September suggestions - not Indo

[alakaboo]

Got a milestone birthday coming up September 2011, so looking to take a trip, and seeking some suggestions.

Wife and 2 kids (2.5 and 15 months by then) will be coming along so it has to be family friendly.
Cheap babysitting would be a distinct advantage! Land based only.

Been to Indo 3 times, so looking for something different. Been to Tonga too, and not keen to go back.

Would like to be warm in the water, otherwise WA would be on the cards. Also can't be a super long flight. So probably somewhere in the Pacific.

Not looking for hectic slab sessions, I'll only be taking one board and would like some playful 2-4 footers. I wouldn't plan to be in an 'iconic surf location', rather somewhere where there are reliable waves, snorkelling, other interesting things to do.

A week to 10 days tops.

Any ideas?

[Donweather]

Hmmmm, with all that wish list it really is limiting your options. I'd be thinking Fiji or Samoa?

If you're up for a slightly longer flight, have you thought about the Maldives?

[Quangers]

Taranaki?

[alakaboo]

Hmmmm, with all that wish list it really is limiting your options. I'd be thinking Fiji or Samoa?
If you're up for a slightly longer flight, have you thought about the Maldives?

yeah, i know
maldives was floated, but not sure about the entertainment for the non-surfers?

looking like Fiji, New Cal, Solomons i guess
you've been to a few of those haven't you Don? Any waves in September?
My grandma grew up on Taveuni in Fiji, any waves around there?

by land based, i meant not a boat trip, i'm happy to take a boat to the waves.

taranaki is interesting, always wanted to surf there though i'm not sure it'll meet the water temp criteria.

guard, you don't have kids do you?
typically it's a good idea not to take them into areas with piracy or civil war...

[brendo]

mate, im looking for fam holiday myself, but for late march/april.

if you go to samoa youre only option is samoana. its pretty good, but its a hike to the waves. if high tide is say 8am, guides will get u up at 430 to have breakky load van go to boat then out to waves. and youre missus will get well pissed at you when you rock up late arvo when shes had toddlers going off all day
no other resorts there take kids. coconuts takes kids over 3. there is a resort north side of savaii though thats fam friendly, could get some small early season north swells.....

fiji, plantation island got good deals going, family friendly, kids club etc. trades should be light n variable back end of sept to.

vanuatu. cheap accom, good waves if theres swell, but its fickle. ive been twice. first trip expected nothin really, surfed a few days pumping 3-4, only one other guy out.all other days were ok, but small crowd of up to 8 guys at times. heap of local kids surfing there now and local french a few expats. paddle out off beach. lots of secret spots to hunt down. not sure what sept is like with swell and winds though. new cal blocks alot of swell. need a solid long period swell to push round it, or low off bottom of fiji, cradled by a high. trades are mostly onshore.look at link for idea of surf. these waves all in same area, five minutes from vila.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMfA7_k8oTk
we lookin at stayin here http://pandanusbay.com/ 220 night for 2 bedder, 290 for 3.
or stay at le lagon.
you really need to do homework re swell and wind for then. my second trip was 2 weeks of howling trades. didnt even get my board wet.
wheres otway? hes been and scored as well

[steve shearer]

New Cal/Fiji : very fam friendly. Wide open swell windows. Trades starting to die by Sep.
No brainers.

Seriously through I'd recommend Tahiti.

Beautiful off the scale. Rent a car and cruise the island easily.
Heaps of waves beside Chopes : plenty of reef passes which are a ton of fun at 3ft.
Minimal crowds.
Outer island paradises (Moorea is easy).
Warm water.

Heaps of culture and shopping for the missus.

Did I say insanely beautiful?

[huie]

wasnt there but a cple of my boards were

[otway1949]

mate, im looking for fam holiday myself, but for late march/april

vanuatu. cheap accom, good waves if theres swell, but its fickle. ive been twice. first trip expected nothin really, surfed a few days pumping 3-4, only one other guy out.all other days were ok, but small crowd of up to 8 guys at times. heap of local kids surfing there now and local french a few expats. paddle out off beach. lots of secret spots to hunt down. not sure what sept is like with swell and winds though. new cal blocks alot of swell. need a solid long period swell to push round it, or low off bottom of fiji, cradled by a high. trades are mostly onshore.look at link for idea of surf. these waves all in same area, five minutes from vila.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMfA7_k8oTk
we lookin at stayin here http://pandanusbay.com/ 220 night for 2 bedder, 290 for 3.
or stay at le lagon.
you really need to do homework re swell and wind for then. my second trip was 2 weeks of howling trades. didnt even get my board wet.
wheres otway? hes been and scored as well

Yes I scored well in Vanuatu, stayed at Breakas right on the beach in front of the break of the same name, but they don't do kids.

Can be fickle but of 10 days scored eight.. beach is not a private beach, so La Lagon ,look for resorts out of town town is in a deep water harbour ,the peole will loveyou children and wandering round town is great, french patisseries etc, be aware mossies and possible malaria if you go out of town.
Breaks are all in the Pango point area. My wife and I will go back.
outer Island and adventure but in my opinion not for kids and a real plus you don't get hassled like Fiji or Bali and only a two hour flight.
I guess it sort of fits my view of your criteria and is reasonable, having said that I'm also having a look at New caledonia but there is only one land based surf spot that is publicised all the others seem to be out on the reef. Unknown territory

[brendo]

steve, isnt it ridiculously expensive in tahiti? a family of four will add up the bucks real quick, espec with airfares. hows access to the waves? boat, long paddle?
new cal has some insane breaks, but along way offshore. also i recall a guy being attacked in a feeding frenvy 2yr ago. lost and arm or leg, bled out before his mate could get him back to land. so if you get badly injured, you could be farked.

[Donweather]

looking like Fiji, New Cal, Solomons i guess
you've been to a few of those haven't you Don? Any waves in September?

Yeah been to both Solos and Fiji, although didn't surf at Fiji. Steve knows way more about Fiji than I do, and given the time of year (Sept), Solos is out of the question...well at least the North Pacific facing islands are. Gizo might be an option but it's very fickle and relies on massive Tasman Low swells to march straight up the Coral Sea and hit there. Could get lucky in Sept, but I wouldn't be going there with the view to surf.

New Cal and Fiji would be my picks swell wise at that time of year.

[gibber]

New cal would be my pic but you do need a boat to access most of the spots, though the land based spot does have some good waves on offer. The island is pretty and the locals are great when you get to know them, the french are ok too but some do have that french arrogance about them.
Noumea is good for a look around and shop for the wife as its quite cosmopolitan, they also shut for siesta which i found was awesome. September is an ok time for waves and winds ande the water is super clear and clean. I was on a yacht anchored off Armadee Light in 60' of water and we could see the bottom as clear as crystal. Fish were cirrcling under us and after about two hours there were over 100 fish of varying sizes circling us...was a pity that we were in a reserve as you could have speared anything you wanted for dinner. Ah well sorry for the digression, memory's seem to overtake the present some times...but yeah, def's reckon you should consider the new cal camp option

[alakaboo]

Cheers guys for the suggestions.
We're going to head to Fiji, somewhere in the Mamanucas. Probably to Mana Island, but we'll wait and see closer to the date which ones have the best deals.
Good options for the kids, cheap babysitting, short flight, slight chance of a wave on the island, and the option to get a boat out to some better stuff. We're pretty flexible in our jobs to drop and go so hopefully I'll get a last-minute deal with some reasonable surf.
And no coup...although I was in Fiji during a coup as a kid, and it was unreal! Everything was empty, people were so stoked to see you, and the military came up and politely asked us to move so they could do 'a scary looking march down this street'

Kids are good travellers but get horrific jet lag so options farther afield are on the backburner till they get a bit older. I've managed to snag a job which will involve travel to surf-rich locations within Oz too, so I won't be wave-starved.

DonW and Steve, I'll hit you up for a forecast closer to the date, so I know what board to pack...

[Donweather]

DonW and Steve, I'll hit you up for a forecast closer to the date, so I know what board to pack...

No dramas mate. Sing out about 2 weeks before your trip and I'll see what the crystal ball is offering.

[alakaboo]

DonW, you back yet?
Or any other forecasters around these parts?

The schedule got changed around, I'm off to the Mamanucas on Saturday for a week.
Is this southern ocean energy going to make it over my way?

[alakaboo]

sorry to bump my own thread, but for some reason it isn't showing up in the active topics list

[murrum]

Here's another bump for you.
In roughly the same predicament. Looking at a september holiday, for about 10 days two kids (2 and 6). Need options to have the kids looked after and don't want to do much washing or cooking, but could do something self contained for a while.
Wife would go back to indo - but I am not keen.

Keen for waves, but am realistic.
Shortlist consists of sri-lanka, hawaii or the south pacific.
How did you go in fiji 'boo?
Interested in any recommendations for new cal and vanuatu as well.
Love the sound of tahiti, but seems like the flights would probably blow the budget.

[alakaboo]

Here's another bump for you.

Two of them.

Fiji was good, but I didn't surf. Fractured 2 ribs and bruised my sternum a week out falling off a skateboard... There was only one day that looked much good while we were there, but 90 minutes in a small boat on choppy seas with cracked ribs to paddle into cross shore 6 footers wasn't something I was up for.
Did a lot of nothing, which is what was required. Did catch some big spanish mackerel on a fishing charter, and the wife went scuba diving but said it was a bit average due to the number of newbies.

We went to Mana Island as they had 5 hours free babysitting a day, and we got a good deal. They've got kids club for kids over 3, babysitters for kids under 3. Kids club looked pretty fun. Babysitters were $5 Fijian per hour, which is probably about $2.
Think we used points to fly back, but most of the Fijian resorts have good specials in the paper and via travel agents. Spend a night on the mainland rather than go all the way through if the youngun doesn't travel all that well.

If I had my time again I'd probably go to Hawaii on night flights. And give up the skateboard.

[alakaboo]

WTF is going on with this thread, both my post and Murrums are duplicated.

I hope!