Apart from a couple of e-mails I didn’t even know this guy. I knew absolutely nothing about the Caribbean and had no idea how to contact him when I arrived. Perfecto

I had a contact on a tiny island in the Caribbean through a friend back home and thought I would send him a frothy e-mail. I told him of my trip, my idea to make a book of my travels and how it would be sick to head over and get some shots. He responded with an excitable enthusiasm and it was on!

I could not believe it when I boarded the plane in Mexico City bound for the Caribbean. Apart from a couple of e-mails I didn’t even know this guy. I knew absolutely nothing about the Caribbean and had no idea how to contact him when I arrived. Perfecto.

For the hour-long trip from the airport to the port I talked with the taxi driver about Shane Warne, Brian Lara and anything else that had to do with cricket. Amazing what you can remember about a sport you’re not that into when required. Passing by the roadside shacks I watched kids playing in the street, their dreads flapping in the breeze.

When I arrived I felt a hand on my back and turned around to see a Rasta man with sun-bleached dreads. “Ey mon you must be Tom, welcome to my home!” From the moment I arrived it was like I had known Jason Apparicio my whole life, or at least he made me feel that way with his generosity and warm nature. Jason is the kind of guy who will describe himself as “Fuck smooth!” Or “An electric boogaloo kind of dude.” And then follow up with “I hate talking about myself, it’s not cool to talk about yourself”. He now lives pretty laid back after a hectic rock star kind of life in the surfing world, eats “plenty fish, plenty black beans and plenty rice” and nothing gets him more stoked than his amazing family and surfing.

I was told that I missed a crazy weeklong swell that had dissipated a day or two ago. Jason admitted it was the best swell he had surfed on the island as we rolled up to his favourite wave. It was only about 3ft, but this right-hander was an exact replica of Snapper Heads breaking over a shallow reef for at least 800 meters with not a soul out. I told myself at that moment that I was not leaving until we scored this spot overhead –even if I had to can the rest of my trip in order to do it.

There is a crazy mix of culture here like nowhere else I have ever been. It blew my mind right from the start. There are Indians, Africans, white people and a mix of all three resulting in some interesting characters and some seriously delicious food. The Indians cook a mean dish called Roti with curried chicken and this is the ultimate stomach filler before getting in the water for a few hours. I ate like a king.

I was due to fly back to Mexico and head south into Costa Rica after spending a week living with Jason and his family. We had only scored one day of surf the night before my scheduled departure. However, that night Jason ran into the living room… “Jaaaah! You should see the swell comin mon! It’s lookin biiiiiiiig dread!” This new swell was forming off the coast of Florida and heading straight for us, and it was looking like it would hit at over ten-feet in a couple of days.

Anyway, after changing my flights to stay on for another two weeks we amped up but not too much (we didn’t want to jinx it). A week and a half had passed and there had been nothing, we had been shooting onshore junk on the windy side of the island the whole time. Both of us started to lose our minds and things were getting a little bit weird between us. The horrible thought of getting skunked started to loom over us like an impending doom. All this between frantic phone calls to check the swells on neighbouring islands.

Finally a flawless swell rolled in the day before I had to bail back to Mexico. It was pumping and we surfed for five and a half hours through the low tide. When we eventually got out of the super warm water we felt relief more than anything. Still we celebrated local style by going home for some fish, both stoked and tired.

The Caribbean is a magical mystical place, which I am already planning to return to. The water is crystal clear and warm, the reef is shallow and flipper-slicing sharp and there are so many waves and welcoming people it is incredible, but like everywhere, timing is everything…

By Tom Batrouney

Note: Missed The Taco Diaries I = Click here