Everybody’s gone surfing, surfing UAE

When it comes to surfing in Dubai, it is difficult to define who the “locals” are. But then, it’s a challenge to define “local” in Dubai period. But while mythical rumors of the Bedouin surfer, impeccably white dish-dash trailing behind, circulate amongst the Emirate’s beach goers, Dubai’s surf scene remains as diverse as they come, with expats from around the world, including Lebanon and Morocco, paddling out into the line up at Jumeirah Beach – or Sunset Beach to surfers – November through March. 

 

Although a long way from its Hawaiian originators at least a thousand years ago, surfing arrived in Dubai with the first expats and has been growing for nearly 20 years. According to some of the more salty individuals, mainly with Australian and Kiwi accents, what is now Dubai was once an ocean of sand, where the entire length of the coast had swell, and virgin lines could be cut on two- and occasionally three-meter high waves. Times, however, have changed. What could at one time be described as “virgin” is now anything but, with development swallowing up massive swaths of land – and ocean – faster than you can say “Ma’esalameh”.

 

Wadih Kanaan, 25, is your stereotypical Lebanese living in Dubai. Successful, young, and fun as most Lebanese are, he was born in Abu Dhabi when present day Dubai was still just an idea on paper. He was my introduction to surfing in the Emirates. Wadih, like many here, works harder and longer than most others his age around the world, and during his free time, mixes going out and blowing off steam with friends with surfing. 

 

After crashing on my friend Aaron’s couch for a few days and checking the swell almost hourly, Friday finally rolled around with a good 1.5 metre reading off of the Gulf buoys. Wadih and I arranged to meet on the beach that morning. After looking for half hour for a knowing glance from other surfers in the lineup, I overheard someone who looked like a young Kelly Slater talking to Aaron about a journalist he was supposed to meet. 

 

Unfortunately, surfer chicks, one of the many perks of the sport, are in short supply in Dubai, but not to worry. Scott Chambers, owner and operator of Surfing Dubai, the city’s one and only surf school, says that the numbers are changing, and counts Sophia among his students. “Most of my students these days are female,” Scott says, “probably close to 90 per cent. And a lot of them are Emirates Cabin Crew…” 

 

Sophia, 23, is among the growing ranks of surfer chicks who have picked up the sport while living in Dubai. Born in Italy, but of Moroccan descent, Sophia stands at barely 160cm, but whatever you do; don’t let her size fool you. Last year on Sunset beach, she had an encounter with a Portuguese Man of War – a nasty creature people mistakenly call a jellyfish but in reality, it’s a group of organisms working together. Its sting is not only painful, but potentially lethal as it can, in extreme cases, lead to heart failure. But she’s back in the water.

 

This, however, is set to change dramatically. Although the official plans are still under wraps, local surfers say that construction of an artificial reef is currently in the works, and will serve as a breakwater to help limit beach erosion – an increasingly pressing issue as massive offshore developments like the Palm and World alter the Emirates coastline. Even more positively, reefs and underwater formations are the cause of breaking waves – as they approach the coastline, they slow down, and the wave gains height as the water becomes shallower. That’s when waves become surfable. 

 

“People here are really quite posey, you know?” Wadih says, not realising I did know very well. “And as surfing gets more popular, I’ve seen people just show up at the beach, freshly kitted out with a sweet ass brand new board, which they probably paid 2500 Dirhams and all they do is sit on the beach and try to look cool. But I guess it’s good, it means that surfing is growing here, and that’s good for everybody.”

 

Surfers and beach goers, many of them foreign residents, were able to petition the local government to halt construction and reclassify the beach as public space. To do so, they collected thousands of signatures, many of them from surfers like Sophia. “I learned how to surf at Sunset beach, and to tell you the truth, if I hadn’t started surfing, I probably wouldn’t have cared enough to sign the petition,” she said. “Lots of my friends are the same way.”

 

Dubai’s population makeup is the strangest element about the place. While there are mythic tales of truly local, and by that I mean Emirate-born surfers, in almost two weeks of digging, no one could give me their names, phone numbers, or remember seeing them in the lineup – as if it were all just a piece of local surfing lore. 

At this stage however, people like Rob, Wadih and Scott are in essence, Dubai’s locals – building close ties between surfers, and fostering a sense of community in a place where most people spend at least six days of the week at the office.

 

To learn more about surfing in Dubai and the Emirates, check out: 

 http://www.surfersofdubai.com" www.surfersofdubai.com

 

For the full version of this article, see NOX10