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SURF NEWS PHOTOS ON THE ROAD: SARDINIA
TRAVEL ON THE ROAD: SARDINIA | Finding surf in the Mediterranean
December 17, 2009
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After an overnight ferry, we arrived in Sardinia to find a promising northwest swell on the horizon headed our way. Glenn "Micro" Hall, Richard "Dog" Marsh and the first Italian surfer and Italian legend Alessandro Dini brought me alongside for some fun Mediterranean living.
 
The week was full of fun, overhead surf. None of us expected so much swell in such a small body of water. Richard even brought along a jet ski to do some tow-ats and step-offs and we ended up using it to tow-in for a session.

Little did we know the waves in the Mediterranean were pretty damn good for anywhere in the world.
In Sardinia, there is always somewhere to be surfed. Tide change is irrelevant and with any wind direction there are sheltered spots to be found. The coastline is quite rigid and rocky making for fun reef breaks. Even some occasional barrels.

"Little did we know the waves in the Mediterranean were pretty damn good for anywhere in the world."
We surfed about five different spots along the central west coast of Sardinia. Luckily, local Marco Testarella guided us to all the best breaks and also accommodated us at his very nice hotel called Menhirs in Putzu Idu.

Within an hours' drive, some really nice beachbreaks can be found just south from where we stayed. Anything from long, mushy longboard waves to slabby barrels can be found in Sardinia. The best thing is they surf 160 days out of the year. That's the minimum -- not bad for a sea only 4,000 kilometers wide.

Later in the week, we were joined by Josh Ash and photographer Ben Selway from the UK. Another swell from the south was approaching the island and it was going to be just as good or better than the previous one.

The reports were right on: We scored some sunny, overhead surf once again.

We were all actually quite surprised. Since I was the only longboarder on the trip, we split up and surfed two different spots on the day of the swell. While I was in longboard heaven surfing Capo Mannu, the boys scored really rippable waves at another spot just around the corner that was more suitable for shortboarding. It ended up being a successful day of surfing and shooting for everyone. Luckily, both moments were captured and we all met for an amazing Italian dinner with stories of the day's surf.

Sardinia opened all of our eyes to the possibilities of surf in out-of-the-way places. We never know where there might be surf to be discovered. We just have to go find it.

To our advantage, we had the all-knowing locals on our side which is quite rare and special. Thanks to them, we scored some incredible memories and surfed some insane waves we would have never even known existed.

I'm positive I will return to Sardinia in the future to visit the friends I made and surf the epic waves of the Sardinian Island.

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