Madagascar billed as surfing paradise
Island nation joins California-based International Surfing Association
7/29/2014JOHANNESBURG — Itching to catch a wave? Try Madagascar.
The California-based International Surfing Association says the island nation in the Indian Ocean has become its 86th member as part of a drive to promote the sport in Africa.
In a statement, the world surfing body says Madagascar offers more than 3,000 miles of coastline that have been largely unexplored by the global surfing community.
Blair Rogers, a surfing tour operator in southwest Madagascar, said today that the waves rival those in Indonesia and other top surfing destinations.
Rogers says visitors are initially apprehensive because of negative reports about security in Madagascar, a poor country with a history of political instability. But, he says, concerns are easing and his business has picked up since he opened it a year ago.