Pack your boards for the Society Islands

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March is a tough one. The Northern Hemisphere winter is basically over, so places like Hawaii, Mexico and Morocco will start showing long flat spells. It’s a bit early for any solid southern hemi action, so scrap West Oz and Chile. The same goes for Indo, although my sure thing destination from November to March has always been the Bali right-handers. March is a "changeover" month, where the focus shifts from north to south. So lets go to one of the only islands groups on our planet that gets both swells on a daily basis.

They are called "The Society Islands":

The one you will have heard of is Tahiti, with its capital Papetee. Other islands worth looking at in this group are Moorea, Huahine and Raiatea. The waves on these islands are found on the reef passes. "Now what, you may ask, is a reef pass?"

Tahiti, probably the most well know of all the Society Islands.

CLICK HERE TO EXPLORE THE SOCIETY ISLANDS ABOVE...

Each of the Society Islands is surrounded by an outer barrier type coral reef. Between the island and the reef is a lagoon. There are natural gaps, or "reef passes" in this barrier reef, and some are wide enough to give boats passage to the lagoon. Each of the Society Islands have both South facing and North facing reef passes, and, as you may have guessed, you simply go to the side of the island which is copping the most swell at the time.

Go on Google Earth or Google Maps, zoom in on Tahiti, and count the number of reef passes. I think there are 38 of them, more or less around the whole island. Do the same for Moorea, Huahine and Raiatea. So, we have our March destination. Like a poker player we are hedging our bets and playing the odds, making sure that if anything moves, north or south, we are on it.

How to get there for SA:

You fly from SA to Oz and then from Oz to Papeete. Two long flights. From the airport at Papeete you catch any bus which has "Teahupoo" written above the driver. It means "the end of the road". Stay on the bus until you get to the end. When this bus does a U-turn, get off, ask around for a pozzie, do the Polynesian handshake and kiss the soil. You are on hallowed ground.

And now for the ugly truth:

The French Polynesians do not encourage surf tourism. You will find very little in the form of surf camps and surf charter boats. You will have to go alone or in a small group and you will have to rent a bungalow from the locals. You will have to organize a little speed boat (or tinnie) so that you can get to all the different reef passes. It sounds hard, but it’s all there. You just have to think out of the box a bit. Its how a surf trip used to be in the old days before everything became so pre booked like a Disney World fun ride. You will also need a French Visa. That takes a bit of time.
 
The fact that surf tourism in Societies is so low key is actually a huge bonus. Why? Simply, it means fewer crowds.  

 
INSIDERS INFO:

Boards:
your Normal Indo quiver, plus a pintail semigun about 8 inches longer than your shortboard.

Water temps:
Baggies

Beer:
Hinano, about R100/sixpack

Chance of getting laid?
Zero if you’re a guy.

Stock chow:
Baguette

Handy phrase:
Duex baguette s'il vous plait (2 baguettes please)

Essential kit:
French phrase book, Binocs for checking the passes

Funny fact:
When you arrive in the lineup, you should paddle around to each surfer in the water and greet him/her personally by touching fists or palms.

Last gasp:

This is where the ancient art of Tattoo originated. Don't be the only oke in the lineup without one… On your face.

Click here for an intro on global wave generators and seasons and how Zigzag deciphers each months top travel locations:

Meet the Author: Gideon Malherbe

Gideon built and skippered the legendary Indies Explorer, explored every inch of the Indo coastline and captained more than 70 charters over a 10 year period. Since then he founded All Aboard Surf Travel with his wife Chantal, and most recently took two years to explore the South Pacific on his yacht.