Meet Jonas Studer, a primary school teacher from the small town of Brugg, Switzerland. For the last decade he has been crossing the world in search of the biggest, badest, and most exotic waves. It wasn’t until after years of traveling to surf that he began to “see things” other than waves. I caught up with him for an interview on a non-surfing leg of a trip to Malaysian Borneo.

GN: I’ve heard of Swiss hikers, mountaineers, ice-climbers…but surfers? No. How does a person from a mountainous land-locked country develop a life-long obsession with surfing?

JS: The first time I saw a proper wave was in my friend’s brother’s bedroom. We were young. It was a poster of Hawaii’s Back Door. We were sneaking into to his room to look for any evidence of girls that we could find. Instead of girls, we found surfing.

When I got a little older, I learned to surf “static” waves in rivers. At 14, we had raised money for a school trip to Barcelona. Due to a measles outbreak, the trip got cancelled. But some of us wanted to salvage our summer holiday. One of our classmate’s fathers invited us to his beach house in Brittany, France. We ended up using the money we raised for surfing lessons.

GN: Where are some of the destinations you’ve traveled to surf?

JS: In South America I surfed on practically every beach from Ecuador down to Santiago, Chile. In Central America I hit the waves in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Also, Indonesia, Australia (including Tasmania), New Zealand, and Hawaii. Closer to home, I’ve surfed in France, Portugal, the UK, Italy, and Morocco. And there’s one more place…but…I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.

GN: The question I always ask? Does your passion drive you to travel, or is traveling the driving force? In other words, do you travel to surf or surf to travel?

 JS: I definitely travel to surf. But traveling is a nice “side effect”. I thank my girlfriend Camilla for helping me to begin to see things when I travel. In fact, my first trip not to surf was to Bolivia and it was an incredible experience.

GN: Do you always travel with your surf board? How do you transport it?

JS: The surf board is a big pain to transport. My biggest board is 6 ft. 4 in. Some airlines charge extra for surfboards. British Airways does not allow them. You can find information like that on surfline.com.

GN: Has surfing brought you closer to locals or the local culture of the place you were traveling?

JS: For surfing, many times you have to trek to remote places. This has meant that I come in contact with a lot of locals and consequently have spent a lot of time hanging out with them. In Morocco, I took a car about two or three hours south of the touristy area to a predominately Berber region.

GN: How do you compare surfing in surfing cultures, say in Hawaii or Australia versus non-surfing cultures like Indonesia?

JS: In countries with a large percentage of surfers, everything seems to revolve around surfing, so much so, that it can be annoying. It attracts not only considerate surfers, but also the arrogant and selfish crowd.

In a place like Indonesia, you meet independent travelers that have come to surf and they tend to be much more open minded.

GN: Where are some surf destinations that are at the top of your list for the future? How about your favorite places to revisit?

JS: Indonesia is definitely on my list to revisit as is South America, predominately because of the combination of the waves and the culture.

I’d love to surf in Mozambique and Ireland at some point in the future.

GN: Thanks so much for the interview!  Keep in touch during your future surfing adventures!

Interview compiled by Stephen Bugno

By Stephen Bugno

San Blas used to be important. It was a crucial port when trade between Spain and the Philippines was in its heyday. Then Acapulco took over and San Blas became a backwater. But that’s why it’s a fantastic, little, chilled-out beach town today.

The empty stretch of beach at Playa El Borrego, San Blas, Mexico.

Set 90 minutes down a narrow two-lane road bounded by dense vegetation from the nearest city, Tepic, it feels very remote. I planned my visit for Mexico’s bicentennial celebration back in September 2010. I wanted to see the party in a small town and witness the locals and few tourists join in for the festivities. It all happened in the town’s main square: music, dancing, speeches, parades.

I could have stayed in Mexico City or Guadalajara, but I wanted to be in a small town to celebrate Mexico’s 200^th birthday.

Why I chose San Blas

The famous Pan de Platano, banana bead of San Blas, Mexico

I was only in Mexico for a few weeks and only had time to visit one beach. I chose San Blas. It’s description mirrored that of a slow and very laid-back lifestyle.

In fact, my guidebook, The Rough Guide to Mexico summed it up perfectly by saying “for such a small town, San Blas manages to absorb its many visitors without feeling overrun, submissive or resentful”.

I visited in the off-season so it was even more void of tourists (probably only a dozen foreigners in all), but still there was plenty of local life. There are simple little cafes and street carts around town and a low-key but lively and fun bar scene. Internet cafes are plentiful and guesthouses are scattered around town.

The beaches are nice. For the first 200 m or so there are restaurants and a few cabanas along Playa El Borrego, but after that it’s just palm-fringed beach the rest of the way down. It eventually stops after a few km because this beach is like peninsula with a lagoon behind it. On the other side, where the lagoon opens into the ocean, are some other beaches at Los Islitas.

San Blas is also a relatively safe place to hang out. People linger outside at night. Budget travelers camp on the beach at Stoner’s Surf camp, where you can get surfing lessons as well. Safety is a concern to most people traveling to Mexico, so that’s why I tackled that issue in a recent post. Mostly it’s the US media that is blowing the drug wars out of proportion. Mexico is safe for tourists in most areas of the country.

I would consider San Blas as a destination for one of your upcoming Mexico holidays, specifically if you like a laid-back and independent beach scene. No Club Meds or Wyndhams here. And very few hawkers giving you any unnecessary hassles. Just a mellow surf scene and some fellow low-impact independent travelers.

Stoner's Surf Camp in San Blas, Mexico

The locals are really friendly and super easy going. On several occasions I walked past waiting taxi drivers are they didn’t even call out to me. A walk down by the beach you’re likely to witness fishermen doing their thing. Towards the evening I saw about 12 guys hauling in a gigantic fishing net by hand.

Before arriving to San Blas, I heard lots of nasty stories about the biting sand flies that seem to attack humans at certain times of year. This alone is said to be the reason that mass tourism did not develop in San Blas. The no see-ums weren’t around when I visited, but the mosquitoes were nearly unbearable every evening at dusk.

Around San Blas

One afternoon I was feeling energetic and borrowed a bicycle from my guesthouse and together, with a fellow traveler whom I just met, peddled over to Bahia de Matanchen. Most of the six kilometer road led through marshes where we saw plenty of bird life. Eventually when we reached Los Islitas near Mantanchen village beach we leaned our bikes against a palm tree and pulled up a chair at a local beach-side restaurant. I ordered a whole fish grilled with garlic and a huge coconut to drink. After dinner we took a dip in the bathtub-warm water and explored the rest of Los Islitas by bike.

Getting there and costs

San Blas is located on the Pacific Ocean in the Mexican province of Nayarit. It’s a 90 minute, $42 MXN ($3.50 US) bus ride from the city of Tepic and another 2-3 hours and $190 MXN ($16 US) back to Guadalajara.

I got a single room with bath in the off-season for 150 pesos ($12.75 US)per night, which was one of the cheapest options in town.

buses in Nicaragua

The border crossing at Peñas Blancas is the typical chaos: money changes with huge wads of cordobas, dollars, and colones, a mother and son beggar team, long lines of tired Nicaraguan laborers, and a nun asking for offerings.  Before and after the 200-meter Noman’s Land one tractor trailer after another is lined up, most with goods, some overfilled with scrap metal. The authorities of both countries, with aid from the U.S. are trying to make this a transportation bottleneck to keep drugs coming up from South America. A young Nicaraguan going home leads us through the confusing Costa Rican out-line and on to the Nicaraguan in-line and finally out through the last gate into the even more chaotic mercado/bus station area.

Immediately swarmed by eager taxi drivers, my instincts keep me walking through to the only bus waiting. Bound for Rivas in fifteen minutes we sit patiently inside to the blaring Nica music. We are sitting on an American school bus. Still painted yellow, it’s been modified with a roof rack, a high exhaust pipe, and interior luggage racks. This is the way nearly all Nicaraguans get around their country; by sitting on the buses that we rode to school twenty years ago.

San Juan del Sur is a lively beach town with plenty of foreigners and Nicaraguans on holiday, lots of beachside bars, and a beautiful crescent-shaped harbor and beach. The sweet surf breaks keep young Australians, Americans, and Canadians here for weeks at a time. Cheap hotels are seven bucks per night and fantastic beaches line the coast north and south of town.

We’ve come here to study Spanish. We were hoping the surf wouldn´t be too much of a distraction. And it hasn´t been. There are at least four schools that offer week-long classes and full room and board packages. We opted for Rosa Silva´s Spanish School and have had no problem showing up at 8am the past five mornings for our four-hour lesson. My teacher Oscar and I have been reviewing basic Spanish grammar and practicing basic conversation as well. Rosa put us up at her friend Margarita´s place. Either Margarita, her daughter, or her son-in-law cook us three meals a day downstairs in their cafe. Full week-long tuition, room and board is $180.

What do we do with the rest of our day? On Saturday I tried surfing for the first time. The Lopez brothers from Arena Caliente Surf Shop drove about 10 of us in their packed van five miles down to Remanso Beach. With surf board piles high on top we bounced our way on the winding dirt road. Their buddy Shaggy, a real Nicaraguan surfer dude, gave me an hour-long surf lesson. On the beach he taught me jump to my feet and then 15 minutes later I was catching waves and standing on my own.

Besides surfing, there are evening trips to La Flor Beach Wildlife Refuge to see sea turtles laying their eggs in the sand, a zip-line canopy tour just outside town, and plenty of beach bars in San Juan del Sur with ice cold Toña and Victoria beers for $1.25. Most nights we watch the sunset from chairs in the sand at The Pier bar while enjoying a cold one.

And there’s always reviewing the days Spanish notes and doing homework to prepare for the next morning’s lesson.

Stephen Bugno,  03 Dec 2009

by Stephen Bugno

Despite the Algarve’s reputation as an over-developed holiday destination for Northern Europeans, there are a few gems—unspoiled, laid-back, small towns with adequate, reasonably-priced accommodation and fantastic beaches.

Tavira

Although technically a river town situated on both sides of the Rio Gilao, Tavira is a ten-minute ferry ride away from the Ilha de Tavira—an island with a 14km stretch of dune-backed beaches without a hotel in sight. The town itself is very attractive with a few sites of its own, and plenty of accommodation and restaurants, bars, and cafes. Located about 20km from the Spanish border, it’s a fine spot to use as a base while exploring the coast of the eastern Algarve: place such as Cacela Velha, Manta Rota, Altura, and Praia Verde.

Sagres

On the far southwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula, Sagres is surrounded by four superb beaches. Although not necessarily an overly charming town, it is pleasant enough and has the necessities to keep the family, surfer, or backpacker content. The sheltered, south-facing Praia de Mareta is great place for bathing, Praia do Martinhal for windsurfing, the wild Praia do Tonel for surfing, and Praia de Belixe for an absolutely stunning setting under cliffs. A couple outfits in town offer surfing lessons as well.

Carrapateira

North from Sagres, along the untamed Atlantic, sits the small town of Carrapateira. Located on the hillside about a kilometer inland, it has adequate budget guesthouses and plenty of private rooms for rent. From here you have access to two fine beaches with incredible surf baked by beautiful sand dunes. In town there’s a surf school which many come here especially to do.

Odeceixe

Four kilometers upstream from a beautiful beach where the Odeceixe River empties into the sea, the town with the same name is built upon the hill. A haven for campervanners, backpackers, surfers, and families alike, the Praia de Odeceixe is a wide, sandy beach with excellent, mild-temperature-water swimming. The gorgeous, cultivated, river-valley setting only complements the calm atmosphere of this community. Zambujeira do Mar Although located in Alentejo, Zambujeira do Mar has much in common with the surf spots of the Algarve. Set atop a cliff, the attractive whitewashed village looks down to a strikingly picturesque beach surrounded on both sides by protected coastline. Zambujeira is a quiet place to relax for days on end, enjoying seafood or drinks at outdoor cafes and restaurants. Every summer it hosts the huge “Festival do Sudoeste” music festival, which attracts big names in the music world and an alternative, laid-back crowd.

Vila Nova de Milfontes

Understandably, Vila Nova de Milfontes is a popular place, though it remains unspoiled. The beaches here are the main draw at this typical Alentejo resort, located about 30km north of Zambujeira. Sandy spots face the open ocean as well as those strung out along the calm, warmer, estuary waters attracting families and independent travelers throughout the summer months. Vila Nova de Milfontes is a great place to sample the outstanding cuisine that Alentejo has to offer, enjoying the small-town atmosphere while al fresco dining.

Stephen Bugno has been traveling and teaching English abroad for the better part of ten years. His articles and essays have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, and Transitions Abroad magazine. He edits the Gomad Nomad Travel Mag.