Surfing Cox's Bazar

This past week we made a lot of progress on finalizing the site design and grading with Chris. During his time here I found out that Chris likes to surf, so it felt like an opportune time to give it a go down at Cox's Bazar beach. Unfortunately none of the expats on campus had ever gone to Cox's to surf before so we were a bit in the dark as to where to find the equipment, or if it even was available to rent.  Undaunted we set off anyway with high hopes. As we neared Cox's (about a 45 minute drive south) we started to call some contacts we have made during our time here and eventually a number Holly was able to look-up got us in touch with some guys that surf and who said we could rent a couple boards from them for the morning.

(Down a small road, then an even narrower alleyway we found the "surf shop")

(A few boards on the wall of this guy's family's living room)

(Showing off some of his surf trophies) 

The waves were great for a beginner for me yet still fun for a regular surfer like Chris. I was told they were 3 foot waves, but to me when they are coming at us they were breaking well over our heads (wave height measured from the back side). Overall they were quite consistent with a few minute lul to catch our breath as the tide was changing.

(Jon and Chris Surfing Cox's Bazar)

(Walking back up the beach after some good waves with the one surfer we met out in the water.)

The shoreline is relatively straight and sandy for about 130 kms so there is a load of space, although it's not a problem as we only saw five other surfers on this Saturday morning over the 5 kms of the main cox's beach we could see.

(Jon heading in after a few hours of surfing)

(The Ocean was a few minutes drive from the shop so took our boards on the truck vs the cycle rickshaw they typically use)

We could have easily spent more time out on the water, but we also had to pickup John, our American Architect, from the Cox's airport and get back to Malumghat for a team meeting. From what I hear it sounds like September/October has the most consistent waves.  I'm always going to be looking for someone to surf with now whenever I can get away from the site. Hopefully we have some more short termers that are into it. We are still working on how Holly could do it without drowning in all the clothes she is suppose to wear.

Only 36 foundation piles remaining of 378 total (90% complete).

Jon