Why did I love surfing?

28 February 2014 Travel time: with 01 February 2014 on 28 February 2014
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- For overcoming oneself;

- For the storm of emotions that you feel when you get up on the wave;

- For the energy that the ocean gives;

- For the wave that covers you with your head and makes you conquer it again;

- For wonderful moments for memories;

And for the friends we've found...

The idea of ​ ​ such a trip came suddenly.

We were driving home from Samara to Orenburg and listened to ...Mayak radio, because no other wave was broadcasting on our steppe expanses along the highway somewhere in the Totsky region.

The guys from the SurfWay project were in the studio at Mayak and talked about surf flaggers, tours, the development of surfing in our country and in the world. They spoke very inspirationally, this is their style of life, this is their life.

http://surfway. en/

And Seryozha says to me: “Maybe we wave? I don’t want to just lie down and bask in the sun, I want some sense in rest, benefit, new emotions. . ".

Where shall we go? We have never seen a surfboard...


In general, he caught fire with this idea.

And he began to plan a trip back in October 2013, the very next day after returning from Samara.

We looked at different options where you can learn to surf, where there are lessons for beginners: Sri Lanka, Bali, Morocco...The tropics attracted us with warm weather and water, but the choice fell on Morocco. First of all because of our budget considerations. Honestly, the cold water of the Atlantic (and in February it does not warm up more than 18 degrees) scared me, but, as it turned out, in vain. The water felt really cold. The wetsuit helped a little, but the sleeves of the suit didn't fit snugly around my thin arms, and the cold made its way inside. But those emotions that you experience, the desire to conquer the wave dulled the chills and helped to warm up. And having sailed to the lineup on the penultimate day in anticipation of conquering the green wave, and not the white foam on which we studied, I really felt hot.

By the way, surfing in the tropics will cost about 200 thousand rubles for two, mainly because of the expensive flight. And the rest in Morocco turned out to be economical on the budget, in the end we met 90 thousand rubles for two for 10 days with all inclusive. The flight (15 thousand rubles for one round-trip; how we flew is a separate story, more on that later), meals at airports, buying souvenirs home and staying at a surf school (10 days - 500 euros) per person). This is what was included in our stay at the school: accommodation, meals (breakfast, lunch on the beach, dinner), transfer from / to the airport, transfers to spots, excursions to nearby places, equipment rental and the training itself.

On the Internet, we found a Russian-speaking surf school in Morocco SurfTownMorocco (SurfTown Morocco)

The school is located in the village of Tamrakht, 20 minutes by car from Agadir (Agadir is a large city, more than 700 thousand inhabitants, comfortable, clean).


The building of the school where we lived is very cozy, colorful, furnished in a home style. And it was very comfortable and cozy to live there. But if you are used to 5-star hotels, then this is not for you.

The school has rooms for two, three, and there is a room for 5 people. Upon arrival at the school, upon check-in, we were asked if there were couples among us, and settled in a double room.

At first, it was hard for us to adjust to Moroccan time, it differs from ours (Orenburg) by 6 hours. For three days we woke up as if on an alarm clock to work at 8.00, when it was 2 nights in Tamrakht. By the middle of the holiday, we rebuilt ....

In general, in order to feel the country, people, local color, cuisine, you need to be closer to all this. Therefore, I prefer cozy guest houses and camps to five-star comfort.

We felt homely warmth and care from the owners of the camp.

The dinners were very tasty. The women who cooked for us did a great job.

Many thanks to them for this, the food was cooked "with soul".

National dishes were served - roast in tagine, kebabs, couscous, fish, soups, and many other goodies. Upon arrival from the beach, we always had a couple of hours before dinner, and we walked spellbound by the aroma of spices that awakens our appetite. You will never eat such a thing in a restaurant, such food is only at home.

Abdulla met us at the airport, from the airport to Tamrakht about 50 minutes. And upon arrival at the camp - Azis.

The guys are very friendly. Azis and Abdullah speak Russian well. Abdullah accompanied us everywhere in our journey. He is also an instructor, but he did not teach us. Abdullah broke his arm in December 2013 while riding big waves, and at the time of our arrival it had not yet fully healed, although he himself had already skated.

Our instructors were Tariq and Mohammed.

Young guys speak only a few words in Russian so that you can understand what to do on the water: “lie down (on the board)”, “row”, “get up” and “well done”. But usually, when it worked out, they said “good job! ". Tariq explained in English and gestures. Everything was clear.


We went to the spot at 9.15 from the camp. The road from home to the beach took only 3 minutes 40 seconds. Classes started with a good warm-up. Mohammed "chased" us along the beach, coached, prepared for the swim. Before lunch, the instructors were on the water with us, after lunch we had a free practice. Mohammed and Tariq watched us from the shore.

I can't describe the excitement when you catch a wave for the first time and get on the board. I wanted to repeat this experience again and again.

The guys did it faster, the girls needed more time to achieve the result. You can stand on the board without physical training on white water, foam.

The guys from SurfTownMorocco always seemed to guess what we wanted. It was nice not to have to ask, they themselves suggested trips. We went to the Paradise Valley, about an hour's drive from Tamrakht - a beautiful place in the mountains, where the purest river runs, in places forming reservoirs of water among the stones.

We went to Agadir several times, mainly for shopping, we were in a real Moroccan market. Brought home a beautiful teapot. Tea traditions in Morocco are a separate issue. This is real art. Here tea is drunk from glass cups. Pour into a glass so that the tea is obtained with foam. And the tea here is special.

Morocco is a Muslim country, but very loyal to European culture, I mean in terms of communication and relations between people. There are many European guests here: French, Germans, British.

Here on the coast there are a lot of car campings, and we can say that here, in the literal sense, they are “friends at home”: they come to visit each other on motorhomes. There are many European pensioners vacationing here in campsites, and, of course, there are many young people on surf spots.

Moroccans speak Arabic and are fluent in French. Signs and signs on the streets and at the airport are in two languages: Arabic and French.

Many people speak English well.

Nature is typical of the desert: the vegetation is mainly cacti and other thorns, although planted plants grow and bloom beautifully in Agadir, spring begins in Morocco in February.

The air is very fresh and, unlike the tropics, not so humid. It's easy to breathe here.


We were leaving with the guys from St. Petersburg. Saying goodbye to the guys from SurfTownMorocco and our remaining ones, we secured to get together with the same company again ...certainly in Morocco, in Tamraht, in SurfTownMorocco.

At the airport, we gave Abdulla coins so that he would throw them into the ocean for us (we ourselves somehow did not have time), so that we would definitely come again. I really hope that he fulfilled our request.

I never wrote about my travels. And I wanted to write about this, share it with those who would be interested, maybe because I want to feel involved, at least a little, in the promotion of SurfTownMorocco, surfing and the way of life conquering the wave, in general, to those who do not like to sit on the pope

How did we get there.

We traveled by EasyJet flights from Moscow to Agadir, via London. The connections at the airport were long. On the way to Agadir in London, we waited 9 hours, arrived at night, so we didn’t go out into the city, we waited in a cafe, a waiting room, wandered around the airport shopping.

On the way back from Agadir home in London we had 14 hours. We went out into the city and walked around London for 4 hours.

From Gatwick airport to the city center (Victoria Landon station) on the Southern train (Brooklyn - Victoria Landon) there are only 4 stations, the journey takes only 30 minutes. A train ticket for one costs about 10 pounds if you buy from 3 tickets. It's great that without a UK visa, Russians can stay in the country for a day. At passport control, a “24 hours” mark is put in the passport upon presentation of a ticket for the next flight, confirming that you are leaving the country during this period.

EasyJet is an English low-cost airline. A cheap ticket is available if you do not take luggage with you, but fly only with hand luggage, and the size is limited to 20 * 40 * 50 cm. Despite the fact that there are “fitting rooms” for hand luggage when boarding the plane, they were not used, strict conformity of dimensions was not checked. Meals can be purchased on board. For 5.5 - 8 pounds you can afford a sandwich with tea or coffee and a chocolate bar.


Also on board you can buy various goods from the proposed catalog at Duty Free prices.

A ticket on the route "Moscow - London - Agadir - London - Moscow" cost 8.000 rubles. for one.

I was lucky enough to buy a ticket from Orenburg to Moscow and back at a sale on the orenair website. ru for 7000 rubles. for one.

In Domodedovo, waiting for a home flight lasted about 7 hours. And if on the way to Agadir we languished in anticipation of new meetings, emotions, in anticipation of a vacation, then on the way home we were full of longing for Morocco. We really miss the time spent, we want to repeat this experience again.

By the way, Domodedovo has free Wi-Fi, and we whiled away the time walking on the World Wide Web.

But at Gatwick Airport there is no free Wi-Fi at the airport.

The British are economical people, this was also felt by the lighting in the city: there is enough of it to see the road, but there is very little of it to see the sights (we were in the evening when it was already dark).

And we also realized that you need to feel like not a resident of any one country, but a resident of the planet Earth. And then the geographical boundaries melt before you. And most importantly, you don’t need to sit still, afraid to move, because life is in motion.

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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