Neal Gent, Jess, Jen and I (Emile Kott) are just nearing the end of a magic stay in Barbados.
We have had a real mixed bag of conditions and have been all over the island! We have surfed the East Coast (Parlors and The Soup Bowl), the South Coast (South Point and Freights) and the West Coast (Sandy Lane and Maycocks). To add to all of that, the trade winds decided to kick in a bit early this season, so we have had some great sailing and kiting at Silver Sands on the South Coast.
The truly special part of this trip for me was a really fun left-hand reef break in front of the expensive Sandy Lane Hotel. This was just a short walk from where we were staying. Being a west-facing Caribean side break, it is more fickle than the east (Atlantic side) so we have been really lucky to have this wave breaking for a lot of the time we have been here.
All of these photos were kindly taken by Graham Gent. The break is ideal for photographs as the waves break very close to a nice shady tree!
The following shots are from a Spot on the East Coast called “The Soup Bowl”. It’s a favourite of Kelly Slater and is quite a heavy, scary wave as you can see! (pics by Jess Napper)
The final shots are from a spot called Maycocks in the North West. Weirdly. We surfed it on quite a small day – weirdly, the photos make it look bigger than it felt! (pics by Graham Gent)
We will definitely be back to Barbados. Surfing, windsurfing and kiting in board shorts, friendly locals, great food, beautiful scenery and easy living make this the ideal place to escape the cold, European winter.
During our trip, we stayed in a great villa on the South Coast, very near Oistins and Silver Sands (so ideal for windsurfers). The self catered villa is beautiful with everything that you need (including ac in every room and even a washing maching and tumble dryer!)
The villa is owned by Paolo, an Italian pro surfer, so not only can he provide perfect accomodation, he can also give you ideas of where to go each day! For details, have a look at this Cotton Bay Villa
