spent a week there and surfed a lot. Surfed perfect 6-8+ ft soup bowls with 8 people (one was sally fitzgibbons). The reef is definitely gnarly but not an issue unless you eat shi*. I'd bring your standard shortboard and maybe a board with some more meat to it. I was there in october and got super lucky catching it off shore there. Don't rent a car or take a cab. Total waste of a lot of money. Take the public transportation. It's 2 bucks and will take you anywhere you wanna go. From bridgetown to bathsheeba is about a 45 minute drive. By far the most friendly people and beautiful place I've ever been. PM me if you have any questions
Not worried about the reef, i have hit my fair share of reefs though. I did put together my quiver for the trip. Do you need an international driver license ot rent a car? I lost mine.
No, a US issued license is fine. They will issue you a temporary Barbados license for $5 or $10 - this is mandatory.
guys are giving you great info in this thread. i just got back from a 3 week trip to dos, surfed every day chest +. only one day was waist high on south shore. Overall it was an epic trip I will never forget. I hope to come back many times! bring a quad fin fish for small surf on the south shore, and a step up board "just in case". coming from kauai you will have no problems, south shore (brandons) and bathsheba are a lot of fun. there is a heavy break called "box by box" that is the slab over there, check out this youtube vid from last year sept 25: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnL7gkj6iNU PS definitely get a rental car! you dont need a 4wd or an SUV, the smaller the better for the most part over there since the roads and parking lots/spots are so tiny. being in speightstown you will want a rental car
O yeah, make sure you hit Oistins Fish market on Friday night. Make sure you eat TONS of flying fish. And most definitely make sure you heat heaps of PIE (you will know what I'm talking about once you get there) with plenty of scotch bonnet pepper sauce!
Holy ****, that reminds me of Tunnels in Hanalei. Surfed that in March, same conditions. Damn, reminds me of home
Went Christmas and scored flawless chest to head high surf on the west ( yes west ) side. Long long rides.
Yes, I am pumped. Staying a few days with my girlfriend after. The people from the hotel seem very nice and friendly . All non motorized sports are included, so I hope to do some waterskiing etc .
Well I ended up bringing 5 boards with me. Surfed on all of them. In short, Barbados is great, not too many good local surfers, but everyone is friendly. A lot of the breaks remind me of Kauai / Hanalei. My friend Matt told me to say hi to "Smokey". ON the first day, I met this local at the bar and he took me to Smokey. Smokey is a razy guy with dreadlocks throwing down superman airs left and right. I got to work on the air reverse a bit, but not too successful with that. Main problem was wax. Day 2..surfed off Oistens in 3-4 foot. Another local came up to me and recognized my boards. Come to find out, he was a good friend of Matts. We took a boat out to this crazy break on day 3 with this low pressure system. Great break, but I can't comment on where it is located. I got thrashed hard, but ended up doing fine on the 6'5 thumbnail. 6'5 thumbnail single to double seem to suite my surfing style the best. IN short, Barbados is a great place to surf. When the low pressure systems come (and they do), most people head to Soup Bowls. Travel further north and the spots are a bit more hollow, but very sketchy with sea urchins and other nasty critters.
