And the developer is movie icon Robert De Niro!
Do you remember three years ago when it felt like everyone was poised to fly to the Caribbean to surf the “world’s best wave”?
A warm-water, sand-bottom, natural-footer’s version of Skeleton Bay that yielded, in one year, two covers from two trips for the former WCT pro Ben Bourgeois. (Editor’s note: below is a cover of Dylan Graves on another trip. Surfing magazine’s cover archives are poorly maintained unlike its more polished sister magazine across the hallway.)
Wait! This photo of Ben Bourgeois sums it up!
I remember being so hot for the joint (a wave of zero consequence running down the flank of an empty beach) that I canvassed message boards, threw myself into Google Earth (clue: the island is famous for a pink beach) and, eventually, had my suspicions confirmed of its location when I asked the photographer Ryan Miller about his (insert name of island) surf shots with Dane Reynolds and co.
Only thing is, if you want to surf it requires a monster north swell, the waves only hang around for a day or two, and because the little planes that service the island don’t like carrying boards, it can be a helluva biz just getting there with your your sticks.
Anyway, it transpires that the movie icon Robert De Niro and the Australian billionaire James Packer will soon be building a “a 391-acre mega-resort at Princess Diana’s favourite Caribbean hideaway,” reports the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
A year ago, the Antigua and XXXX prime minister Gaston Browne hailed De Niro as “a visionary” for his work in hotel development, including a Macau casino project with fellow Hollywood big-hitters Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese. He named the actor a “special economic envoy” in the hope of attracting more celebrity investment to the country.
“But progress has been slow since, and a referendum on the island in March that approved the project by a narrow majority is facing a legal challenge by the XXXXXXX People’s Movement (XPM), which claims the result was illegitimate because non-XXXXXXXXwere allowed to vote.”
Am I clown, or a naive idealist, for voiding all references to the island’s name?
Does it matter?
Would you still bother throwing the thousands of dollars necessary chasing the wave down?
Does anyone still think of the joint anymore now it’s out of vogue?
Here’s a little something to refresh your memory, from Chris Burkard.
Mirage of the Caribbean from SURFER Magazine on Vimeo.
http://www.barbudaful.net/ sounds like paradise. I had reservations about posting the link but anyone with the Google could have found it with a few key words added into the search bar
to save you all googling said Guardian article: its on the island of Barbuda
Looks sick – hardly worlds best wave if only works 2 days a time tho.
Am sure a Packer built resort will well and truly fuck it up though – nothing like bit dredging to moor a few super yachts to change eveything
A lot of my incidents involved not being able to drive on the left side of the road and force of habit. There is no such thing as a DUI and the island has more untapped waves on it reef sand whatever so it made this right seem moot.
I prefer this end of the Caribbean
How are the set ups?
It really depends it’s sort of a novelty, you have to stay so high or you hit sand,too high you and the lip become one,I made one really good wave in two full day sessions, and there was obvious disdain by the ” local” guys. Really shows how fickle the wave is, the guys could surf too so it’s not to say it’s their skill level it’s luck of the draw, immigration becomes another problem, it’s French, but the best place to stay is British and it’s heavily enforced,I lived there for almost 2 years and was known for crashing in to phone booths, and being pulled out of ditches, not proud of it but after a while every cop on the main island knew I was a harmless stoner, but the passed few years they have been over run and it’s starting to wear.
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
No shit I’ve been fortunate enough to surf it we had to take a private charter from a small island that already had perfect waves on it. Funky wave in person, but damn good,tbh the island we connected from had a better wave that otto flores and a few other guys have made super popular it’s all right there but unless you know your sitting thumb up your ass drinking on hangover island…
That wave was featured before Rob Gilley did on Surfing. It was on Surf europe early days, by a french photog I think. Some british surfer gave the nickname as is known now. Never been there, but I think there was a resort before as well.
Does anyone still think about the wave? All the time!! Made the cover of that SW issue dedicated to fun waves, still sitting on the coffee table yeeewwww.