Winter Waves

by Alan Cole · Saturday, January 10th, 2026

It was a bit of a shock to the system after 30ºC waters in the Philippines, but there was a nice little wave this morning, so it had to be done. Getting into and out of several layers of neoprene was probably more taxing than the surf itself, and negotiating the lethal frozen pebbles was definitely the most dangerous part of the whole endeavour.

It was minus 2.2ºC, so the puddles on the path were frozen solid and the pebble bank was covered in a sheet of ice. Usually you can dig your feet in and make a little hollow in the pebbles to give you some purchase, but with them frozen solid and stuck to each other, that wasn’t possible. Instead, they formed a solid, slippery, steep pebbly bank that required all fours — and sometimes five points of contact — to conquer.

Once on the beach there were patches of ice too, but the sun was just beginning to rise, throwing rays of golden sunshine onto the glassy waves. As the sun hit the water, mist was rising, creating a golden, hazy screen that was difficult to see through and gave the whole place an almost otherworldly atmosphere.

Out in the water, a flock of geese were close by, honking at the waves and swimming frantically in circles. The occasional cormorant flew past, skimming the wave tops further out to sea, and the whole scene was backdropped by snow-clad hills.

There was no one else out, and I didn’t catch loads of waves. Those that I did weren’t the best, simply because I had too much neoprene on to really make the most of them. But it wasn’t really about the waves; it was more about being out there in such atmospheric conditions.

Getting back up the pebbles was more difficult than getting down them, but I made it home for a nice warm shower — at least I didn’t have to get changed on the beach. Brrr!