italy-sicily
#20. Sicily, Italy: In the heart of the Mediterranean, Sicily has had a long and complicated history of conquest and assimilation from many waves of invaders. From early Greeks to the Bourbon French to the Arabs, all have left behind their legacies in the culture, language, food and wine of the island. Now a part of modern Italy, Sicily gets plenty of swell, being open to long fetches from both the eastern and the western halves of the Mediterranean Sea. The best rock reefs and points are well-surfed by the tight community of friendly local surfers, who welcome respectful foreign surfing visitors as they see very few, with autumn and winter the best seasons for a Sicilian surf trip. Image: Callahan/surfEXPLORE
Surf is everywhere. It rolls past our coastlines, whipped up by storms off shore, held up by offshore winds, and can go from playful to terrifying the blink of an eye. Sometimes it’s blue, sometimes green, sometimes gray. Whatever it looks like, it’s always beautiful. Islands have some of the best waves, and this gallery shows twenty of the world’s best surfing islands. From India to Indonesia, there’s a wave for everyone.