Almost heaven, West Sardinia…is the Country Road song cover that we made up when we first visited Sardinia. The trip started with a quick session in Tuscany that was really really bad. Sometimes at size just below 1m waves here can be almost firing, if not firing at least they are really really fun. But this time it was flat. We forced a session and I think I made even one turn during the session. But it was nothing to write home about, time was better spend catching the ferry for Sardegna.
I don’t know why, but old camper vans always look just soo much better than new ones. Especially in the photos, they have this feel good vibe that new ones don’t. So when I see an interesting one I take a few shots. Anyway, when we got to Sardinia we headed straight to west coast surfed and then turned south.
We took some photos of an island next to an island next to an island and that sounded funny to me. We found a sgheltered spot down south that we never surfed before. I had no idea what to expect. It was a bit small but we were alone and it was just oh so fun.
After some surfing and shopping it was time to head back up as a big NW swell was coming. This is when the van died. We were driving over a steep pass and it was so foggy that we even took photos of how foggy it was. This is why I didn’t suspect that something was wrong when there was lots of extra fog coming from under the back of the van in my rear view mirror. It’s just the van mixing the fog. Well, it was not. It was the disconnected cooling liquid hose spraying cooling liquid over the hot engine. We found that soon enough when 10 km later the engine warning sign came on and dashboard also said stop!
You know how when your car brakes down and you have no idea what you are doing but you pop the hood and look inside like there will be this ON/OFF switch that will be set to OFF and that will be the reason why the car doesn’t work? Well, a disconnected cooling liquid hose is almost like that haha. Shouldn’t be that connected to the engine over there where it looks like something should be connected?
My diagnose was correct and 1 hour later we were out of the car repair shop, 50€ lighter and engine working as it should be. The next two days made up for it with some nice surf.
Surfing ended with a really small morning at the go there when it’s small spot. It was so small that it looked like not worth going in early in the morning. So we waited until 3 other surfer arrived and as soon as the hit the water it was obvious that the waves were more than surfable. After a fun morning it was the end of surfing for a few days. We headed back east looking for the sun.
We found it here, in one of the most beautiful parts of Sardinia. We made a small BBQ on the beach and had a few Ichnusa beers from Sardinia. It was so warm that I jumped into the sea.
After an unsuccessful turtle chasing trip, laundry day, nuraghi sightseeing and soaking in hot thermal water in the middle of the fields it was time to head back west as a new swell was coming. After a smaller windy day magic happened.
This spot is soo cool and begs to be photographed.
Yes, this is Sardinia.
We surfed all day and when we could not surf anymore we watched other surfers from the beach with a well deserved beer in our hands.
Cutbacks.
Sun and waves in January.
Parking lot.
Chasing sun high up on the mountains. A few days the valleys were as foggy and my home town in winter. But higher up it was boardshorts weather and clear blue skies.
Damn, I almost forgot. When it was flat we also rode down this sick trail towards the Gorropu canyon (Gola di Gorropu). It’s a mix of technical riding, flow and epic views. The only downside is that you start by riding down and then when you are finished you need to get back up.
When we were leaving for home there were waves and the forecast for the following days was nice as well. Hard to leave like that, but we had a blast. Thanks Sardinia.
25.12.2021 Tuscany
26.12.2021-8.1.2022 Sardinia