skip to Main Content
Surfing in Kiribati

Big and long breaks off Fanning and Kiritimati (Christmas) islands, the final frontier – where “lack of crowds” is a complete understatement, you will be lucky if anyone else is out with you. This is the beauty of the isolation of the central pacific Of course this exclusiveness is because these places can be a little challenging to get to – however you are in the right place to find out. Only for the truely adventurous surfer/traveller, below are the details you will need to arrange your surf trip of a life time, and waves you have only dreamt about.

Fanning (Tabuaeran) Island

Of all of Kiribati, Fanning is the pick with almost year round consistent swell. Fanning has breaks on the North and South, making the most of both Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere swells. The two most consistent breaks are ‘English Harbour’ in the South with strong and consistent March to June; and ‘Walers’ in the North with strong conisistent swell from October to March (even picks up some southern swell.

Kiritimati (Christmas Island)

Kiritimati is host to a golden five kilometer stretch of points, reefs and channels between London village and Paris point. This stretch is reputed to have 24 surfable waves – with surf season October through to March. The swell hits Kiritimati about a day or two after it hits Hawaii – a 8′ to 12′ swell at Sunset Beach in Hawaii will result in 6′ to 10′ clean faces in Kiritimati one to two days later. Of the 24 breaks, two third are user friendly with deep channels and sand of soft reef bottom. The other third is has rough coral bottoms and are for experienced surfers only.

Tarawa and the Gilberts

Not all of the Gilberts is good for surfing, but there are a few breaks around. If your stopping by Tarawa on a business trip or to visit friends or relatives, there are some decent waves to be found on the end of a rising tide. The most easy to get to breaks are in Temaiku – a village not far from the airport. The best break in Tarawa though is Naa – right at the tip of North Tarawa. After that, there are some breaks off the outer islands – off the Abaiang islets near the Ouba lodge, as well as some of Marakei. These are for only the truely adventurous though – contact our office for more details!

Back To Top