Stories from an Indo Paradise

Playing in the Jungle

SaltyLips Womens Surf  Mentawai Indonesia Shannon Surf Girls Salty Lips

Standing Tall!

With Shannon’s feet firmly back on Ozzie soil, we caught up with our barrel-loving jungle-dweller on her new Indo home, it’s perfect waves and the occasional hazards; the price to pay for living in paradise.

Having tied the knot, Indo-style, with local shredder Imer, and built their new home from scratch, Shannon is taking time out to catch up with family and friends, and the clear, refreshing ocean of  South coast WA. Continue reading

Feature: Meet Georgia Bourke

Barrels, Beatings and Building Paradise

SaltyLips Georgia Surf Sumbawa Indonesia

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

The Trip: East El Salvador Replay

Fruits of the Forest

SaltyLips Emma Gibbons El Salvador

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

Mentawai Magic

Some Moments in Time

Salty Lips' Shannon surfing in the Mentawai's

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!!

Continue reading

Mexico Sessions: Heading North

Floggings, Floods and Federals

Rosary taking it on...

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

Forest Dwelling

East El Salvador

Fun!

Point fun!

Everything was perfect…we were the only guests, we had our own cabina with two hammocks out front and the friendliest couple looking after us (we were in the middle of nowhere so they were our only source of food)…then THEY arrived. A car load of 8, beer-drinking, snakey surfers with Swedish chicks in tow. Of all the places to come to party, a forest by a perfect right hand point on a decent swell! Continue reading