Global Surfers surf travel spot guide with wave swell forecasts

Type

Hollow barreling 

Direction

right hand 

Suitable for

Intermediate 

Lenght of ride

50-100 meters lenght 

Crowds

a normal crowd 

Localism

Heavy 

Best wind direction

north east  

Tide

low 

Hazards

shallow reef, potential strong rip tide 

Description

First off Barbados is the most easterly island in the caribbean so when the swells form in the Atlantic the first island hit is Barbados on the easterly side. So in hurricane season all the hurricanes (hurricane season is roughly june to december) forming off of Africa push big swells our way. We haven't been hit directly by a hurricane since hurricane Janet in 1955. Bowl is a quite short wave but packs a serious punch. It breaks from the South to the North and is a vertical wave (Winter is best huge cold fronts come down from North America sending huge ground swells West Coast also fires at thime but Bowl is where you separate the men from the boys :-) ). The wave is created by a shelf, as the swell crosses the deep Ocean and nears land it hits an underwater vertical wall where by the only movement for the water is straight up and then the lip pitches straight out.When arriving at Soup Bowl for those unfamiliar with the break you can walk down the hill onto the beach. When facing the Ocean turn right and walk in a Southerly direction when you reach the boulder on the beach near some stairs face the Ocean again. You can enter the water here but be careful of the Sea Urchins to avoid them you can walk in the channels in the flat bed reef witch helps with the run off of water at low tide(no worries the tidal change is minimal year round between 2 - 5 feet) walk one foot in front of the other until knee deep wait on a breaking wave jump on it and paddle at diagonal N.E. direction. The rip tide that runs in a northerly direction will pull you quickly so as you have reached duck diving depth about 20 - 30 feet offshore you can change your paddling direction to S.E. this way you avoid the impact zone and can paddle around the waves into the line up. Use the boulder as your land mark.