Surfing in Okinawa

Well it has been far too long since I have updated my blog. I guess I'm not much of a blogger, but at least I'm trying. As most have heard by now I had a great first experience surfing here in Okinawa. With years of East Coast USA surfing experience I was up for the challenge to surf here in Okinawa. I put it off for the first few months waiting to meet a few people that would take me to the good spots here. Although "good" is very broad, it basically means decent surf and safe conditions. For those of you that don't know, Okinawa is surrounded by coral reef from the second you step foot in the water.

Anway, after checking a few different spots, we settled on the South end of Okinawa at a place known as Channel Crevaces. See below for photo and map of place. Nice spot but a long paddle out and very shallow jagged reef. You can see the location if you click on the photo and pull it up in google.

From 2009NOV09 Surf Spots

Long story short, after a few waves, I was caught inside on a double overhead wave that broke on top of me pushing me backwards into the reef. The reef is sharp enough that you don't even want to walk on it. I had to get a few stitches behind my ear and I had some scrapes and bruises but I'm fully recovered. The toughest part was having to paddle all the way in with injuries and walk on the reefs. You can see the pics if you want. They are in the album below. Anyway, I'm fine but wanted to share the experience.

2009-NOV-08 Surfing Accident

Needless to say, I now know that finding a "good" spot is more difficult than I thought. I'm glad I waited until someone took me out because I had someone to take me to the Hospital. If you want to see what has happened to him surfing here, google "Reef Rash Okinawa" and look for a pic of a guy named Bobby. He was surfing 2 weeks after his injury but I think I'll probably just stick to diving for a while.