Why Right Now Is The Best Time Ever To Go On A Surf Trip

“Do you think it’s safe to go to Hawaii right now?” asked a friend this morning. “I mean, I’m young and healthy, I’ll be alright…right? I went down to Mex during the swine flu and absolutely scored.”

Such is the dilemma that traveling surfers are facing with coronavirus spreading around the world. 

We’re not going to pretend to be health officials and tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. That’s your call. But what we can tell you is that airlines are desperate to put warm, disease-incubating bodies in seats and some of the fares right now are downright ridiculous. 

In keeping with the time-honored tradition of surfers taking advantage of natural disasters, if one was going to go walkabout, right now’s about as good of a time as any. 

Alaska Air is currently running a sale with flights as low as $20 within the continental US. Think about that for a second—it costs more in gas to drive from Huntington Beach to Malibu than it does to get on a plane and go somewhere. Alaska is also offering one-way flights from L.A. to Hawaii for $99. How does a little late-season magic sound right about now?

The Alaska news piqued our interest, so we took to the interweb to see if there were any other bargains out there. Turns out that, yes. There are tons.

Indo for $400 from LAX… ya kidding?

Earlier I logged onto Travelocity.com, and because I live in Orange County, I set my departing airport to Los Angeles International. First casting my gaze on Australia, I found a roundtrip ticket from LAX to Sydney for $670 on Fiji Airways. Typically, that flight is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,200. 

For obvious reasons, the best deals appear to be to Asian countries. In April, you can get a RT ticket from LA to Jakarta, Indonesia, for under $500. Yep, for the feral, dirtbag Indo wanderer, now is absolutely the best time to cut bait and go fall off the map. And for those intrigued by the unsung potential of somewhere like Taiwan, you can get to Taipei for under $600. 

Another hot spot for deals is South and Central America. Flights to San Jose, Costa Rica, are as little as $350, and you can get to Lima, Peru, for the same price. It’s another $100 if you want to get to Managua. 

South Pacific surf destinations seem to be among the most expensive with tickets to Fiji going for $700-$1,000, while tickets to Tahiti are the usual $1,200-$1,500.

Full disclaimer, the prices are above are among the cheapest we could find as we were operating under the guise that surfers are notoriously cheap and will withstand five-hour layovers in strange places to save a few bucks. I know I would, flying first-class is way above my pay grade.