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Struggling with an odd surfing question and have no clue who to ask?
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I was wondering where to find a good selection of maps that are SUPER detailed showing all the islands in the South Pacific, etc.
Because I'm moving out there soon and am going to do just a surfer-bum make-money-on-the-side deal and mosey around trying to find waves and reefs. Anything would help heaps.
Now considering I'm kinda afraid of urchins and sharks, are there reefs in the world that don't have big sharks, but aren't 3/2 wetsuit land?
Thanks man.
asked by Ben DeCamp
Surfline's Nick Carroll and Sean Collins reply:
Dear Ben,
SUPER detailed maps. OK, well for one thing, they won't be cheap. What you sound like you're looking for is reasonably large scale nautical charts, the likes of which are used by sailors and merchant mariners (or were before GPS autopilots became commonplace). You'd be lucky to find 'em for less than $50 a pop, and the South Pacific ... 100 such maps wouldn't cover that piece of sea.
Try http://www.cartographic.com/ for a wide range of large scale nautical charts featuring anywhere in the world.
Try also http://nauticalcharts.com/for a great book selection, including the Guide to Navigation and Tourism in French Polynesia - again not cheap, but a fantastic read for people headed for Tahiti and her environs.
Another good general website for nautical maps is http://www.landfallnavigation.com/
Most coral reef breaks in the South Pacific have sharks swimming around on or near 'em - they're just part of the food chain. Typical reef sharks include black-tips, white-tips, gray reefs and hammerheads, with the odd tiger lurking off in the depths. None of 'em will menace you unduly, and for much of the time you won't see 'em unless you go looking.
Shark activity's a bit thinner on the reefs of most of Indonesia, since the reefs have been fished and beaten and blown up beyond recognition. WK believes you should challenge yourself in this department, without taking overt risks - surfers co-exist with sharks more than we realize, and if local Tahitian surfers can ride their spots for 20 years without a care, you can manage a few.
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