From Issue Two of the Gear Patrol Magazine. Subscribe today for 15% off the GP Store.
Every wave in Sri Lanka comes with a price. Breaks occur over shallow reefs filled with stunning, and razor-sharp, coral; about half of the country’s surf spots are littered with spiky, poisonous sea urchins; and the direct sunlight at the equator can cook a surfer’s back to medium rare in a span of minutes.
So why risk it? As photographer Chris DeLorenzo and his crew learned, the country’s waves were spellbinding — and looming beyond them was a riotous country full of interesting people, food and history. This led to enough spontaneous adventure to tear the space-time continuum, turning three days into something that felt more like 30. After a long day of surfing, said surfer Anna Ehrgott, there remained only a few constants. “Nothing could knock us off that high. The four of us drove off, piled into a tuk tuk with our boards. Happy as pigs in shit.”
