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Tamarin, the cradle of Mauritian surfing
One morning in September 1961, Serge Koenig watched as Joël de Rosnay rode his board gracefully across a wave. It would become a cult moment, marking the advent of surfing in Mauritius. For Serge, there could be no doubt: a seed had been sown. Perched in a bamboo shack in La Baie, Koenig passed his days watching the waves, patiently waiting for the first sign that the swell was finally picking up. At that moment, his mission was to let his friends know:‘ Surf’ s up!’
This small group of untried but passionate surfers established the Grey Beach Surfing Association in 1964. Mauritius’ first surfing tournament took place a year later, with Bernard Koenig taking the crown in the men’ s category and Annick Giraud in the women’ s. Surf fever ran so high that many young people would go to any lengths just to get their hands on a board. One young man sold his bike, his mother’ s bike, his record player, his brother’ s cymbal, and a guitar to raise the sum required!
Dal – or the Holy Grail
It wasn’ t until the arrival of two Australian surfers, Tony Burgess and Ian Harewood, that the nowlegendary spot of Cap Dal was discovered – and, more importantly, attempted. In his book Les débuts du surf à Tamarin( The beginnings of surfing at Tamarin), Alfred Koenig describes the spot:“ Dal is a superb left”. The swell( which comes mainly from the south-west), hits the coral slab under the break and“ causes powerful, very fast, perfect and regular waves, which can reach four metres in optimal conditions.” A few years later, Burgess and Harewood published an article in Surf Magazine that put Mauritius on the world surfing map. The Dal legend was further reinforced by the 1972 film‘ The Forgotten Island of Santosha’( 1972), which offers a brief glimpse of Cyril Thévenau taming a perfect left. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Tamarin attracted a veritable tsunami of long-haired surfers in flowery board shorts from the four corners of the world.
Although the highly-localised and unpredictable nature of the waves eventually put the brakes on the influx of foreign visitors, the locals never lost their appetite for surfing. As soon as favourable conditions appear, they can be found criss-crossing the island in search of oceanic energy. Depending on factors that include the prevailing wind, the swell, the tides and the presence( or lack) of a stormgenerated surge, different destinations, many with poetic names – Sancho, La Sirène, L’ Ambulante – wait to welcome them.
Surfing: a universal language
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