Kiribati

Where to surf in Kiribati

The Republic of Kiribati (pronounced kee-ree-bass), comprises of 32 low lying atolls and one island, straddling the equator across the Central Pacific over an area of ocean way bigger than India, with a huge 3300km between the two main island groups of the Gilberts and the Line Islands. Hawaii is the closest neighbour, a mere 1900km (1180mi) away.

Line Islands

Most documented spots are on the planet’s largest atolls, Kiritimati (formerly Christmas Island) comprises over 70% of the total land area of Republic of Kiribati and Tabuaeran (aka Fanning Island) translates as 'heavenly footprint' as the island's shape suggests.

The Gilbert Islands

The lack of consistency and absence of deep water passes limits the Gilberts severely – the man-made passes are always on the swell-starved SW coast. Find a conducive bend in the reef near the tips of islands that will wrap the winter NW swells or trade windswell and during El Nino, the wind reversal can mean rare E coast spots work. The northern tip of the Tarawa atoll does hold a 500m long, walled-up, high tide right pointbreak at Naa, that relies on NE swell to fire and is a long way from help if you hit the reef. Other small islands like Abaiang are rumoured to have a wave in S swells at Ouba, Marakei has rights into a man-made channel, Abemama’s NW passage and the offshore reefs of Tabiteuea have all been ridden by Chuck Corbett.

The Pheonix Islands

Chuck Corbett also surfed the arid, empty Phoenix Islands at Kanton passage, where large fish massively outnumber humans in the second biggest marine reserve in the world.