The world headquarters for Malibu Rum sits on the west coast of Barbados, 100 feet from the Caribbean sea. The water there is flat as lake, as if the surfing gods punished the spot for knocking off the name of a secret spot in California. And while Malibu rum is no Barbados treaure, plenty of surfing treasures can be found on the island. Just up the coast is Duppies. A diagonal shot across the island is the world class Soup Bowl. As if that's not enough, Malibu (in reverse) can be found with the left at Freights Bay, which, when breaking, will be more Malibu than Malibu rum will ever be. Such is surfing in Barbados – a break for every swell, and a wave for every surfer. And to top it off, you'll need only tropical surf wax.
Barbados sits some 13 degress off the equator, a couple of hundred miles north of Venezuela. The west coast faces Central America, and the east coast is the Atlantic ocean. Soup Bowl sits on the east coast, with its jagged reef permanently being bashed by huge swell. Frequently blown out, and frequently overhead or more, Soup Bowl is where every Barbadian surfer wants to be.
Says Christian Boos, instructor at Zed's Surfing Adventures and 2008 Barbados Longboarding Champ: “Soup Bowl is an excellent break, if inconistent.”
And while driving on the left takes some getting used to, you'll be happy to have made the trip even further south than Puerto Rico for decidedly uncrowded waves, generally perfect weather and all the premium rum you'd want with Mount Gay Eclipse.
