- Description
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UNCROWDED SURF, crystal clear water, colourful living reefs, excellent fishing, incredible scenery, tropical rainforest and tribal societies in one of the last surfing frontiers.
Be one of the lucky few to visit places isolated and untouched by modern tourism... leave the 21st century behind... walk on white sand beaches, stay in thatched huts fronting aqua-blue lagoons... stay with local families who are happy to share their way of life with you.
The
The Solomons is one of the last surfing frontiers that has been labeled by some as the new
They have excellent surf; a few places are known, but you can be among the first to surf new breaks. The best season for waves is November to April with very good left and right hand set-ups. Swell is usually 3 to 6 feet but can be bigger.
On a Solomons guided expedition you will travel to places where very few tourists or any outsiders go, let alone other surfers. You will travel in safety and relative comfort with very informed and locally connected guides. People on these trips have the unique opportunity of receiving a genuine welcome and making real friends with the people they meet in some of the most remote communities in the Pacific. Solomons is one of the least developed and most traditional countries in the Pacific, you simply could not get to these areas and have this kind of experience over a short duration trip in any other way right now. The guides are working in partnership with local people in very remote tribal areas and see their involvement with and direct benefits from the surfers travelling there as being of central importance.
In the villages there is no electricity, no roads, no telephones, and no shopping centers, very little use of fuel and little presence of any kind of government. Yet these communities are well organised, provide their own services, maintain beautiful villages and have a very rich and diverse culture.
Tropical rainforests, rugged mountains, freshwater rivers, mangroves, and coral reefs make Solomon
These guided expeditions take you into areas where there are no other surfers or tourists. They stay in 2-3 villages for a few days each where they have rented local homes and fitted them out for your needs. There is always an Australian guide who speaks the local language on each tour to keep things running smooth, both with the services for the groups and in the relationships with the communities.
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- Specifications
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The Ultimate Adventure: Solwata Surf Camp
The Solwata Surf Camp is located in the spectacular Lau Lagoon amidst unique and ancient man made islands and stilted villages, fringed by a massive reef system on one side and spectacular mountains on the other. You will be staying amongst a living cultural and environmental treasure. Its also an incredible surfing playground with more than a dozen world class reef set ups .
The Surf Camp itself is a traditional style building on stilts above aqua blue water. There are spectacular views of the nearby breaks, lagoon and village life and rain forest clad mountains. Within the camp the focus is on simple tropical comfort with chillout lounges and hammocks, quality bedding and linen, a bar with cold drinks. The Solwata camp caters for an exclusive six guests only. There is an on site Australian surf and cultural guide, experienced cook fusing local ingredients to western tastes and doing the best traditional cooking possible, a local support crew from the village helps to look after your needs and ensure you feel like part of the tribe. You have exclusive and unlimited use of our fast and covered surf boat for surfing and exploring this unique area.
The 'Solwata' - or Salt Water People, an ocean focussed culture of Malaita, are your hosts. This is the main north shore destination island with over a dozen exclusive world class left and right breaks to surf that cater to a full range of swell, wind and tide conditions as well as surfing levels and styles.
The Solwata Camp delivers what they strongly believe is the best and most unique surf travel experience available in the Solomon Islands. Surf Solomons will aim to meet all your needs and deliver a trip that for many will be one of, if not the best, surf and travel experience of their lives.
From the base of the Solwata Camp, you will have the option of venturing to two other village based stays for a few days. Each with a range of waves on offer catering to different winds, swells and levels of surfing. A variable itinerary of the fully guided tours is designed to give you the best waves on offer in the Solomons for that period.
Surf Camp Facilities:
Simple, tropical design features:
- Comfortable, clean bedding - linen & mosquito nets provided.
- Lagoon setting (or fronting white sand beach on village stay excursions included in tour).
- Depending on group numbers spacious rooms are shared by 1-3 people.
- Shared, basic and clean toilet facilities.
- Outdoor showering from mountain spring water.
- Safe spring and rain water for drinking.
- Spacious chill out areas with hammocks, lounges and table tennis.
- No telephones - HF radio can be used in emergencies or optional satellite phone.
- Solar power for battery charging and lighting.
There are plenty of spaces to chill out in a hammock or in comfortable semi outdoor living spaces. There is no electricity and the only communication is though satellite phone (no mobile phones). Showering is either at outdoor showers with piped water or a short walk to nearby springs and rivers. Toilets are basic but clean. When visiting some villages there will be no toilets - the only option is the beach or mangrove areas designated for that purpose in that village.
They work in partnership with local families and communities who will be your genuinely welcoming hosts, accompanied by your Surf Solomons Australian guide.
Other Exploration Expeditions
Be among the first in history to surf these coasts... This coming season, they will be conducting a very limited number of exclusive guided expeditions with a maximum of 6 adventurers heading into new surf zones scoped out by Surf Solomons.
Expect an adventure and the chance to surf waves never or rarely surfed before and visit areas rarely seen by outsiders.
3-12 February: Remote Malaita. Shhh!... A new region of the Malaita coastline...
16-25 March: The mystical island of Makira
11-20 May: The Weather Coast. For the last couple of years in May, they have quietly enjoyed long period south swells unloading on a very remote south facing coast. And in May, there has been little or no trade wind activity set in yet - i.e. perfect conditions.
- Inclusions
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Guides:
The guides provide an in depth cultural insight as well as information about the land and sea ecology and its use by local people. Experiences include local music, dancing, food, practical crafts, markets - all in their vibrant living form and not recreated for tourists.
Food:
On tour all meals are included - an experienced cook is on the tour with each group. The food provided is based on fresh local ingredients from local organic farms and small scale fishermen, cooked with a mix of traditional and outside influences.
Typical items on the menu include:
Breakfasts:
Organic muesli and tropical fruit salad; banana pancakes; fried eggs; scrambled eggs or omelet.
Lunches:
Nori rolls w/cucumber salad and soy sauce; coconut curry fish w/steamed rice; Thai style spicy green papaya salad; fresh tuna bbq, taro or kumara chips; and marinated deep fried fish, avocado dips w/kumara chips.
Dinners:
Fish kebabs w/garden salad and peanut sauce; Polynesian raw fresh fish w/coconut milk and lime juice; curry, lentil and veggie soup with papadums; yam soup w/coconut milk and fish, sweet potato croquettes w/salad; pasta w/freshly made tomato sauce; stir fry greens w/fish or chicken w/ginger & garlic.
Snacks:
Green coconuts after a surf; fresh tropical fruit any time; organic Solomons arabica espresso coffee and PNG tea available any time; fruit salad, pineapple tart or fresh ground hot cocoa for dessert.
Kastom feasts:
During the tour they will take you for a traditional feast put on by women’s groups in the villages. You will experience the 'motu' cooking on hot rocks. Likely things on the banana leaf 'table' include baked tuna and reef fish, mangrove fruits, cassava and taro pudding, local greens in coconut milk, lots of fresh fruits.
Transport:
The Solomons has a very limited transport infrastructure. Your guides do their best to make these transport connections work but delays are always a possibility and 'the journey is the destination' is a good phrase to keep in mind. They make use of a range of interisland ships, vehicles for the very few roads, and outboard motor boats for access to the surf and moving between areas where there are no roads.
- Interisland ships - To get to the surf zone they travel on public inter island ships. Generally they take the slow boat across which is an overnight journey on your first night in the Solomons. Its an adventure in itself that takes 8-10 hours at sea in a large timber ship. You will sleep on mats under a canopy and will get to know the locals and see how they travel. At dawn you will be greeted by sunrise behind our destination island and our road transport waiting at the wharf. On the return trip they usually go on a double decker fast boat which takes about 3 hours in comfortable bus like seats in an air conditioned cabin.
- Road - To get up to the surf zone of the island they travel in their own 4WD or buses. The journey takes 3 to 5 hours and is very scenic and a good time to brief you on rural life and the cultural norms and history of villages in the Solomons. They usually stop at a beautiful river along the way for lunch and a swim.
- Surf Boat - Once in the bay and the lagoon they have their own outboard motor boat for daily transfers to the surf and other excursions. The boat and their local knowledge of each area is essential to get to the outer reefs and find the best waves available. To get between the three stops on a typical tour they also travel by outboard motor boat.
- Your guides take you on a day walk up the mountain where you will see tropical rainforest, subsistence food gardens, ancient nut groves, and small traditional hamlets inhabited by the 'bush' people. The walk is tiring but rewarding with spectacular views of the lagoon and the unexplored surf potential of nearby and distant reefs.
- If you are interested in fishing you can paddle out in a dugout or they can arrange for you to join with local fishermen in fishing activities ranging from hand lines or trawling from dugouts, deep sea trawling to night diving/spear fishing on reefs. Only very basic fishing gear is available so bring what you need. Fishing tackle/lures etc are a much appreciated gift.
- Solomon Islands is part of the coral triangle - the worlds most biodiverse ocean.
- Colourful markets are important weekly events for the locals. Bush people trade with coastal people for cash and barter in a timeless way.
- Canoe making, traditional cooking, weaving and crafts, betel nut and lime making, are just some of the things you might see while walking around traditional thatched house villages. They will give you some guided tours but a lot of the interaction is informal and simply joining in the day to day tasks of the village to share and learn.
- A short but intense walk up the river to the waterfall, this is a spectacular place and involves trekking through cocoa plantations, some challenging crossings of a pristine mountain river and rainforest.
- At each location there is a range of cultural activities to interact with local people. These include traditional meals prepared by local womens groups, traditional dancing and singing groups and the amazing Bamboo and panpipe bands that this area specialises in. These are not tourist replicas but the real living culture in action. When your tour coincides with local festivals, weddings and rituals we will have the option to join in.
- Pricing / Schedule
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- Special: $300 OFF plus an extra free day (stay 11 / pay 10 days)!
- Price is a per person price in AUD and subject to foreign exchange fluctuations.
- Custom charter trips with flexible dates and 7 & 14 day itineraries are available for groups.
- Preferred group size is 4 to 6. A bigger group could be catered for on request but more than 8 surfers is not really recommended.
- Please click "Enquire Here" to email us or call us on 1300 00WAVE to speak with one of our friendly surf experience specialists.
Inclusions
- Airport pick-up and drop off with Honiara tour.
- Inter island transfers with guide.
- Great food - 3 meals a day with focus on fresh organic produce and sea food. Tea and coffee.
- Comfortable accommodation.
- Daily use of 40HP surf transfer boat with canopy - all fuel included in tour price - unlimited surfing every day.
- Australian guide with a wealth of local experience in and out of the water guarantees you are in safe hands.
- Other activities included as options each day - waterfalls, village and market visits, snorkelling, fishing trips.
- Community contributions supporting sustainable tourism in an area very new to any kind of tourism.
Disclaimer - This surf trip is an independent surf operator and is not part of or in partnership with The Perfect Wave Travel Co. The Perfect Wave acts as an agent only. We sell various travel related products on behalf of numerous transport, accommodation and other service providers, such as airlines, land based accommodation and boat charter operators. The Perfect Waves' obligation is to make travel bookings on your behalf and to arrange relevant contracts between you and travel service providers. The Perfect Wave has no responsibility for these services nor do we make or give any warranty of representation regarding their standards. All bookings are made subject to the terms and conditions and limitations of liability imposed by these service providers.
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