Hi Mike,

I’ve finally gotten caught up after getting back from my trip and just wanted to write and say a big thanks!  The trip was amazing!  The flights all went very smoothly and LAN was a great airline.  The Machu Picchu part of the trip was incredible.  I’m not sure how much contact you have with the tour company that handled the Machu Picchu part, but I wanted to let them know that the woman that was assigned to help me, Maria – she never told me her last name, was amazingly helpful and friendly and professional.  That company was great all around.  Meeting me at the airports and handling my luggage and getting me checked in.  And the tour of Machu Picchu as spectacular.  My stay at the Chicama was just as great.  The hotel was the perfect size for where it is, had great facilities and never seemed that crowded.  The staff was friendly, attentive, and nice and fun.  The surfing was really fun too.

All around it was a super fun trip and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone.  Thanks to you and WaterWays for another amazing trip.

-  Nick

Kelly Slater scores perfect barrels at a tropical Secret Atoll: Kelly Slater, Ross Williams and friends score flawless crystal clear blue barrels in tropical waters.  Do you know where this is?????

Video Credit: Surfer Magazine

Our WaterWays’ Surf Travel Specialist Mike Tan testing the waters on a recent travel research assignment in Indonesia.  Mike lives and breathes surfing, during this trip to Indo he is doing what he knows best, ripping!!!  Contact Mike today and he will help you book your dream surf trip!

In early April Fiji was hit by a very late season small cyclone with winds reaching to 60 miles per hour.  More damaging than the winds was the massive amount of rain that poured down flooding the town of Nadi in 10’+ of water as the Nadi River spilled over its banks.

This created a fire drill situation for WaterWays and our partners in Fiji Tavarua and Namotu Islands as well as Air Pacific, Fiji’s national carrier.  Due to the flooding and high winds all flights in and out of Fiji were cancelled for a 5 day period.  The guests we had staying on Tavarua and Namotu were stuck and the passengers we had scheduled to depart on Thursday March 29 were stuck in Los Angeles.

All parties involved, including the guests, kept a good attitude and did their best to deal with the issues and find a resolve to the many individual dramas created.

Some passengers took each opportunity to get off the islands, back to the mainland and out on the occasional flight that was able to depart to Australia or Hawaii.  Many passengers decided the best place to stay was on Namotu or Tavarua Islands which still had food, power and plenty of cold beer.  In the end, thanks to the efforts of each party everybody was able to make it home safely but many passengers were forced to leave their luggage behind due the mode of transportation necessary to make a quick run to the airport (helicopter, small boat, 4×4 vehicle etc).

Luggage left behind which has never been “Checked In” with an airline is not the responsibility of the airline to return to passengers;  nor is it the responsibility of the resort properties  or travel agents to bear the work and associated expense of returning left luggage.

However, through the combined efforts of Tavarua, Namotu, Air Pacific and WaterWays we were able to get the huge volume of surfboard bags and suitcases returned to Los Angeles International airport.  Team WaterWays mobilized a U-Haul to collect all the bags upon arrival into LAX international terminal and back to WaterWays HQ in Santa Monica.  Over the past week we have been able to return 95% of the luggage to the rightful owners; the few stragglers will certainly be picked up or delivered next week.

On a rare occasion things go bad due to no fault of any party, this one was Mother Nature.  WaterWays Surf Adventures is there in these times to do all we can to alleviate the issues as best possible.

Special Thanks go out to Sara Tatro and Wendy Headlee who worked around the clock for days over the entire period to protect passengers on all flights as they became available.  Our communications were never down.

Happy Travels,

Sean

WaterWays President

* Available Dates:

December 22nd-29th, 2012 and December 29th, 2012 – January 5th, 2013

* Discounted Charter Dates are available from May 19 – 30th, May 19 arrive Medan, May 30 depart Padang.  There are only 7 spots available, so please inquire ASAP for epic rates by contacting a WaterWays’ travel specialist today.

There are those days when everything lines up perfect on Tavarua and the left barrels wrap around the tropical island with perfection. This short video shows just how perfect one wave can be and just how stoked you can be in 28 seconds!

Kandui Right (AKA Rifles) is the best right hander in the entire world. It can be up to 800+ yards long, with freight train tube after freight train tube from start to finish. Better than J-Bay, better than Sanur, and any other of the top right handers in the world. Hands down the best right hander in the world. Rifles is only six minutes from Kandui Villas. - Jordan Heuer

* This photo was taken at Rifles on April 19th, 2012 courtesy of Kandui Villas.

Nicaragua’s Ventana a las Olas – “Luxury Surfing Vacations For Friends & Family”

Hi Sean,
We just got back from our Nicaragua trip and oh what a trip.  As you know it was our second shot at Ventana Los Olas and it was phenomenal.  The new addition of Mike as a surf guide was key.  He was perfect – he was amicable to anything the 3 surfers suggested and always found them waves.  He was fun to chat with and had great knowledge of the area and the people.  Chico kept us filled up with wonderful healthy food and they had an endless supply of diet pepsi (my personal request Ha ha).  My kids asked me to get several recipes from him because it was so good and unique.  I guess you can not qualify it as gourmet but Chicos menu with the veiw overlooking the ocean – I would take that any day.  A young man Mark – who will enter med school in August – was also there to help.  He is a delight.  All employees went above and beyond to make our vacation perfect.   When we left – it was sad to say good bye to Nicaragua and each of the wonderful new friends we made- that is a sign of a great trip.  Thanks for steering us clear of northern Nicaragua – where we would have had a guide on our couch…..We appreciate your knowledge Sean.

-  Marni Cota