Surfing in Kamchatka
Kamchatka is a wonderful place. The air is saturated with that same energy, which lacks modern inhabitants of megacities. Out on the street and looked into the distance, eyes always stop at the giants - the volcanoes of Kamchatka.
It's a wild place where the lava flow like a river, and the earth breathes. Bears are owners of this land. You are here only as a guest. But you can feel all of that and to be a part of something big, eternal. And it is not necessarily to find words to describe it.
Locals accustomed to volcanoes, bears and red caviar long ago. But it was a complete surprise that surfing is possible on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Do not just possible, but it’s considered among the advanced surfers that Kamchatka is a promising and one of the best places to ride in Russia.
With the support of the magazine SURFER, several riders Keith Malloy, Dane Gudauskas, Cyrus Sutton and Trevor Gordon went in search of new places to ride. And the choice fell on Kamchatka. What they found anybody did not expect, even themselves. In return, they mounted a video about their trip, and the entire world learned about the Kamchatka surfing. In January 2013 in the magazine SURFER was published an article "Hidden Sea and the Pyramid of Fire".
The main spots and interesting places to of riding are located on the beach Khalaktyrskoye. The coastline is covered with black volcanic sand and stretched over 30 kilometers. The beach is washed by the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean.
From Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Khalaktyrskoye beach you can go by car in 30 minutes or even less. Driving up to this place has a few kilometers you will feel the energy carried by the ocean. You can not see or hear, but the closer you approach, the more you feel it with every cell of the body. If you trust your feelings, you will not get lost in this area. You will always find the way to the bank.
Because once all living organisms out of the water, and now you feel the call of it back. It beckons. And whispers, "Take your board and become a part of me."
Coming to coast, you can see how the water goes over the horizon. Large waves lapping on the beach and back down again. Water for swimming is cold. In the hottest season, from mid-June to the end of August, it warms up to 15 degrees. So for surfing you need thin wetsuit, it can be a 4/3 or 3/2. The height of waves in bad weather and strong winds can reach 15 meters.
In the hot season on the coasts installed the spots and running surf school. Surfers live in tents, cook over a campfire and admire the sunsets. All the guys are very friendly, in fact doing what they like.
In 2014, it was a fourth step of the championship of Russia on surfing in Kamchatka. It was from 5 to 20 September.
In the remaining months it starts cooling. Come cold wind and the water temperature falls. In winter, the shore is not frozen, but the water cools to 0 / -2 degrees.
Even at this time there is a place to surf. But it is different. It is cold. Starting inner struggle with yourself and your abilities. We must be prepared to prove to ourselves that anything is possible.
Excellent film about winter surfing in Kamchatka made in studio Liberty films.