Travel: Barbados

It was the kind of scene you'd expect to see on the north shore of Oahu or the Gold Coast of Australia: three surfers bobbing in the water as a 15ft swell rolled in. One of the surfers paddled into it, snapped to his feet and suddenly he was riding it – millions of gallons of the ocean's energy barrelling him forward. He turned, speeding left, flipping right, then crouched down and held the sides of his board, launching himself five feet off the crest. He flew, spinning into the air, dro

Only this wasn't Pipe, Indo or any other famous moniker the world's nomadic surfing community bestows on its favourite pilgrimage spots. This clean, perfect, enormous wave was rolling in to a little-known surf destination – the east coast of Barbados. And the only audience that these three surfers – professionals from Hawaii and Florida in town to shoot a documentary for Billabong – had was an empty, palm tree-lined beach.

Tucked in the southern corner of the Lesser Antilles, Barbados is the easternmost island in the Caribbean. The island's west coast is its famous side: powdery beaches, water as clear as if poured from a tap, manicured estates, resorts and golf courses. That is the Barbados of the travel agencies and guidebooks. But it's only half the story.

The eastern coast is a whole other world. Sequestered from the resorts by sugar cane fields and forests full of monkeys, this is Barbados's rougher side. "You could spend all your time in the west and never know the real Barbados," says Melanie Pitcher, a surfing instructor and owner of Barbados Surf Trips. "The east is run by locals, not tourists."

With isolation, of course, come characters. This is a place where people have names like Buju, Yellow and Chicken. Where you pay deference to Snake, the founding father of Barbados surfing. Where people know to avoid "dropping in" on Smoky's wave if he's having a bad day.

But the real celebrity in town is Soup Bowl, the island's biggest wave. "When Soup Bowl is good, it gives you goose bumps," Pitcher says. We are sitting on the deck of the Sea Side Bar on the main (well, only) road in the town of Bathsheba, finishing a lunch of flying fish with rice and beans, watching the swells. There were no surfers out, but a few people were sitting on the shoreline taking in the show. "When it's breaking clean, people come here after work and stand on the beach to watch. It's pure magic."

On a map, Barbados looks as if it is drifting out into the open Atlantic, which is exactly what makes Soup Bowl ideal. A wave can travel nearly 3,000 miles in the open ocean, undisturbed by sandbars, reefs or land, before it breaks here – on an unlikely little island, off the radar of all but the most devoted surfers.

"I'd put Soup Bowl as one of the top three waves in the world," says Kelly Slater, who recently won his ninth world championship. "It's got a good curve and allows all sorts of manoeuvres. The only problem is that there are sea urchins all over the bottom – just don't fall and you're fine."

Aquatic life here isn't just for world champions. Much of the eastern and southern coasts already have the trappings of a laidback surfer town – makeshift beer bars, street food vendors and cheap guesthouses – that are so appealing to people who prefer to watch. But, as the locals will remind you again and again, what makes Barbados unique is that there is a wave for everyone.

"Anyone can surf Barbados, and I mean anyone," says Zed Layson, owner of Zed's Surfing Adventures, one of the bigger surf schools on the island (bigger is a relative term – Layson has one employee, another instructor named Junior). Layson is exactly what you'd want your surfing instructor to look like: shaggy blond hair, sunburned cheeks, blue eyes and a lopsided, easygoing grin. He's Barbadian by way of Jeff Spicoli. "Our smaller waves are the most consistent. Any day you hit, Barbados will have great beginner and intermediate waves."

On a blazingly sunny day, I made my way to Silver Sands, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea. This is Brian Talma's stretch of sand. Talma, owner of deAction Beach Shop is famous in Barbados. A professional windsurfer for almost 20 years, he is also widely credited for the rise of surfing on the island, and has a habit of saying "Action!" in place of phrases like hello, goodbye and nice to meet you.

"Action! Do you want a drink?" Talma says. We are on the outdoor deck of his shop, watching kitesurfers laying down the brightly-coloured swathes of nylon to dry in the sun. "Listen," he continued. "If I say Jamaica, you think reggae, right? But when I say Barbados, nothing comes to mind, and that has to change. The government has to market Barbados as an active beach culture." Of course, Talma is also mindful of that surfer's caveat: popular is good; too popular is dangerous. In the boom economy, surfers had a knack for seeking out the untouched, beautiful seascapes that no one knew about. Once the surfers found them, the developers were hot on their trail, and soon someone like Ian Schrager or Philippe Starck would open shop, followed by people with high heels and lapdogs. And before you knew it, beaches from Fiji to Mexico became crowded and expensive.

"When you see bumper stickers in Oahu that say, 'Tourist, go home,' that's a problem," Talma says. "And that's not us. But locals have to be strong or we'll lose our culture."

Later that evening, I went to meet the three pros I'd seen surfing Soup Bowl a few days earlier. Collectively tall, lanky and cocky in a way befitting 20-something athletes, the three – TJ Barron, Spencer Sterling and Torrey Meister – were spread out on the couches at Aqua Restaurant & Lounge, a popular restaurant with sleek decor and beautiful waitresses. They'd been travelling the world with a film crew, shooting that Billabong surfing documentary called Still Filthy.

"When Soup Bowl turns on, it's one of the best breaks in the world," Meister says.

"Everyone is so nice here," Barron added. "In Hawaii, a lot of people will tell you to leave if you're not local. I think it would be cool if this place got popular."

From his two friends, a round of groans. "Dude, how can you say that?" Sterling says. "The whole thing about this place is that no one knows this break. We shouldn't even be talking about it now."

He paused – then a light bulb flickered. "We should tell people it was all choppy and nasty. Seriously."

THE FACTS The three main surf schools in Barbados are Zed's Surfing Adventures (Surfer's Point, Inch Marlow, Christ Church; www.barbadossurf.com, 246 428 7873), Burkie's Surf School (108 Plover Court, Long Beach, Christ Church; 246 230 2456, www.surfbarbados.net) and Barbados Surf Trips (www.surfbarbados.com, 246 262 1099). All offer private lessons and teach all levels.

New York Times News Service

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• This article first appeared in the Scotsman, 16 January, 2010