Surfing Doctors Conference 2023 -The First Few Days In The Jungle

We arrived at the Jawa Jiwa Camp in G-Land on Friday morning, and it was straight into the line-up for those of us that were here. The surf was in the six-foot region, and the paddle from the keyhole was a cinch for some and horrendous for others. There is nothing quite like travelling halfway around the world, feeling pretty jet-lagged and coming face to face with a six-footer growling along the Money Trees reef.

Friday evening was a meet and greet for those attending for the first time and for old friends to reacquaint and shoot the breeze.

A few beers, the awesome Jawa Jiwa food for dinner, and an early evening for most, as the charts still looked pretty good for Saturday.

On the Saturday morning speed boat, another 15-odd conference attendees arrived, and the waves still looked good. It was straight back out there. The keyhole was marginally better for some, while others got to meet the notoriously sharp G-Land reef. Saturday evening session was low tide magic for those who still had the energy. The sun over the east Java quadrant is remorseless and energy-sapping. Not everyone had the strength for two surfs, but some soldiers headed out for a few more sets.

Saturday evening was the welcoming evening speeches and dinner. Dr Phillip Chapman opened the conference, welcomed all the attendees, outlined the program, and gave a brief history of The Surfing Doctors. He explained the Surfing Doctors’ ethos and goals, and his talk was interesting and informative. This was followed by another brief introduction by Dr Jon Cohen before each attendee introduced him or herself, gave a brief background of their surfing and medical history, and explained some of the worst surfing injuries they had personally experienced.

After some more catching up, it was a relatively early evening, as the forecast was still encouraging, the tides were right for the morning, and all hopes were on an early start to the trade winds. 

Broken board count: 1
Nick Maister, new board, clean snap.