Sunset Surfer

Custom Surfing Prints for Sale

Professional surf photography does not need to only be seen in the pages of Surfer, Surfing or Transworld.You can have your very own custom surf print for your home or office decor.You dream about surfing all day so what would be better than a framed, custom surf print.Imagine every day you come home and look at a perfect empty wave framed on your wall.Sometimes taking a surf trip is not as easy as it sounds.
Or maybe you took a surf trip recently and did not quite get the shot you were looking for. So get the next best thing, a custom print of your favorite wave, or the surf spot you dream about.Surf images can be printed on photographic paper or canvas.

SURF SPOT IN EAST SUMBA

The office
point break-like lefthander is the most consistent wave here. Works on all tides except max high and breaks eventually onto sand. Miles of beach break from here.

Racetrack
A wedgy left that accelerates and builds in size down the line , truly lives up to its name.

Five-O
Good lefthand barrel breaking along bend of reef into the main channel. It needs a six-foot swell to start breaking and is surfed at higher or dead low tide.

Manggudu Island waves
The island sits on the edge of very deep water and the waves can get very big. The western tip has a left and eastern a righthander. The left is a swell magnet with the dry season trade winds blowing offshore. Consistent overhead surf, bring a gun.

the left
The reef is large and the wave is best described as "sunset-like". After peaking, it will bowl through hollow sections or just wall off right from the take-off, depending on swell direction. Can handle very big swell.

The Right
long wave that wraps all the way around the eastern tip of the island. Mellower wave than the left, but longer and hollower. Wet season wave, but you might get lucky on some mornings during the dry season before the winds come up.

ACCESS AND TIDES

ACCESS
The wave breaks 80 yards off the beach and ends in a deep channel. The setup is ideal and paddling out through the channel is easy without having to punch through the waves at all. If you do not make the wave the sweep of the water over the reef will push you back into the channel very quickly.

TIDES
Tides in Indonesia change only about three feet during neap tides and up to 8 feet during the full and new moon periods. The wave at Nihiwatu has different personalities depending on the tide. At extreme high tide the wave is fuller and much easier to ride, perfect for surfers who are not accustomed to fast tubing waves. On extreme low tide, during the full and new moon periods, the wave breaks onto dry reef and is un-rideable except for the 50-yard end section. These extreme tide periods occur four days before and three days after the new and full moons. It is during these periods that surf can almost be guaranteed at Nihiwatu.

THE WAVE AND THE REEF

The wave breaks from deep water onto a shallow reef directly in front of the resort, tubing from start to finish. It is thick and steep on the takeoff and sucking a lot of water up the face. Nihiwatu is one of the fastest rideable waves anywhere, taking only six to ten seconds to travel the 250+ yard length of the wave.

This is not a hot dogging wave, it is full on down-the-line surfing. One slight mistake and you probably won't make it to the channel. Nihiwatu breaks best at 4' and above and the bigger the swell the better the wave becomes. 8' to 10' swells are common here and there are usually several 12'+ swells each year.

The coral reef is relatively surfer-friendly. The coral is pounded flat by the waves and hitting the bottom does not necessarily mean getting cut. In fact over the past twelve years there have been very few surfers with reef cuts and no serious injuries.

NIHIWATU AND SURFING

NIHIWATU AND SURFING
Nihiwatu is a destination for surfers to bring their partners or families and do whatever they want in style and serious comfort. Nihiwatu is situated on one of the premier lefts in Indonesia, and the resort restricts the number of surfers booked into the resort to only 9 at any one time.

There is no doubt that Nihiwatu is one of the top waves in Indonesia and the world. The professional surfers who have visited Nihiwatu over the years have attested to this. There have been several surf movies made here with the arraignment of the owners and with the agreement that the filmmakers and photographers would not name the location.

Nevertheless the word has leaked out and now there is a cult following of surfers who know about Nihiwatu. In some circles Nihiwatu has already achieved legendary status.

Just 100 yards off of Nihiwatu beach is one of the world’s most perfect waves. Guests of ours have the added benefit of riding, or just watching, the incredible surf breaking on the reef directly in front of the resort.

Nihiwatu faces southwest into the Indian Ocean and is ideally suited for picking up swell arriving from thousands of miles away; the surf here is very consistent. If the surf is flat here you can be sure it is flat just about everywhere else in the archipelago.

Many professional surfers have visited Nihiwatu over the years and several surf movies have been filmed here featuring the 1999 world surfing champion Mark Occhilupo. If you are seeking large double overhead surf the best times are during the months of May through October on the full and new moons. In between those times we often have perfect waves in the three to six foot range.

SUMBA ISLAND SURFING

Being on Sumba you can experience one of the world's more challenging surfing waves close to the hotel. Kerewe, Marosi and Dasang are beaches facing south intothe Indian Ocean and therefore the surf is very consistent.You will be a forerunner for those spots that still few people have discovered.

Located in the Lesser Sunda Island chain in Southeast Indonesia, just a hair east of Bali, Sumba is a beautiful island with a rich cultural tradition, and is home to world class waves. Not highly accessible, it's not on everyone's hit list. As with other surf destinations in Indonesia, it is blessed with great surf much of the year, particularly April through October.

Surfing maneuvers

Surfing begins with the surfer eyeing a rideable wave on the horizon and then matching its speed (by paddling or by tow-in). A common problem for beginners is not even being able to catch the wave in the first place, and one sign of a good surfer is being able to catch a difficult wave that other surfers can not.

Once the wave has started to carry the surfer forward, the surfer will then jump to his or her feet in what is termed a "pop-up" and proceeds to ride down the face of the wave, generally staying just ahead of the breaking part (white water) of the wave (in a place often referred to as "the pocket" or "the curl"). This is a difficult process in total, where often everything happens nearly simultaneously, making it hard for the uninitiated to follow the steps.

Surfers' skills are tested not only in their ability to control their board in challenging conditions and/or catch and ride challenging waves, but also by their ability to execute various maneuvers such as turning and carving. Some of the common turns have become recognizable tricks such as the "cutback" (turning back toward the breaking part of the wave), the "floater" (riding on the top of the breaking curl of the wave), and "off the lip" (banking off the top of the wave). A newer addition to surfing has been the progression of the "air" where a surfer is able to propel oneself off the wave and re-enter.

"Tube riding" is when a surfer maneuvers into a position where the wave curls over the top of him or her, forming a "tube" (or "barrel"), with the rider inside the hollow cylindrical portion of the wave. This difficult and sometimes dangerous procedure is arguably the most coveted and sought after goal in surfing.

"Hanging Ten" and "Hanging Five" are moves specific to longboarding. Hanging Ten, refers to having both feet on the front end of the board with all ten of the surfer's toes off the edge. Hanging Five is having just one foot and five toes off.

Common Terms:

• Regular - Right foot on back of board

• Goofy - Left foot on back of board

• Take off - the start of a ride

• Drop in - dropping into (engaging) the wave, most often as part of standing up

• Dropped in on - taking off on a wave in front of someone else (considered inappropriate)

• Snaking - paddeling around someone to get into the best position for a wave (in essence, stealing it)

• Bottom turn - the first turn at the bottom of the wave

• Shoulder - the unbroken part of the wave

• Cutback - a turn cutting back toward the breaking part of the wave

• Fade - dropping back into the wave

• Chili Cheese Dog - a Costa Rican term; wiping out in a really messy way

• Over the falls - going over the top of the wave

• Pump - an up/down carving movement that generates speed along a wave

• Stall - slowing down from weight on the tail of the board or a hand in the water

• Floater - riding up on the top of the breaking part of the wave

• Hang-five/hang-ten - putting one or two feet respectively over the the nose of a longboard

• Re-entry - hitting the lip vertically and re-rentering the wave in quick succession.

• Switch-foot - riding opposite stance from what feels natural

• Tube riding - riding inside the curl of a wave

• Carve - turns (often accentuated)

• Off the Top - a turn on the top of a wave, either sharp or carving

• Snap - a quick, sharp turn off the top of a wave

• Fins-free snap - a sharp turn where the fins slide off the top of the wave

• Air/Aerial - airing off the top of the wave

History

Nobody knows when, or precisely where, surfing originated. Captain Cook, a British sea captain and explorer, was the first European to witness surfing in Hawaii in the late 1770s.

When the missionaries from Scotland and Germany arrived in 1821, they forbade or discouraged Hawaiian traditions and cultural practices, which included leisure sports like surfing and holua sledding. By the 20th century, surfing, along with other traditional practices, had all but disappeared. Only a small number Hawaiians continued to practice the sport and the art of crafting boards.

At the start of the 20th century, Hawaiians living close to Waikiki began a revival of surfing, possibly in protest to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and soon re-established surfing as a sport. In 1908, the sport of surfing reached California, and it then began to spread to other parts of the United States and other countries. Duke Kahanamoku, "Ambassador of Aloha", Olympic medalist, and avid waterman, helped expose surfing to the world, and author Jack London wrote about the sport after having attempted surfing on his visit to the islands.

Surfing progressed tremendously in the 20th century and primarily in three locations: Hawaii, Australia, and California.

Up until the 1960s, it had only a small following of dedicated participants. The film Gidget helped popularize the sport. B-movies based on surfing and Southern California beach culture (Beach Party films) formed most American's idea of surfing and surfers.

Regardless of the hype or distorted views in mainstream (American) society, surfing continued to evolve as a sport, and as a way of life to many. The evolution of board design, techniques and the presence of competitive surfing have kept surf culture vibrant and intact. Renowned surfer George Nguyen wrote about American surf culture in the 1990s, "It's come of age. It's finally arrived."

SURFING

Surfing is a surface water sport that involves the participant being carried by a breaking wave.

There are multiple kinds of surfing, based on the different methods or vehicles used to ride a wave. The basic categories include regular stand-up surfing, kneeboarding, bodyboarding, surf-skiing and bodysurfing. Further sub-divisions reflect differences in surfboard design, such as long-boards versus short-boards. Tow-in surfing involves the use of motorised craft to tow the surfer onto the wave; it is associated with surfing huge waves that are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to catch by paddling alone.

Surfing's unique relationship with nature afforded it a mythic quality, which set the stage for its commercial simulation. However, there remains a vital core to the culture, which is both local and global in scope. These "hard core" members of surf culture are united in their dedication to the sport's essential practice of riding waves. A disciplined surfer will check local surf conditions at dawn when the wind is calm, having already assessed the day's prospects based upon weather reports, swell predictions, and tide tables.

When surfing conditions are ideal, social commitments can be relegated to secondary priority. In this way, surfers can be said to defy the temporal order imposed by capitalist culture. Their subculture is founded on the aesthetic appeal of naturally occurring patterns and processes. The obvious contradiction between the surfing experience and its depiction as serving commercial interests highlights the contemporary western history of separation from the natural world, its utilitarian valuation and exploitation. Through direct involvement with nature, surfers appreciate the intrinsic value of the biosphere in a way that is gaining exposure through the recognition of ecosophies, such as deep ecology and ecophenomenology.