THE NATURE AND T5RAVEL

THE BEACH SO YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED

Anyone who has spent time in Iceland will know that the weather up here isn’t exactly characterized by warm tropical nights – something that most of us probably associate with the beach. So you might be surprised to learn that a small group of hardcore riders have created a surfing community in Iceland—and they brave the icy waves year round.

We’re going down to check out the waves, if you want to come,” Ingó blares down the telephone line. There hadn’t been any decent surf for over two months so he was understandably excited at the news of a swell.

This was the call I had been waiting weeks for. I had heard that there was a small group of surfers in Iceland, but finding them hadn’t been easy. Being from Australia, where some kids are taught to surf before they can walk, I would never have imagined that finding people who surf – even in a land with miles of black volcanic beaches – would prove to be so difficult. But; not only did I find that there were so few surfers here, but some of those that do surf, like to keep an air of secrecy surrounding the details of the local scene. Considering that this sport is normally associated with the tropical waters of Hawaii and California and not the chilly northernmost capital of the world, surfing in Iceland, where sea temperatures only reach a balmy 15ºC for a few brief weeks in July, is certainly not for the weak. .

“Just when you think you can't go any further – that's where he starts to have fun,” Maik says of Ingó’s thrill-seeking attitude, his eyes scouring the waves to see if there is an outside chance he’ll be able to head in before the clock strikes twelve. While Ingó takes off to spend a few hours biking in the barren landscape just outside of town the rest of us survey the ocean from the edge of the rocky beach.

Like some of the other guys, Ingó actually learned to surf in these waters – and has been doing so religiously for the past eight years. But, he wasn’t the first to brave the cool waves. According to Ingó, some of the older guys started surfing here 20 years ago.

Maik, who has just put on his wetsuit, but is still contemplating whether he’ll head in, tells me that most of the group have spent time living in Australia. He himself spent time living in the state of Queensland, renound for its great beaches and thriving surf culture. We discuss different surfing spots and how the scene differs to that in Iceland. Maik says that the localism that he experienced in Australia doesn’t exist here. “[In Australia] you can get punched in the face for jumping in on a wave,” he says

Surfing in Iceland has its obvious drawbacks, however, like the absence of lifeguards on these remote shores. “You can find waves everywhere you go – but it’s all at your own risk, there is no rescue team around,” Maik warns. Also, not only do you have to wear booties, but because of the unpredictability of the weather up here, you also have to plan ahead and constantly check the forecast, which usually means Maik and his friends get word of good waves and head out at very little notice. Ingeniously, the group had a web cam set up on the beach earlier in the year, though, he tells me there have been some problems with it lately.

As long as there are waves and there’s no wind to destroy them – no matter how cold it is – we come out,” Ingó told me in a conversation I had with him a couple weeks later.I had heard that there were just a handful of surfers in Iceland, but after being told that there were a record number of guys out here tonight, I wonder whether Iceland is getting a reputation amongst surfers as the Hawaii of the north