In the boom economy, surfers had a knack for seeking out the untouched, raw, beautiful seascapes that no one knew about. Once the surfers found them, the developers were hot on their trail, and soon someone like Ian Schrager or Philippe Starck would open shop, followed by people with high heels and lapdogs. And before you knew it, beaches from Fiji to Mexico to Costa Rica became crowded, expensive and very much discovered.
“When you see bumper stickers in Oahu that say, ‘Tourist, go home,’ that’s a problem,” Talma said. “And that’s not us. But locals have to be strong or we’ll lose our culture, just like Hawaii has.”
Not everyone is thrilled by the prospect of luring the masses. “It’s a tricky situation,” said Alan Burke, owner of Burkie’s Surf School. He was pulling boards out of the back of his truck, getting ready for his afternoon students — half a dozen boys between the ages of 8 and 11 who would be arriving momentarily to practice for the island’s first juniors competition the following week. “On one hand you want people to come here and surf, and on the other hand you don’t want it to be a zoo.”
Burke, a former professional surfer, has traveled to every major surfing destination and knows the risks that come with geographic fame. “Look at Soup Bowl,” he said. “It could be every bit as famous as the north shore of Hawaii, but do we want that? That’s what’s good about being a small, sheltered island. I bet people in Hawaii wish they stayed a little more sheltered.”
The good thing about being relatively undiscovered is that there was no tourism bubble here to burst. “The recession has hit the west coast,” said Layson, who charges US$80 for a two-hour lesson. “But we haven’t seen any change in the surfing world here. It’s still cheap compared to other places in the world. Wait, inexpensive, not cheap. Cheap sounds like it’s not quality surfing, which it is.” Whatever you call it, Soup Bowl may be the least costly, world-class wave on the planet.
On the Net: www.barbadossurf.com; www.surfbarbados.net; www.surfbarbados.com
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