The song “ surfing USA” keeps playing in my head and visions of lean muscled tanned bodies with hair, bleached blond by the Sun and sea, runs around in my mind.
When one thinks of surfing, we always think of the beaches of Hawaii , Australia and Bali and we would never associate Sabah with this sport.
However there is an ardent group of local and international surfers who are slowly but surely putting some of Sabah’s beaches on the surfers map.
The surf beaches in Sabah are found on the west coast, from Tanjung Aru beach in Kota Kinabalu to Tuaran and northwards to Kudat.
These beaches face the South China Sea and are dependent on the monsoon to produce suitable waves.
The surf in Sabah will never be as great as the surf in Bali or other well know surfing beaches as the South China Sea is not as large as the Indian or Pacific oceans which produce very large waves, however it is still pretty good and perfect if you want to learn the sport.
The southwest monsoon blows from late May till September and brings with it waves between 1 to 5 ft (Looking from the back of the wave).
Tanjung Aru, which is the closest to the city, is also the best place to learn surfing as the waves are usually between 1 – 3ft, with the occasional 5 footer.
However if you’re an experienced surfer, forget Tanjung Aru and head out North to the beaches of Karambunai and Kudat.
The waves get bigger as you travel north and the best time for this is during the Northwest monsoon which is from November to March.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Surf's up in Borneo
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