Kiribati, placed in the very middle of the equatorial Pacific region, quite literally straddles the equator. In order to reach the Line Islands (closer to Hawaii) from the far more populous Gilbert Islands (closer to the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands) you, and hopefully your keen crew of motley mates, must venture through Fiji. This is a well-travelled surfing destination alone, however the crowds have always shirked the more adventurous.
After staying in a disheveled hostel somewhere in Nadi, Fiji the night before, frequented the bar until gout becomes a legitimate threat and then having the first hot shower in months as your air conditioned room engages every sense of your previously heated body, the flight for Kiritimati Island (Christmas Island), capital of the Line Islands, leaves around midnight. If you can get a couple of Z’s during air time then that is a great effort. The excitement is building within you as a northwest swell builds somewhere near Japan and begins rolling towards Kiritimati. The island itself catches the same swell as the North Shore of Oahu. A little bit smaller yes, but the extended journey ensures drawn out swell trains, with year round trade winds that afford beautiful, and most importantly, uncrowded lineups.
The plane jolts into Cassidy International Airport, and surrounded by keen fisherman already wearing their camouflaged vests, you disembark. The air feels cooler than it does in Tarawa; the airport actually has a VIP section as well, mainly reserved for the fisherman and not for the bedraggled aid worker who somehow scored a trip into utter remoteness. Through customs you venture, hoping the announcement that we had to leave 12 bags behind in Nadi due to the plane being overweight doesn’t affect you. When it doesn’t, a sigh of relief is welcomed and you hope you and your board bag can score a lift from one of the many vans parked outside. Things always fall into place when in Kiribati and you remind yourself of how it feels to be back upon the atoll nation.
To the local church run guesthouse you drive. Through villages with exotic names like Banana and Tennessee, before finally reaching the main town, the place of your work and the global metropolis that is London (Ronton in I-Kiribati). The road around Kiritimati (which is shaped much like a crab claw), takes around five hours to complete a full return trip. You will leave London, wind through those villages and visit others such as Poland and Paris. Left over influences from the wars and nuclear testing that shaped our world decades ago still remain in the I-Kiribati vocabulary.
Now to the surf, which is really why our eyes are reading. The sand bottomed breaks of Kiritimati are far more forgiving than the coral bottomed breaks you find throughout Tarawa. With an incredible array of options to choose from, mainly relying on a NNW-N swell, are easily accessible by boat or a mere 50-100m paddle from the beach at your guesthouse. Local fishermen spend their entire day scouting the outer reaches of the shoreline while you sit amongst the opaque water and shuck yourself into submission. It can get big, it can be playful, and there is always lobster for dinner.
I would suggest going local regarding accommodation and surf guides if you do intend to make the trek to Kiritimati. Also, bring reef boots and ensure that you give Paris and Cochrane’s Reef a crack if it’s pumping. It will be more than worth the trouble. Boat rides through any island nation are always something to behold, especially if your employment can bring you to such far-flung slices of enjoyment. Fanning Island is only an hour or so away via plane, however getting your immense quiver on board the Twin Otter may be an issue. I hear there are boards laying around up there, however why leave the beauty of Kiritimati when all you need is at your now salt-water laden fingertips?
If you do get the opportunity to venture to Kiritimati or Kiribati as a whole, enjoy the serenity, try to leave things as you found them, and shred the waves with respect to local customs. Recently, there have been Californians arriving on the shores of Kiritimati, not as military prospectors of times before, but as fishing and surfing tourists wishing to feel something different from their hard earned time away from home. For upon this island, where edible crabs are merely road kill, a beauty abounds that still remains undiscovered. Look it up and give it a crack.
