Surfing in Kiribati

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So you are heading to a very small country in the centre of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of kilometres from anywhere. What the hell  are you going to do in your free time? The answer? Simple (I hope): surf. The atolls of South and North Tarawa are surrounded by coral reefs and as it is literally in the centre of the Pacific there should be swells rolling in from the four corners of the Pacific, at least occasionally!

I intend to take a board or two with me and my mountain bike to explore the atolls. I've purchased a surfboard rack that clips on to my bike so I can bike to the local breaks and also intend to explore the atolls by bike. As the atolls are only a few hundred metres across at most I won't be very far from the ocean.

I have found a local surf association, the Kiribati Surf Association. They are a bunch of kiwis, sies and locals that enjoy the local waves but as there are no surf shops within, oh 2000kms or so. They are a tad short of gear for the kids to learn on. I intend to take some old boards over with me and am waiting to find out what else they need that I can take to help out and maybe do some fundraising for them. I am hoping to be able to spend quite a bit of my free time helping out and surfing when the conditions are right.
I should be living on Bairaki, not to far from the causeway so fingers crossed I'll get to waves on a regular basis and hope to get involved in the local community and help teach local kids to surf. 

Craig

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