BARBADOS

FAMILY FRIENDLY SURF TRIPPING TIPS

- SAM SMART

My doctor reminded me of how blessed we are to have the lifestyle we do. Running my family business (Smart Surf School at Sennen) all summer and having the downtime throughout the winter months. But it's obvious what you gotta do, he said, get away somewhere hot for the winter. He obviously surfs too.

This was said after I had spent a bleak winter at home in Sennen, recovering from an e-coli infection that lasted five months and defeated three bouts of antibiotics (even the powerful ones) Not to mention the sprinkle of labyrinthitis and prostatitis! Some funny names there but to endure any of the above was no laughing matter I can promise you.

A friend of mine said, If I were a dog, they would have put me down.

Winter surf getaways are something I am usually more than familiar with, but having a baby will alter your motives and fine-tune your priorities in a way that is impossible to prepare for. My partner Hollie and I have a two-year-old girl called Ru, and we both decided it was time we all made a surf trip as a family and Barbados has been on the cards for a while.

Neither of us has ever been, and from what we've seen in the pictures, it looks the like the ideal location— coconuts, dreadlocks, reggae and sun, like something out of the old Lilt adverts.

However, as a surf destination, I couldn't help but think it's been more knocked in than one of Viv Richardson's favourite cricket bats. I'm not sure why I thought this, maybe because almost everyone I know who surfs has been there at some point, or simply because, in a lot of the pictures, It looks crowded.

Could Barbados be the dream winter surf getaway to brighten up our dark months? Or merely an idyllic image that was too good to be true? There's only one way to find out.