Bikini Bods, Big Boards, Swells and Surfer Chicks!

August dog days are here and that means summer’s final gasp isn’t far behind. But you know…I’m always going to choose women gasping over a season doing it any day, so I’ve been checking out the surfing scene. Two former Women’s Performance Award winners, Jamilah Star and Maya Gabeira, both went on the hunt for big gasps and monster swells.

Jamilah arrived in Puerto Escondido and paddled her board out into the biggest barrel any female has likely surfed…unfortunately she didn’t make it out the other side.

“I just stalled in the barrel with my mouth open, gasping at the beauty of that thick, turquoise lip…” (that line right out of surf erotic fiction, eh?)

While Jamilah was resting on her laurels and getting a book agent, Maya went down to Cape Town to score her wave at Dungeons. Maya also hit a record when she was towed to just the perfect spot and rode the biggest wave probably ever surfed by a female. It was  my turn to gasp with her comments on the location:

“To me, Dungeons is the hardest big-wave spot…the cold and sharky waters are just more fears and challenges to overcome.”

I know what your thinking…give me some of that, baby!…so I found the perfect opportunity for you and me to brush up on our skills: A Surf and Yoga Retreat.

If the waves don’t pummel us into positions we never dreamed of, the yoga will.

Our first option takes us to Surf Goddess Retreats, in Bali, Indonesia. The founder, “Shellsea” Huntley believes we all have a surf goddess inside ourselves.

At our second option lets us meet “Me-Shell” (no I’m not making up these surfer/shell names) Mijangos. She quit her corporate job in NYC to travel the world in search of the perfect wave. She found it in Maui, Hawaii where she runs the retreat, Swell Woman.

The last option is Las Olas, founded by Bev Sanders, co-founder of Avalanche Snowboards. She designed her all-female adventure with a clear goal in mind. “Las Olas is a reverse finishing school. We make girls out of women.”

Grab your boards and credit cards, ladies. Let’s gasp and surf in paradise.

Read more sports posts by Helen here!