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Travel Report: Morocco

Taghazout. Click to enlarge

Surf: 4/5 = Great but seasons make a difference here.
Price: 4/5 = Cheap!
Party: 1/5 = Good luck. They’re strict on alcohol.
Localism: 2/5 = It’s not your wave, and don’t forget it.
Thieves: 1/5 = Pick pockets and car break-ins are common, very common.

Time Frame: Oct/Nov 2009

Where do I start on this short story of a surf trip? With the most important points I guess.

How to get there: I’d recommend using one of Europe’s low cost carriers once you already have a flight to one of Europe’s major airports (e.g. London, Frankfurt, Paris). Ryanair, Easyjet and Royal Air Maroc are pretty safe bets to get from Europe to Morocco. I flew return with Ryanair from Frankfurt for $120 CDN taxes-in.

Here’s a basic rule of thumb: A 100 km bus or train ride costs around 25 DH or about $3.50 CDN. Read More…

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Killing it Santa Style

Everyone here at Scotia Surfer hope you have a great and safe holiday season. It’s looks like Santa brought some surf for the week as well! So go surf off those beers.

Travel Report: Munich

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Click to enlarge

Surf: 5/5 = This one is always on.
Price: 2/5 = Slightly expensive. Thankfully beer is not.
Party: 4/5 = Great bars and good people.
Localism: 5/5 = Nope.
Thieves: 4/5 = Barely any.
Time Frame: September

Having gone on a bit of hiatus since university I’ve found myself in Germany frequently. After initially going there to mountain bike I have been wondering where one could surf in this practically landlocked country seemed like a bit of a dilemma to me.

There is ocean access in the North, namely the Balitc and North Sea, but that was at least eight hours away from where I was staying. Like most of you reading this article you’ve heard about standing waves before and most likely this one in particular.

Munich wasn’t far away from my mates place in Nürneberg, two-hour drive at the most, so I decided to check it out. Here’s what happened: Read More…

Quicksilver releases new Cypher heat vest

Mark Healey doing his thing

This may be ‘the ticket’ for our winter months when getting between the comfort of your warm car and the line-up is more than a frigid and depressing ordeal.  It may also be a great way to save some major $$$ versus buying a Rip Curl H-Bomb at around $800.

This new product by Quicksilver will retail for around $200 to $250 dollars and may keep you just as warm.

Either way here’s the news from the horses’ mouth:

The Cypher Heat Vest provides battery powered heat and a lightweight thermal layer to warm your core and extend your session.

The heat system is incorporated into a .5mm polypropylene vest allowing freedom of use under any wetsuit.

The controller can be operated through any suit and utilizes vibration pulse feedback to let the user know when the heat vest is turned on or off.

Rechargeable battery provides 2.5 hours of full heat. If switched on and off, the battery will have no problem lasting any marathon winter session.

– Impact resistant waterproof design.
– Flexible heating pads with high and low heat settings.
– Comes with both car and wall battery chargers.

If you’ll be in Montreal: O’Neill Warehouse Sale

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Click to enlarge

O’Neill and Ron Jon Surf Shop’s are having a fall-winter sporting goods sell-off.

If you’re in or near the Montreal area November 25,  26, 27 or 28, drop by with some cash (cash only) as you may pick up some great gear for a bargain.

If you’re from Nova Scotia and by chance will be up there for the sale, send us an email here at:  info@scotiasufer.com

We’d love to speak with you!

Canadian wave rider ‘surfs-in’ the Olympic torch

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Click to enlarge

Seventy-two-year-old Tofino-area surfer Ruth Sadler relayed the Olympic flame to West Coast pro surfer Raph Bruhwiler during a tricky torch turnover in Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island Sunday.

Bruhwiler proceeded to catch a second wave and surf the flame into shore.

This was just one of many stops for the Olympic torch on it’s 106-day journey that will commence with the winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler in February.

Peter Derives makes it into the Quarter Finals

Photo: Jeremy Koreski, courtesy of O'Neill.

Photo: Jeremy Koreski, courtesy of O'Neill.

Canadian ripper, Peter Derives, wows the crowd at North Chesterman beach and scores a 12.67 in heat #4 of round 16 of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic to advance to the quarter finals.

He beat Joan Duru from France who scored 8.44 on his best waves.

So far, Pete is third overall for best average score on waves and 7th overall for the best score on a single wave.

He will compete tomorrow in the quarter finals so stay posted to keep updated on his progress!

More boards!

We have a few new boards (..well pre-loved) in stock. Click here or click ‘Surf Shop’ above to see our current selection.

Travel Report: Panama

Panama. Click to enlarge.

Panama. Click to enlarge.

Surf: 4/5 = Well Above Average
Price: 4/5 = Quite Cheap!
Party: 4/5 = Great bars and good people.
Localism: 2/5 = It’s not your wave, and don’t forget it.
Thieves: 1/5 = Pick pockets and car break-ins are common, very common.

Surf at your own risk.

Surf at your own risk.

Time Frame: January 2009

Two of my amigos and I decided that we would take off New Year’s Day to escape the remainder of the cold Halifax winter. We wanted waves, cheap beer and a good time. Panama over delivered. I’ve been to Costa Rica and Nicaragua before, back in 2006, but Panama would be new to me.

We flew into San Jose, Costa Rica because it was cheaper. Then we took the $15 over night bus to ‘David’, the first major town after the Panamanian border. We had 21 days in total and all we wanted was surf. The next day, we headed northeast to Bocas del Toro where we first discovered that Bocas wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Read More…

Big wave surfer scores the biggest barrel of his life

Mark Mathews has scored one of the heaviest barrels ever in waters some 20km off the coast of Western Australia.

Mathews scores one of the heaviest barrels ever 20km off the coast of Western Australia.

Sydney, Australia, July 6, 2009 – O’Neill surfer Mark Mathews has scored one of the biggest and heaviest barrels ever ridden – in shark infested waters some 20km off the coast of Western Australia.

“It had been really slow all day and I hadn’t had any good ones,” said Mathews. “Then this mountain came roaring out from the horizon I got goose bumps all over as soon as I saw it. I looked up at Hippo (Ryan Hipwood) who was on the jet ski and he didn’t even smile he just said ‘this thing’s huge.’

“There was so much water sucking off the reef. I just kept my eyes right in front of me and hoped the corner of the barrel wasn’t about to lip me in the head.”

“Big barrels like that feel like they are alive,” said Mathews, trying to describe the sensation. “They suck all the air inside. That’s what surfers mean when they say they felt the wave take a breath.

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Click to enlarge

“You feel like you’re surrounded by the whole ocean. The air has nowhere left to go and just gets spat out into the channel, taking you with it. This is the feeling that keeps coming back over and over and over again.”

“This one can be topped,” said Mathews. “It’s the thrill of the chase that keeps me going.”