Join us for an exciting surf break in India! Visakhapatnam, also known as Vizag, has a population of around 3 million and its large port is fundamental for naval operations, steelmaking and other heavy industries. Tourists try to avoid this place. Nowadays, there are only 10,000 foreign visitors and most of them are businessmen. Also called “the city of waves”, there are many aquatic creatures such as giant dolphins, mermaids and submarines along the busy “Beach Road”. Lawson Bay is the most consistent spot producing long, big waves just a few steps from the beach road hotels. Only children are allowed to surf and most of them only stay in the shorebreak, so the line ups are usually empty. In the most northern part of this region, Sandy Point is a spot populated by young boys who enjoy playing in the shorebreak with wooden boards; the external line up is empty and characterized by soft and long right 3-4ft waves. Chintapalli has no wind protection, so its beachbreaks are often active and messed up. Mukkam can be considered a respectable right-hand pointbreak as it is sheltered from the monsoon wind from the southwest and is bordered by a long cliff that facilitates the breaking of the waves (especially at low tide). Reaching Chippada is a real ordeal, in fact in addition to a half hour drive on dirty roads it is necessary to walk for another half hour along the bank of a river. This spot is located in a rocky promontory with a rather shallow seafloor which therefore enhance the formation of waves in small swell conditions. Just below Chippada there is Bhimuni , a right wave with a very fast take off that opens with a couple of softer sections. This spot works with swells from the southern quadrant and it works best at high tide. One of the best right-hand points in the area is Mangamari , where a line of rocks extends along a golden beach and creates waves that allow you to surf even for 800m in length on the most glassy days. Despite a bit of backwash, during the high tide the waves break very quickly, also giving beautiful tubing sections right in front of the cliff (which at low tide divides the wave into 2 sections). Of course, for every wave taken, the walk back to the line up is quite long. Rushikonda is a beach which is full of tourists and it offers many services, restaurants and a law that prohibits littering on the ground; for surfing it is certainly not the best beach even if it occasionally offers some waves scattered around the bay. Jodugullapullam is an exposed beachbreak with left waves that are very fun for goofy riders, but it has a quite complicated access. Tenneti Park , surrounded by a magnificent municipal space used in the morning by meditators and yoga practitioners, holds the biggest swells and even when the wind blows from southwest and west and the swell is long, it joins Waltair Point. The seafloor is mainly rocky, but the larger rocks are fortunately far from the point of first impact of the waves. The best right in Vizag is Lawson Bay, in the town of Kailashgiri, which offers long rides (over 400m). The outermost line-ups need no wind conditions to work well; the rocks present just below these line-ups can be scary but give great power to the waves. The classic surfing activities in this place are characterized by long bottoms and cutbacks, until the wave approaches the shore, steepening and become perfect for aerial maneuvers. In front of the Park Hotel there are a series of scattered peaks, which, with fairly consistent swells and a weak NW wind, offer very funny lefts. The most famous beach along the Visag coastal road is Rama Khrisna , another rocky bottom spot that gets super messed up with active SW and NE winds. If you are there and this spot doesn’t allow you to surf, try to check out the nearby beach called “Submarine Beach”. Going south, there are a series of piers built on the ports that create even fairly regular peaks (in the Harbor Jetties map); the only problem in this area could be pollution. After Harbor Jetties is Yarada , often close-out, but not bad at high tide. The last spot to check is Rutukonda: in addition to some peaks scattered in the bay, there is a right pointbreak. Here, too, pollution is too much high for jumping into the water.
Tariff per person, starting from:
| Departure | Ginger Hotel | Hotel Winsar Park | The Bheemli Resort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double | Double | Double | |
| From 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 | € 263 | € 168 | € 399 |
Notes
The Bay of Bengal is a rather large and deep oceanic mass (2.6km), wide from Chennai to Andaman (1200km) and long from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka (1500km). There are at least 3 different types of swells: monsoon swells from southwest, swells from south from in the middle of the Indian Ocean and rare (about 6 per year) cyclonic swells from northeast and east. The SW wind brings waves between 4-8ft from Sri Lanka to Vizag, especially in the months between May and August, but these waves haven’t the same power as those coming from the middle of the Indian Ocean, which tend to lose consistency when hit most points. With these S-SW winds, the more exposed coasts will receive waves from 3-6ft while the more protected and north-facing ones receive from 1-3ft (with offshore winds) waves. In the morning the wind is usually absent favoring glassy waves, while from 10 onwards a breeze from SE-SW tends to rise. In the Southern Hemisphere, very long swells aren’t very frequent, while during NE monsoons, there are 2-3ft swells. The largest tides reach 5-6ft, so expect some changes in conditions in the rocky spots and very few variations in the sandy ones.
How to get there: It is necessary a 6 month visa and you have to pay; this visa is valid from the date of issue (not from the date of arrival in the country) and a one way ticket is required to obtain it. Indian airlines fly to Vizag (VIZ) daily from Mumbai, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Chennai. Local flights are quite expensive ($ 300 return from Mumbai, cheaper from Chennai) but board transport is free. Trains and buses are very cheap, but journeys can take days.
Getting around: Andhra Pradesh (AP) is the 5th largest state in India; it is 12h by train from the capital Hyderabad. Once you arrive in Vizag, rent an “Ambassador” taxi ($ 25 / day), or a 4 × 4 jeep if you are in a group ($ 100 / day) or a rickshaw ($ 0.50 / small routes) to reach the closest spots. The traffic is very intense, it is recommended to take a driver.
Accommodation and food: All rooms in the 5-star Park Visakhapatnam hotel offer sea views and direct access to Palm Beach. Full luxury services cost $ 110 with full board included. Air-conditioned rooms cost around $ 20 per day. Avoid street food, ice and non-bottled water.
Climate: The climate of Andhra Pradesh is subtropical, dry and the temperatures are very high in spring. In summer it rains as much as it does in winter. The summer monsoon (from June to September) is the SW monsoon, causing 2/3 of the rain of the whole state (600mm), while the winter monsoon (from October to December) provides the missing 1/3. On average, coastal regions receive larger amounts of rain (1000mm). Drought periods come with heat waves (40 ° -50 ° C) in the months of April and May, before the arrival of the monsoon from the southwest, and many times they also cause death for hundreds of people. During the SW monsoon, floods can occur on the Andhra coast and they can create major traffic problems. The monsoon rains in this region are not as heavy as in Kerala or as in other states of Western India. The climate is always very hot and many times there is no way to escape from this exhausting heat.
Nature and culture: Visit some temples such as “Xlth Simhachalam”. The way to the beach is quite fun. Climb up to “Kailashgiri Park” to see the statue of Lord Shiva Parvathi and to get the best view of Lawson Bay. Also go to “Dolphin’s nose”, a large rocky promontory overlooking the sea, sheltered from the harbor.
Dangers and annoyances: The hundreds of garbage on the beach cause bad smells and many times also transmit diseases. Try to get into the water with the rising tide: if you cut yourself run immediately to disinfect yourself in order to avoid possible infections. The flat cliffs in the points don’t require the use of shoes. Drink lots of water to combat the severe heat. Be careful on the street, not so much for crime, but as for traffic.
Tips: No gun boards are needed, but a longboard is strongly recommended to have fun even on the smallest days. Bring lots of paraffin and you will surf very long waves with completely deserted spots. Be ready to face poverty and infirmity. Wake up early to surf. May and June are the best months. Learn to understand the way the inhabitants of this region use to say “yes” by moving the head sideways.
Exchange rate 1 EUR = 1.08 USD
Exchange rate variations (more than 3%) will lead to an adjustment of costs. They will be communicated within 20 days of departure.
The tariff does not include
Duration: 7 days / 6 nights
from € 168 - Excluding flights
Duration: 8 days / 6 nights
from € 242 - Excluding flights
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