Who would've thought there was surf in Munich Germany? I certainly didn't until my girlfriend showed me a paragraph from her travel book about surfing right in the center of the city.

Looking at a map of Germany, there isn't a beach anywhere near Munich. Don't tell the locals there are no waves though -- they pack this spot in everyday.

It's the Isar River, the water temp is about 45 degrees and there is one standing wave right in the middle of the city next to their version of Central Park, the English Gardens. And there's a beginner spot down the road too.

We were there for a week of Oktoberfest and vacationing. Definitely not a surf trip, but as soon as I landed I was dying to check out this wave. So walking through the English Gardens we stumbled upon it.

It's not really a secret or anything -- in fact, all the tourists stand on the bridge right above for a bird's eye view of the action. There are so many people taking pictures I was surprised I had not seen much exposure of this place before.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a real wave or anything, but for the poor landlocked people on Munich it seems to be the next best thing. You need a fullsuit for this tributary of the Isar river entitled "Eisbach" which translates into "Ice River". They call the actual wave "Haus Der Kunst" which means "House of the Art".

The surfers there take turns one at time carving across the wave that basically stays stationary. For anyone that hasn't seen a standing wave, it's really just a river rapid. Water flows over a submerged group of rocks and pumps up a 3-foot wave strong enough for you to drop in, carve across, cut back and smack the lip. I even saw this one guy catch some air and do a few 360's.

There are many of these standing waves on rivers all around the world; with a little research you might find one on a river near you. --Robert Lyon

If this little oddity caught your fancy at all, click right here for a Tripwire on some fine river bore surfing in France. --Ed