Meeting a local surf legend

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Would you like to simply opt out of the regular world and live life on your own terms, in your very own tropical paradise? I think many of us dream of this, yet few of us have the good fortune, tenacity, or drive, to actually make it a reality. Of course, out here in the middle of the Pacific Kiribati seems to have more than its fair share of people of a more adventurous disposition looking to live life in a different way to most of us. Many of those that have washed up on these shores do so thinking it will just be for a short time but some end up staying for much longer, sometimes forever. It seems to be the way of far off places to attract all sorts of characters, restless souls looking for adventure, people who often don’t seem to fit into regular society or want to live a more interesting life outside the mainstream or normal conventions. In that regards Kiribati is no different to other outlying spots in the Pacific, or elsewhere in the world for that matter, with more than its share of characters trying to live on the path less travelled.

A couple of weeks back I had the good fortune to meet one such man. I was invited to one of the local bars to join the members of the Kiribari Surf Association to spend an evening with Kiribati surfing legend Chuck Corbett who had recently returned to South Tarawa and has been living life his way out here in the middle of the Pacific ocean for many, many years.  

In fact, Chuck has been living on and surfing around the atolls of Kiribati since 1979. Getting here back then was an adventure in itself, and some would say it still is. He left the US as a sixteen year old for a two week holiday to Hawaii and never went back to the mainland. After a few years in Hawaii he travelled to Guam and then having heard rumours of waves on Fanning Island eventually made his way to Tarawa in Kiribati, arriving not long before independence in 1979. He spent about 12 years in South Tarawa, developing businesses and starting a family but eventually moved across the country (or in this case across the ocean) to Kirimati (Christmas) Island on the other side of Kiribati and since the early 90s, to Fanning Island. Or, as he so eloquently put it, when I arrived on Fanning I realised I’d been living on the wrong islands for twelve years! For many years Fanning Island’s world class surfbreak was pretty much his own private break and indeed he lived there for several years before he saw anyone else surfing the breaks!



Over the years Chuck has had various business ventures including running surfing charters to the breaks around Fanning and involved in a number of initiatives with the local i-Kiribati people. He is still passionate about ground up, locally led development where the local people control the process rather than have “development” imposed on them by outside or government interests. It was an insight into seeing how he has been involved in various ventures that were aimed at improving the lives and conditions of the people of Kiritimati and Fanning Islands and create possible income streams for them.

Chuck had just arrived on South Tarawa, having travelled down on a cargo ship and is on Tarawa for a few weeks and it was fantastic to spend an evening with him, to have him share his videos and photos of the various waves he’s surfed, trips that he has made, and learn about his life in general and I think a few of the KSA members are now fired up to get to Fanning one day and try out the waves there.

 Many people dream of living on a remote tropical island, Chuck has lived that dream. His life choices seem to have been driven by his passion for surfing but he also continues to be passionate about the people of Kiribati and wanting to improve the lives of those living in the smaller, outlying villages and islands so that they can benefit from whatever forms of development that they deem as appropriate for their location. He seems to be still living life his way, on his terms, and who can fault him that? Most of us only ever dream of living the lifestyle he’s enjoyed over the past forty years or so. It was a real honour to met him and share, if only briefly, a small window into his world. All the best Chuck.

An indepth interview with Chuck can be found here.

Ko Rabwa.

 Craig



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