couldn't be more lucky to have found such an amazing dog at the pound. Similarily, Luna has to be the luckiest dog in the entire world, to go surfing, hiking, whalewatching year around on this beautiful island of Maui.
Like any dog owner, we always feel like our dog is the best - the most beautiful and talented, the smartest with human-like sensibilities than any dog that has ever graced the planet. I have to admit, I feel this way about Luna. I adore her like she's my only child and best friend.
Luna has front row tickets to most of my surf lessons. I tell my students that she is my teaching assistant, although she can be very distractable when a sand crab catches her eye. At the end of my surf lesson Luna shows off her surfing skills and jumps on the surfboard with me. She's even started surfing by herself this summer. See for yourself - check out this great clip of her surfing!
I've put together a collection of my favorite pictures of our island lifestyle together. By the way, Headline News, Jane Velez featured a picture of Luna and I surfing on her Pet of the Week segment three weeks ago. This is just the beginning of Luna's fame. I'm in the process of writing a children's book about Luna and all her island adventures.
Here's some of my favorite pictures I've captured through the years. It was hard to just pick a few, you'll see why... She's extremely photogenic ;) There I go again bragging like a proud mama.
Twelve years ago today, I busted my tibia bone straight out into the broad daylight beneath Cedar Mountain. It was a beautiful fall day until I took the nastiest fall of my life. I was 26 years old, spending the summer working for a couple mountaineering programs in North Carolina at Camp Green Cove and Camp High Rocks. I had graduated from Prescott College a year prior, where I studied Adventure Education and spent 3 years climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, river rafting, and mountaineering. I got hands-on experience leading and facilitating groups in wilderness settings. After spending two summers climbing in the Western North Carolina Mountains, I felt more and more confident in my multi-pitch climbing skills.
This was going to be my last climbing trip of my busy season. Little did I realize it was my last day of climbing period. My co-leader and I were leading a group of 8 teenagers up the trail to set up top rope climbs at Cedar Mountain. For those that aren’t familiar with climbing in North Carolina – it is very challenging rock to climb. There are very little cracks in the rock to place your gear, or feet and hands, for that matter. Despite it’s challenges, I spotted a difficult route for my teenagers and decided to set up top ropes there. To set up top ropes, I had to set my hardware into the tiny cracks as I ascended the rock face, while my co-leader belayed me.
The moment that haunted my head for many days in the hospital was a decision I wish I could’ve taken back. I placed my “alien” piece, which is a small Camelot or “cam” that is placed into a crack and when released it opens wide so that it’s jammed in the rock. This piece has a carabineer at the end of it so the rope I’m connected to can be passed through it, securing me to the rock to break my fall. This “alien” cam is so small, so I consider backing it up with one more. I instead decide against it to save my cams for the rest of the climb ahead. Bad choice! As I traversed, I began to struggle with my handholds and had no footholds at all. So in the blink of an eye, I fell – a free fall that I have no recollection of. One second I'm climbing, the next second I’m on the ground looking at my bone protruding from my ankle joint.
My angels had my back, literally. By some miracle I didn’t land on the many boulders that were surrounding the rock face I was climbing. I happened to land on the only flat ground beneath my fall. Because I landed at an angle my ankle didn’t stand a chance unfortunately.
This was going to be a long, painful day. I was 3 miles from the trailhead and miles away from the nearest hospital. What was worse is that my co-leader and our group of teenagers couldn’t carry me out very easily. So he had to run down the trail and find the Outward Bound School, which had a metal litter or stretcher to carry me down the mountain. Finally over an hour later, my knight and shining armor came running to the base of Cedar Rock carrying this heavy litter on his head. Hand over hand, our group carried me over boulders then down the long winding path. The whole time I told surf stories of Maui to keep my mind of the pain.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take the pain anymore and my endorphins were fleeting away like a residing tide, I was whisked off in a suburban down a long bumpy dirt road. My foot wagged like broken branch in the wind, as we high tailed it to the Brevard hospital.
I had never experienced a broken a bone or such a traumatic injury for that matter, so I was in a good deal of shock and pain over all this. Thank god I had a great friend assisting with a group near ours that was by my side during this whole ordeal. I also had a great co-leader who muscled his way up that path with a heavy metal litter on his head. It’s my belief that in bad life circumstances, there is always an angelic presence to lift you up.
It was five hours from the time I fell until the morphine was spiked into my veins in the emergency room. Oh how I was relieved to get pain meds in me! But I wasn’t relieved when the ER doctor took a look at my ankle and said, “This is beyond me.” Another angel had arrived however, Dr. Graham. My boss at High Rocks requested Dr. Graham, a great local orthopedic doctor. Ironically Dr. Graham was a surfer from Florida, practicing in this little mountain town of Brevard. He shortly arrived at my bedside at the ER and took one look and asked me whom he should call in my family. That was also not a good sign. I gave him my dad’s number in Maui and overheard the conversation…that went something like, “We might have to fuse the ankle joint or amputate her foot.” Maybe I was in a fog of pain and morphine, but I swear I heard him say, “amputate” in the other room. But before I could ask for clarification, I was unconscious and swept away to the operating table. I seriously thought I might wake up missing my left foot.
I was freezing cold when I woke up on the operating table. The first thing I did was to make sure my left foot was still connected to my poor ankle. Thank god it was! I was filled with questions and anxiety, which Dr. Graham calmly answered. He explained that the surgery took longer than he had expected, but he put my ankle joint back together with a plate, a wire, and eleven screws. I tore cartlidge in the joint, that could result in arthritis someday. The way I looked at it -- I had a bionic ankle now. I wouldn’t let it slow me down!
I was in the hospital for a week after the surgery to get IV antibiotics since my bone was exposed to the air for 5 hours. My other angel was Nurse Char, who was by my bedside each day trying to ease my pain with morphine and a smile. My mom and step dad drove up to North Carolina from Arkansas - they were also my angels that week.
The happy ending of this traumatic turning point in my life is that I did the (broken) legwork to starting my dream surf camp business back home on Maui. I had the time to research and develop Maui Surfer Girls. Nine months later, during the following summer I had 17 teen girls attend my first surf camp in 2001. Five years later I even surfed some 20-foot waves at Jaws and was among the pioneering women there. Without Dr. Graham’s incredible skills as an orthopedic surgeon, I might’ve never achieved my athletic and business dreams. This year, I’m attempting my first Ironman triathlon in Florida. Running is against Dr. Graham’s doctor’s orders…so I may walk the marathon if I have the gumption to finish the race.
My most heartfelt gratitude goes out to Dr. Graham, Nurse Char, and all my angels on that tragic day of September 10, 2000. On this twelve year anniversary, I honor them for contributing to all the success and health I enjoy today.
Dr. Graham, you saved not only my foot and ankle that day, but you saved my life! Can we please meet each other next time on a surfboard in beautiful waves?
My bionic ankle!
My ankle today...I tell my surf students it's my "shark bite" scar ;)
One word comes to mind after running another year of Maui Surfer Girls, blessings!
Words can never describe the gratitude I feel everytime I surf with my students in my "office" each morning. Sharing the warm and inviting waves at our two "office locations" at Puamana Park's "guardrails" beach and Ukumehame park's "1000 peaks", is truly a gift for both myself and my students to enjoy such great learning conditions in a friendly off-the-beaten path location. I love what our instructor "Sharky" says at the beginning of his amazing land lessons, "Surfing was the sport of kings in Hawaii, and it is a privilege to learn and share the joys of the sport with everyone today." I feel blessed to give the gift of surfing to so many tourists and locals alike.
So many of us need time away from the fast paced grind of life to downshift in the waves, and have a healing respite from iphones, ipads, and the insanity that can happen when we're too disconnected from nature. I've seen it in many lessons, the softening of stress lines that turn into big smiles and child-like giggles. It's a really cool transformation that can occur in just a two hour surf lesson. What's even more life altering is witnessing the transformation that happens to a teenage girl that attends our 1-3 week program -- where they have to unplug their iphones, ipads, and facebook for the duration of camp, and plug into the true source -- mother ocean. Some girls gladly give up their phones, while others cling onto their facebook status updates on their one afternoon/week phone privilege. It's hard to imagine we used to be worried about girls using the onsite payphone and now we confiscate the myrad of smartphones and computer notebooks out there. We even wrote a camp technology policy form for campers and parents this summer.
It's been quite an amazing ride. I thought surfing "Jaws" was exciting, but riding the wave of MSG has been the most thrilling and rewarding ride of my life. I've been blessed to meet such amazing and talented young girls at our surf camp each summer. And the hundreds of surf lesson students have also made lasting impacts on me, especially the ones who stay in touch like Tam, who just sent me a cool trucker hat from So Cal, and Han from NYC who loves surfing each year with us. Or Susan Moulton, who came to our surf school in the most tragic of circumstance, after losing her son in a horrible car accident at Ukumehame beach park, the day I was teaching a surf lesson. She has become a dear friend through the years.
Someone told me once, that I have built quite a family out of Maui Surfer Girls. Being an only child, I think there's a bit of truth to that. I see all of our students and my staff, as one big "O'hana". Again, I'm so fortunent to have been surrounded by incredible students and surf instructors, while surfing in the beautiful ocean "office" of Maui. Blessed beyond believe!
Here's a slideshow of some of my favorite pictures from this summers surf camp! Hope you enjoy!
What makes us so special at Maui Surfer Girls, in my opinion, is our staff. We've been so very fortunent to have some of the best waterwomen and men, and experiential educators working at MSG each year. It's rare to find people who take pride and passion in what they do, and are willing to go the extra mile for their students no matter what skill level they are at.
All who've been apart of our instructional team and camp operations, have been some of the best people I've ever known. They have become my family & I know they are considered family by the girls who've been impacted by the staff at the MSG surf camps through the years. Campers like Lucy Woodward and Gaby Barsotti, have grown up through the camps and have now become apart of the MSG staff team.
Even if you're signing up for our 2 hour surf lessons, our surf instructors aim to make a lasting impact and give their students more than just the basics of surfing. Both Jedi and Sharky are amazing at teaching everything from oceanography and respecting our local reefs, to Hawaiian words and the history of surfing.
In honor of these staff members, please check out our staff page. I put together photo slideshows next to the bios of our current staff members. I figured a photo is worth a thousand words. Each slideshow I think captures the spirit of each staff member. Enjoy!
Uncle Sharky ushering in the next generation of surfer girls and guys at our surf lessons!
Hola amigos! We just returned from our maiden voyage surf trip to Coiba Island off the west coast of Panama.
Thanks to all the crew and guides at Lost Coast Excursions & an incredible boat of charging surfer girls, we had an unforgettable surf adventure. Where do we begin?
Five of us flew from Hawaii together on Fri the 13th...I'm superstitious so I tried to not stress that we were going to apparently a "haunted island", with crocs, 32 species of sharks, poisonous snakes, and a historical penitentiary closed in 2007 by the Geneva convention because of its history of torcher. Our 6 surfer girls, were about to embark on a serious surf adventure and I knew we'd shine our aloha on any negativity we might find...
We landed at Panama City the next day and were sad to discover that our board bag with 3 surfboards had not arrived. Our trip the next morning would be delayed by 6 hours, as we waited for our boards to arrive on the next flight from LA. We made the most of our 1st night in Panama and went to an EPIC dinner show, which reminded me of a hawaiian luau. We feasted on traditional Panamanian food of beans and rice and fish while listening to great music and dancing.
Good news is that once we finally got our board bag, the 6 of us and two guides piled into a 30 passsenger pimped-out bus charter equiped with a flat screen that we watched two back to back movies on as we drove almost 4 hours to our port town near Santiago.
From there we piled all our gear into a 25 ft sport boat and drove another 2 hours to Coiba island. We arrived at sunset to many smiling faces on a perfect white sand beach lined with coconut trees and a pier.
Day 1 of surfing was GAME ON! I was surprised at how big the surf was - consistently 5-6ft. Our guides Chris and Vampiro took us to a surfbreak named "Grizzlies"....regardless of the name and big rocks nearby, I was impressed at the charging attitudes in the ladies of the line up. Gina from Maui and Jaclyn, a skier from Jackson Hole, WY practically collided on some heavy drops and came up smiling after some major wipeouts. 30 minutes later, we called it quits there. It was a heavy wave to start our trip, so we motored 10 minutes down the coast to a place called "Manilla's", a left hand point break.
After breaking my leash, and Chrissy gauging her finger on the reef, we were officially getting schooled by the Panamanian waves. Luckily, Chris showed us another more protected area for some tamer waves at a place called "Castillos", off the coast of a nearby island, Icaron. We had a blast here -- more mushy take offs in deeper water. Chrissy was a trooper and caught one of her best waves of the trip here!
The highlight moment of our first day fishing was near a famous fishing spot at Hanibal bank. We motored into a boil of yellow fin tunas, that were no joke, like dolphin's jumping out of the water and racing right towards our boat. There had to have been at least a school of 40 tuna's that were well over 100lbs each: a fishermans dream come true!! The captain killed the engine and the crew threw "popper" lures in the water, franctically casting at the boil. Sadly not one bite! Chris mentioned that the tuna were probably herding sardines and had already feasted. We ended up feasting on another fishing groups tuna catches later that day instead. We even took a group photo next to their catch acting like it was ours...
During our first days surfing at that left point break at "Manilla's" we stumbled upon the only other surfers in all of Coiba, two researchers both named Tom. They had been fishing in the area and were familiar with the resident crocodiles of the river mouth next to Manillas...Yes, we were practically surfing with crocodiles 200 yards cross the beach from the line up. He told us to meet him there the next day and he'd feed the crocs..but get this, he dethawed a 20lb+ turkey, tied it to a rope, swam it through the beach break. And straight out of a scene from "Swamp People", he hoisted this turkey-on-a-rope into the river mouth. He had all of us at the waters edge slapping the water and whistling for the crocodile to come have a turkey feast on us, or maybe we were gonna be his dinner if we werent careful. It was a pretty classic MSG scene, that I'm sure we'll re-enact at our talent show this summer.
Jaclyn, who grew up in northern Florida, laughed with her pearly big smile, "This is just like the people I grew up with! This is so hick!" Believe it or not, the 2nd day we called the crocs, Tom came across a crocodile den of newly hatched baby crocodiles. They made coo-cooin' sounds, with a white glazed film across their eyes - they had just hatched and we were holding them in our palms. Meanwhile, Tom was still wading in the water with his turkey-on-a rope draggin' behind him and we're like, "Tom, dude, where is the mama!? You are crazy!" No mama was ever seen, surprisingly, so we left the turkey to float in the river mouth for later feasting.
The last few days were filled with more head high to overhead waves. We were definitely getting challenged by the thumpin' Panamanian waves, and making the most out of each day in the water. We even discovered a new surf break and named it "Lunatica's", aka "crazy women". It was a heaving beach break that Gaby, Dustin, and Gina pioneered.
One of the more memorable experiences was taking a tour of the Cobia Island Penitentiary. With it's crumbling walls and corroded jail cell bars, this Alcatraz-like setting was both intriguing and hair raising. As we walked across the cemented floors, our guide Chris jumped up and down and said, "Hear that? It's hollow..." He explained that when the Geneva convention closed down the Penitentiary, they cemented the basement below the jail cells where they tortured inmates. We could hear the faint hallow footsteps as we walked down the long corridor. The prison guard giving us the tour had worked there since the 1980s..despite barely speaking a word to us, you could see the painful stories in his eyes. Surprisingly he allowed me take a picture of him.
The guard entertained us and let us be quasi locked up in the new facility that they have built for future inmates (mostly drug traffickers of the area).
Upon our return home from the Penitentiary tour, we timed the perfect high tide for the resident crocodile "Tito" to come out of the water & feed on tuna carcasses and the bologna sandwiches we didn't eat at lunch. It was truly amazing to call Tito's name at the waters edge, and like a dog, he swam towards shore and came to our call..well more like came to the hopes of a fish dinner. He was straight out of the National Geographic channel...HUGE..he actually modelled for us for 10 minutes of photos..we all got as close as possible to this dinosaur-like reptile with a double chin the size of Jabba the hut!
On our last night on the island, we entertained ourselves with hermit crab races and Gladiator bouts, where we took the crabs out of their shells and left only a couple shells in a ring for them to fight over. Who's idea was that anyway? Gina? Lucy?
I'm not sure who made a larger impact, the beautiful paradise of Coiba Island and our crew on all of us surfer girls, or the mark MSG made on the land and crew members of the trip. (thanks to Gina and Jaclyn for helping me with the "MSG sand drawing"!) As we say in Hawaii, "A hui Hou!", until we meet again!
A special thanks to Chris, Camillo, Vampiro, and Jose for all the hard work keeping us safe, happily fed, and having the time of our lives! And another big mahalo to the MSG surf school team: Jedi, Sharky, and Kelly Potts for holding down the fort on Maui and cranking out all the surf lessons while we were in Panama!
It's that time of year - the close to our thumping winter waves and time to recognize some of the burliest big wave chargers around the world. Ours truly, Paige Alms, from Haiku, Maui has been nominated for Billabong XXL's Big Wave Women's Performance award for the 2011-12 season. We are proud of our local charger, representing with the best surfers in the world at Maui's Peahi, "Jaws".
Here's Paige Alms, paddling into a beauty at "Jaws"! The right is super challenging to paddle in to and Paige is making it look easy.
For the past two years, more and more big wave chargers have been paddling into the right at Jaws. Since as far back as 2007, Andrea Moller has paddled into the left with a small group of Brazilian big wave chargers. Recently it's starting to look like Waimea Bay, with a line up of about 20+ surfers now! It's unbelievable how many surfers are paddling into "Jaws" today & with a prize purse of $15,000 it's no wonder why these surfers are throwing themselves off the ledge of 15-20 footers.
The Billabong XXL contest has been acknowldeging big wave chargers for the past decade and has sparked a worldwide search for riding the biggest waves on the planet. These men and women risk their lives to surf the wave of their life, and score a substantial amount of prize money. When the contest began, Billabong awarded $1000 for every foot wave to the man who was photographed on the biggest wave of the season. In 2004 Pete Cabrinha won $70,000 on a beastly left at "Jaws". Now the contest has evolved into other catagories -- Biggest Wave, Monster Paddle in, Worse Wipeout, Men's and Women's Performance awards. Presently the prize purse is $50,000 for the biggest wave ridden and sadly, the women's performance award is a mere $5000. This huge prize money discrepency between men and women in all sports across the board, needs to change! Hopefully the women, who equally risk their lives in big surf, will be equally rewarded with money and sponsorships.
To check out the inspiring entries and nominee's check out the Billabong XXL site.
