A new edit titled The City of Azaleas follows Craig Anderson and Kaito Ohashi to the (relatively) unknown coastline of Taiwan. The silky-smooth goofyfooters were on an annual R&D trip for their sponsor D_b_.
Any footage of the Ando is usually hoovered up (thankfully) by the surfing public. The South African-born, Newcastle-based free surfer has made a career as one of the sport’s iconoclasts. His aesthetic – an alchemy of close-kneed flair, tube style and aerial progression – still has devotees all over the world. That he shares his surfing and edits sparingly has only added to his appeal. In a world of Instagram and instant gratification, he always made sure his stream of surfing content supply has never exceeded the demand for it.
Carles Medina
Kaito Ohashi is a lesser-known quantity. The 31-year-old has carved out a career based on the same pillars as Ando. In Japan, he is known for his incredible aerial chops and general steeze riding a variety of crafts in all conditions. That Ando signed Kaito for Former, the brand he founded with Dane Reynolds, tells you all need to know about how Kaito goes about his business.
Related: This Aerial Phenom Ain’t Scared of a Single Fin
Probably one of the most unique aspects of the film is that in every clip you don’t see any other surfers in the line-up. Now this isn’t any type of digital hokey-pokery; on the ten-day trip earlier this year, the pair rarely encountered other surfers.
“This was my first trip to Taiwan and it’s really different to most of the locations I’ve travelled to for surfing,” Anderson said. “You travel from crazy industrial zones to these dense, jungled mountains with points and reefs. And there were so many set-ups, and crazily empty. It’s wild.”
Taiwan is an island located just 100 miles east of China, wedged between Japan to its north and the Philippines to the south. With a population of 23 million, it isn’t exactly a secret. A push by the country’s tourism board saw the surfing hub of Jinzun Harbour host both the World Junior and Open Longboard World Championships in 2019, and a QS event is held each November. At the same latitude as Hawaii, in the prime season between November to March, its East Coast catches loads of swell from the Northern Hemisphere’s winter storms.
Screenshot
These swells wrap into a classy mix of beachbreaks, rivermouths and points, most set against the backdrop of lush, tropical mountains Ando mentioned. Out of the water, the country has a mix of Chinese and Japanese culture and world-renowned cuisine. Oh, and if you are into semiconductors or bubble tea, or both, Taiwan is the place for you.
The lack of crowds in the lineup there isn’t exactly a mystery. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing’s control – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island. Taiwan, however, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leader.
That tension has been around since the end of World War 2 and ratchets up and down in phases far beyond our ken. Surfing was still illegal in the 1960s with its residents under Martial Law and the coastlines deemed too important to national security to access. A nascent surfing culture has only emerged in the last 20 years.
Carles Medina
And yet for all the threat, the country has had 50 years of political stability. And the Taiwan surf devotees, of which there are a small, dedicated number of local and international visitors, tell of an uncrowded surfing throwback. There are fun, consistent waves, breaking in warm water where a dozen surfers are considered a crowd.
“I’d love to go back for a major swell event,” concludes Ando. “The vibes were incredible, and the potential seems unlimited. To travel and experience somewhere fresh and unique is a rare treat.”
Like Ando’s surfing then…
Related: Watch Craig Anderson Surf a Shyama Buttonshaw Twin to Perfection