Breathing Space
Whilst visiting SaltyLips’s India in her Nicaraguan home, Playa Gigante, I was lucky enough to meet Carly, the second half of India’s yoga-surf business, Papaya Wellness. A creative and inspiring soul, always smiling and full of positivity, Carly is an advocate for womens’s empowerment and health and actively works with the community of Playa Gigante to promote these messages.
Summer West Coast Style
View from the lip …
Temporarily leaving the fun waves and easy living of her Nicaraguan habitat, India has returned to her Canadian home for the summer.
“I’m home to get reconnected with the surf and yoga culture here, make some new friends and promote Papaya Wellness. The aim is to build some fresh business relationships, get things ready to expand and prepare for the addition of more destinations for our surf and yoga retreat map.” – India Continue reading
Our bubbly Belgian surfer Sarah really is proof that if you put your mind to it, you can follow your dreams and build a life anywhere you wish. After years on the road, Sarah spent the summer of 2012 hard at work offering massage treatments to the clientele of St Tropez, but it just wasn’t the lifestyle for her. Missing the waves and surf lifestyle she moved to Hossegor at the end of the season … and she never looked back. Continue reading
Getting some shade.
After two months of radio silence on an Indonesian Island, Rosary finally reappeared for just long enough to share her surf stories and photos before heading off again to another spot. And it certainly looks like she has been having all the fun! After leaving the cold waters of Ireland she returned to some of her favourite Indo waves, catching up with SaltyLips’ crew member Shannon, along with some old friends, and collecting a few new ones. Continue reading
Barrels, Beatings and Building Paradise
Georgia in D E E P
On one particularly spontaneous Indo trip, I found myself in West Sumbawa with SaltyLips’ Shannon and an amazing surfing couple Gareth and Cassie. We left the maxed out windy conditions in the east, drove 10 hours through the night and found ourselves faced with almost perfect conditions at one of West Sumbawa’s heaviest waves. Guillotine lips and razor sharp shallow reef, this was a wave I had no intention of surfing and I stuck to the tamer stuff. If I couldn’t surf at the peak of this monster swell, I might as well watch one of the craziest waves turn on. Continue reading
Rosary loving life!
After a long winter at home back in Ireland, Rosary has swapped her second skin of neoprene for a bikini & boardies, and jettted off to her second home, Indonesia. While we eagerly await the surf stories and photos from her trip so far, here is a look back to a previous Indo adventure. One wave, one sequence, but an epic one at that … thought it deserved it’s own post!
Snagging a wide one!
Escaping the ever-increasing crowds of West El Salvador’s right points we headed east to another of El Salvador’s dream waves. Needing a change of scenery after almost a month in a bustling fishing village, this new spot could not have been more different. A favourite wave of mine from the journey north, we returned to the same tiny homestay in the middle of the forest only a five-minute walk to the wave. Learning from my previous experience, we brought all our own food, timed the trip with a swell and prayed for afternoon glass-offs to avoid the hordes of morning boats. Continue reading
Shannon Loving Life
With the heart of the 2014 season in full swing in the Mentawai’s, here is a look back at our Aussie Mermaid Shannon‘s salty sessions from last year.
Living and loving life in the Mentawai’s, Shannon really is the embodiment of ‘Home is where the waves are’. Mouth watering barrels, magic moments and great crew…all on her front doorstep! It doesn’t get much better…living the dream Shan!!
Rosary taking it on…
Leaving me to my slightly less heart-in-mouth waves further south, Rosary set off on her journey, two overnight buses north, with the promise of the big heavy beachies that Mexico is famous for. Setting up her tent, her home for the next two months, Rosary settled in to her new spot. I was only a little ashamed that I had ditched my tent and opted for an $8 a night room after she left, but I was craving some creature comforts. Continue reading
Fun waves!
Two 13 hour bus journeys, two border crossings and a fading hangover later, Nathan and I arrived at our destination, a fishing village in West El Salvador. Back to my concrete cell above a shop, with a balcony overlooking my favourite wave, pupusas stuffed with various lava hot fillings and the best fruit salads of my trip. With pretty consistent waves, and cool locals, this was the perfect spot to settle down for a while for some cheap living. Continue reading
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