Europe/Nt Africa

[Sarge]

Hey

My chick has just commenced working in Switzerland for the next two years. Its my plan to follow within the next two months, which is a bit sooner than i had first expected. I'm hoping the more well travelled of this community could give me a couple of starting points from which i can starting getting a better understanding of where, when and how to get my arse wet in Europe and Nt Africa. General advice (boards, wetties), web links, anything would be great.

Potential employers within board sport/surf industries (not likely i know) !!!!?????

Cheers and Thanks

[crooked]

Ive heard morrocco goes off, and is cheap!

[sydney]

I know it's stating the obvious, but you'll be able to do weekend trips to anywhere on the western europe coast from switzerland. The obvious trips for me would be spain and france. I have no idea about Nth Africa.

I got the shock of my life when i saw a UK surf mag, so there are mags over there. As for details I have no idea. Good luck with the trip!

You could make a compromise maybe and see if there's work in the snow industry over there also.

[Sarge]

Ive heard morrocco goes off, and is cheap!

i've heard and read the same things! Am really looking forward to a trip or two there.

[swellsearch]

i did the campervan thing a couple of years ago. spent 2 months surfing down the coast of france, spain, portugal and morrocco. even surfed the med.

i went from oct - dec and we scored plenty of waves. didn't really get under 3ft. and we rarely surfed crowded spots. except the obvious ones like mundaka which was perfect 4-6ft.

if you have the time, i'd definetly recommend the campervan. the weekend trips are good, but a bit hit and miss. i did some weekend trips to portugal, ireland, scotland etc but never scored as good as on the campervan trip.

have fun.

[The Mighty Sunbird]

Happy memories for me. I think I scored the best waves of my life in Europe. I hired a crappy little car in Lisbon and got a tent, did the spain to france coast, slept on the beach this was 10yrs ago now but quite a community of travelling surfers at the time.
I was there for the summer. Crowds not really an issue. Water bloody freezing, took a spring suit which was useless, had to buy a real thick steamer.
Don't miss Ericiera and Coxos in Portugal.
I noticed theres a book you can buy called 'Surfing Europe' I have its cousin 'Surfing the World' and its useful, advice re conditions, seasons, boards and wetties!.

[spook]

yep, get either stormriders guide to surfing europe, or a similar version published by footprint.
i'd recomend getting a van and doing a long surf trip, rather than trying to hit it on the weekends. there's a zillion things to do in landlocked continental europe though, so don't try freak if you can't surf for the first few months.
spend the winter snowboarding in europe, then in march hammer down to morocco. all the winter crowds will be gone and there'll still be waves. then just cruise up to portugal in late spring. there are tons of empty waves there

[dee-r-e]

Hey Mate,
didn't surf in morocco when i was there but heard some very very very good stories about it and saw some potential set ups that would be good. You can fly out of 10000 places in europe to Marakech, and that is close enough to the coast to not be a major hassle, couple of hours to travel to the coast. Worth hanging around in Marakech for a few days though, the place is all time. The other way to get into the place is via ferry from Spain over the Gibralter straight which is a simple and short (think about 2 hours if i remember correctly?). You get to Tangier, which is a hole (met a guy there who was a BBC cameraman who said it was more dangerous than Afghanistan) then can get trains and/buses down the coastline.
It is pretty cheap, not really really cheap but cheap enough that its worth going to :>
Hope this helped.

[bro]

If you are leaving in 2 months then you will land in August, which is peak summer and the waves are sh1thouse and the crowds on land are crazy.

I lived in Hossegor for 6 months and worked in the surf industry over there. September is when the waves cook. A switch is virtually thrown at the end of August and the tourists dissappear, the swell arrives and so do the vans with British, Dutch, German etc number plates show up.

Follow the swell down to Morocco.

I go back over in two weeks for a month and will hit France, Spain, Italy and Morocco unfortunately I doubt I will get quality but it should be fun to hit a few old haunts.

Depends on how you are travelling, for how long etc and then can provide more info

[Sarge]

Thanks for the replys. It all sounds pretty positive.

Depends on how you are travelling, for how long etc and then can provide more info

I will be living in Basel, Switzerland and will be doing short trips most of the time. I dont have a job as yet and not likely to, so i will have all the time in the world. But my missus is working for drug company in Basel and will be able to take regular small bits of leave. Any info and advice on living in general and surfing in Europe would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

[CRACKERS]

theres a few standing waves in munich if your desperate, they are free
but they are cold to!

CRACKERS

[swift]

Get your arse down to Tarazout in Marocco. Spend as much time there as you can!!!
It's cheap, accom is really good, food is fantastic. And the waves..........

The waves are insane, righthand point breaks, little reefs, beachies it has it all.

The only setback is alchohol. You can get it but it's warm. This was 10 years ago so it might have changed???

Don't be freaked out with touts. The guy we met in Agadir at the bus stop befreinded us and took us to sweet acom at Hash Point.

If you have a car it would be better we did France, Spain and Marocco all by train,bus and taxi's. Hard work but the waves more than make up for it.

[cambo]

I lived in Switzerland for three years and I used to visit my uncle in Basel - its a very nice part of the world.

But a long way from the surf which for you will be mostly in France unless you can manage long breaks from your GF.

There are enough comments already about surf in France: good surf, not crowded if there's swell, really cold water, nice people, not bad food and drink. You would do well to bring equipment with you as everything is way expensive in Europe.

As for surf related employment, it might be a bit lateral but there are Billabong, Rip Curl and Quiksilver retail shops all over the place selling surf fashion and snowboard gear. Especially in France.

If your experience and skills can be swung more to snowboarding you'll find employment a lot easier.

Be aware there are potential visa difficulties if you are going for work rather than tourist reasons and, believe me, the Swiss are very strong enforcers of the rules (unless you are Swiss). There are lots of rules.

You'll understand that last comment much better after you've been there a few months

[Sarge]

Cheers Cambo for the advice and all the posts.

I have permit to live in Switz but not a working permit obviously cos i dont have a job. Your comments about the many rules and regs has further confirmed what we have been getting told by almost everyone that has lived there. We're fortunate my girl has got a pretty sweet job which should take care of us finacially but i'm concerned about my chance of getting good work. I've got a degree an Ag Science a second in Enviro science. And i have worked at CSIRO as a researcher for the last three years but i'm told in my fields i will need at least phd standard education, doh doh doh. And hence my interest in trying to find work in alternative industries. i.e board sports. Did you have work while you lived there, how did u find getting a job?

Please, anyone with any advice, word me up!! Job offer from major surf industry lables would be greatly apreciated!

[cambo]

Did you have work while you lived there, how did u find getting a job?

I had a job as a ski instructor. It was actually very easy to get - my qualifications were recognised and I spoke English reasonably well (they had trouble finding instructors who would look after tourists - mostly from the U.K. and Scandanavia - the locals preferred to speak French). The job came with a work permit and a Swiss rate of pay. Plus I got some amazing powder skiing for free.

But that was a long way from Basel.

I suggest you'll do better leveraging your qualifications around town once you get there. Don't smile, never joke, be very serious, try to lose any suntan you have before you arrive.

There are plenty of tech companies in the area (that includes across the borders in Germany and France) and I seem to recall ag tech businesses around Mulhouse. It will take a while but you'll score something.

I don't like your surf prospects though...

[spook]

not sure how connected basel is as far as cheap airlines go, but you can fly anywhere in europe in an hour.
it is easy to fly to hossegor, basque spain, canaries, portugal etc for 3-4 days, or even a weekend if you're desperate. hook up a car for 30euros a day, likewise for accomodation. i actually found food and booze in europe to be pretty cheap. in SW france, if you stay away from the tourist haunts, you can get a cheap and cheerful 3 course meal with a carafe of wine for 10 euros, which is unbelievable value in my book.
if you have a job (i realise this is a prob at the moment) and a little bit of cash, just keep an eye on surf forecasts and hit destinations when they turn on.
i only cottoned onto this towards the end of my stint in europe, i wish i learnt how to do it earlier.

[Squidlips]

sarge ive done the whole F*****n lot twice over.

in a sentence...or three

most important thing you will ever do in your entire experience of surfing in europe is buying the latest edition of "the storm riders guide - europe"

http://www.lowpressure.co.uk/lpshop/pro ... 3&P_ID=121

its thicker han war and peace, larger than king dons member.

if your not impressed with it, to the extent you burn all your jazz mags and mastubate with a bar of wax in your fist, i will re-imburse you !!!!!

second from last bit of advice (almost)!!! - jewel in the crown - portugal.

oh, and its legal to sleep in car parks !!!!

morocco...........drive 400km's, one bottle shop, and get robbed.

if you have the stormrider guide you will be more clued up than a spaniard in spain.....