North Korea Might Just Be the Next Haven for Surfers
A tour company is offering a surf camp and expedition somewhere most tourists won't expect - North Korea. The team behind the 8-day travel and sports adventure hopes to be among the first individuals to explore the nation's unspoiled beaches and untapped waves.
It's hard to find unexploited surfing destinations these days, what with millions of surfers flocking coastlines around the globe. This is why NJ-based Uri Tours - wherein 'uri' translates to 'us' or 'our' - has created a surf expedition led by the company's founder and CEO Andrea Lee. She's organizing and managing it with Nik Zanella, the International Surfing Association's official representative and the Chinese National Surf Team's coach. Together, they have been looking into weather and wave patterns in the country's eastern coast. And the data they've gathered for more than a year seem promising.
Some spots the team has been monitoring are Sijung and Hamhung, which have rocky outcrops and untouched beaches that receive decent waves from easterly winds. The entire experience will go beyond finding adventure.
"The DPRK has all of the ingredients for an excellent surf adventure, great surf bathymetry, good exposure and pristine beaches", Zanella says. "Our goal is to cast some light on this coastline, search for the waves, map them and, of course, surf them".
For the uninitiated on North Korea holidays, they might be apprehensive about joining. However, the nation has long been open to tourists. And no one can better attest to this than American-Korean Lee who has traveled here several times, especially since her company has been providing trips to the country for more than 15 years. Their packages include ski tours, marathon tours and weekend holidays. They also send postcards to people who haven't visited yet.
According to Lee, she has the local tourism authorities' support. And she brings good news to locals who want to join; she has also received permission for their participation in the camp. Anyone interested in signing up for the expedition can find complete information here.
