Walking off the plane in Montego Bay Jamaica you can smell the sweet fresh air! The atmosphere is like none I’ve been to before smiling faces everywhere. No worries mon! My husband Kevin and I wanted to bring our friends Brandy and Pat down for an authentic Jamaican Experience while discovering the world famous Negril on Stand-up Paddle Boards. Psyche our driver and now good friend was waiting for us at the airport. I’ve always wanted someone to be at the airport waiting with my name on a sign it made it so much cooler when it also read Paddle Boarder! After loading all our Paddle gear and luggage he took us right to the best Jerk Chicken spot we had all ever had! Kevin and I had spent some time in Negril before and while we loved the 7 mile beach we wanted to spend some time in the West End of Negril where it was a more laid back feel with miles of sea cliffs, reef, and crystal clear Caribbean water! We stayed in a local Jamaican community called One Love Rasta Cottages with two old time Rastas, Jubbee and Boston, as our hosts. They are so in harmony with everything surrounding them you felt blessed to be in their presence. Every morning they awoke early to work in the garden. They taught us so much about the plants and trees and their medicinal uses. The Morninga Tree (tree of life) is used to prevent or cure cancer & diabetes. I felt its healing powers the moment I ingested it. They cooked us amazing Rasta foods from their garden and even took us to the fish market and had us pick out some conch and lobsters. Our cottage had a kitchen so we made tropical fruit smoothies and blue mountain coffee every morning. The paddling in Jamaica is Unreal!! Five of us set out on a full day of paddling and snorkeling with only 2 of our Pau Hana Surf Supply Inflatable Big EZ’s and our Kialoa paddles. We rotated from paddling to swimming every so often but the current and light breeze gently pushed us along miles of sea cliffs and caves. We called it a Jamaican Downwinder. We were blown away with how clear the water is and the beautiful coral reefs, we did some free climbing on the sea cliffs then jumped off into the water. There was amazing cliff jumping the entire way and a few restaurants and bars that had ladders we could climb and grab a drink. Another day we set off to paddle to an island bar. When we reached the Island we enjoyed some nice cold Red Stripes and hung out while they prepared some jerk chicken and lobsters for us! Island Life is good and Jamaica is an incredible place to go not just for the paddling but for an amazing experience. The people are the nicest people we have ever encountered and their positive vibrations rub off on you! It was such a blessing to be introduced to this amazing culture. We cannot wait to go back and visit again with the folks from One Love Rasta Cottages, Blue Mountain Coffee shop, and Tony Montana’s! Check out the video below from our time in West End Negril Jamaica!
0 Comments
If you’re looking for something new and fun to do on the water in Buffalo, there is a quick window of paddling opportunities to paddle with the icebergs on Lake Erie. This of course takes some caution and the right gear! With the lake at almost freezing temps you will need a Wetsuit or a Drysuit along with wet suit booties and gloves which you can pick up at local gear shops or dive shop which is not insanely expensive (as low as $240) and can extend your paddling season almost year round. With the right wetsuit or drysuit you can sit in freezing temps for a few hours. Another thing you will need is a Lifejacket and a leash if you’re on a stand-up paddle board. A leash would protect you if any unexpected winds and waves picked up and tossed your from your board, you would be connected to the board and could pull the leash to get you back on your board.
It an incredible experience to be out in conditions that may not look suitable for humans although technology and perseverance has made it possible for us to do so. There is a solitude to paddling around big chunks of ice and seeing the beautiful city skyline and Canada right across the way. My husband and I Paddle Year Round. We even surfed the November Blizzard back in 2015. Some people say we are risking our lives but there are many people around the world who paddle in freezing temps and waters. There are people giving guided paddle tours in Antarctica! Buffalo New York has incredible paddling year round and is underutilized. We want to help provide the information you would need to Extend Your Paddling Season SAFLEY! ENJOY THE COLD WATER! If you have any questions relating to cold water paddling feel free to call us - SUP ERIE ADVENTURES 716-868-2975! We were supposed to be in Bali for a honeymoon surf trip but volcanoes on Lombok shut down the airport and the airline said it could be weeks before they could get us there. We had been living out of a tiny vehicle for a few weeks camping in New Zealand running whitewater SUP, surfing, and hiking completely unaware of our travel tribulations that lay ahead. Auckland airport mistakenly sent us on to Brisbane, Australia for our connecting flight and when we arrived we discovered the volcano situation. Unable to pass Australian customs without a pre-arranged visa we were stuck in the terminal unsure of what was to come. Finally an airline manager got us through customs and gave us a list of tropical destinations they could send us to – most of which out of our budget – or they said we could get on one of their daily non-stop flights to L.A. We ended up choosing California and bought a used Mazda MPV minivan we named Mazdonna to live out of for the next 6 weeks to tour the coast and drive across the country. Minivan life is awesome. In our van we had two inflatable SUP’s, two short boards, two Kialoa Hulu Carbon paddles, two Kialoa Insanity Swifts for whitewater, and an 8’6 SUP surf board along with all of our whitewater gear, clothes, food, etc. We were able to stack everything on one side of the vehicle and sleep on the other without having to take anything out of Mazdonna making us incognito anywhere we went. We headed north almost to Oregon on one of the most scenic coasts we have ever seen. Blown away by the Redwood forests we spent over a week near Avenue of the Giants where we did an amazing paddle down the Eel River while the King Salmon were running and we also explored some of the nearby Lost Coast. After a cold front moved through we steadily headed south towards warmer weather. A marvelous swell came through while we were coming through San Fran and we were blessed to catch a sunset in Half Moon Bay while Mavericks was going off to watch several brave souls accomplish incredible feats. While were not ready for Mavericks we caught some amazing surf almost every day. We took a few days passing through Big Sur, visited some family outside of San Luis Obispo, and then hit the highlight of our surfing at County Line in Malibu with our friend Todd Caranto, the owner of Pau Hana Surf Supply Co. Todd brought photographer and filmmaker Jake Albrecht to test out his brand new drone and we SUP surfed all day until our legs were shaking then ate some world class seafood right across the street at the famous Neptune’s Net. After the fish and chips filled our bellies we caught a few more rides as the sun was setting. The result of that day was an incredible little drone video that was featured in SUP the Mag and Stand-Up Journal. |
AuthorsKevin and Christian are two athletes that love to travel. Follow their adventures as they explore the diverse places and activities they encounter around Western New York and beyond. Archives
April 2017
Brand Partners
|