In September 2013 Sanjay Samantary, an Indian surfer, messaged me asking if we would like to take part in the third Indian Surf Festival (ISF) in Odisha (formerly Orissa), East India. I had travelled in India years ago, but not to the east side. After a few calls and email exchanges, we agreed a programme of work to help Sanjay’s group – the Surfing Yogis – to develop SUP in Odisha and eventually across India. Together with  a team of five (three male and two female), we made our way to raw and undeveloped Odisha

In February 2014 we flew to Calcutta, some 200km North of our destination, near Puri, on the Bay of Bengal. Our road trip south was a good introduction to this slightly chaotic, exciting, and very exotic part of the world. The single-lane road was often partially-blocked by cows, pedestrians, and even the odd elephant. We stopped for a break and I awoke to find a trunk reaching in through the window – the elephant’s driver had trained it to collect cash from travellers, and it rejected a 10 Rupi in favour of 100 Rupi note.

We arrived at Ramanchandi beach, the ISF site, and our home for the first four days. The ISF was an exciting mix of surfing, music, culture, and SUP. From the opening ceremony, we were immediately overwhelmed by a constant stream of people wanting to try to “Walk on Water”, as they know it there.

We introduced countless people to the sport over the next three days and organized the first games of SUP Ball. We marshalled races for the India SUP Cup, were interviewed by press and TV stations, met many interesting and friendly people, were entertained by an array of musicians, and ate outstanding food (the vegetables were all grown on-site).

We also interviewed several young women at the festival who were paddling SUP in India. First was Chitangada, known as “Lola”. Lola is from an influential family some 500km south of Odisha, and has been into watersports since childhood – along with a lot of encouragement from her father, who bought her an SUP a few years ago. Chandrika, a yoga teacher from Goa – one of the few places in India where SUP exists, had tried paddling and was keen to see how SUP yoga could be developed in India.


After the festival, we started on our work programme to develop SUP. The first of the three areas of work was development of a coaching programme to be used to train local people to teach SUP. This is important because existing commercial courses are expensive, and in our experience, not ideal. We wanted to create a course with no padding, but which would develop coaches as passionate about the sport as we are – and enable them to teach it safely and effectively. Sanjay intends to get this approved by the Indian Government and adopted by a new National Governing Body to be set up this year.

Next we examined how SUP boards and paddles could be made locally by local craftsmen, mainly from local, sustainable materials. Indian import taxes and exchange rates make SUPs unaffordable for most people in India – and hence there are very few boards in the country. Our long-term aim is to get boards mainly built from bamboo – one of the most sustainable materials, but also one of the strongest and lightest. We met with local boatbuilders who make traditional fishing boats on the shores of Chilka lake. We gave them plans and instructions for building SUPs and paddles. The first prototypes made from wood should be ready in a few months.

Our third task was to check a range of local water bodies to see how safe and enjoyable they were for paddling. We tried out three: First, the lagoon and beach at Ramananchandi. The lagoon was recently created by Cyclone Phalin, which struck Odisha in November 2013 and moved a large volume of sand. It was several kilometres long and was sheltered, with clean blue water – ideal for teaching beginners.

Next, we headed to the Kusavada River. We paddled downstream to the river-mouth, and then on a second day, upstream through farmland and villages. The river was stunning with bright green floating plants and clear water. We saw fish jumping around us, and fishermen netting fish and poling their long boats around the river. A group of fishermen called us over to share their tea. People in Odisha are friendly and not used to seeing foreign visitors – few have ever seen SUPs so they are curious to see what we are up to.

Thirdly, we moved on to the vast expanse Chilika Lake – at 1,100 metres square, it’s Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon. We spent all four days exploring the lagoon, with local boatmen as our guides and transport around the lake. The traditional Chilka fishing boats were ideal for transporting a group of paddleboarders and equipment around the lake.

We took a route heading south and inland from the lagoon mouth. We passed from the flatlands near the Indian Ocean, through the part of Chilika that is home to around 150 rare and endangered Irawaddy dolphins. We paddled near several schools on our route across the lake. Chilika is an area of outstanding natural beauty; near the sea there are may reed beds and bright green grassy banks in a flat landscape. As we travelled inland, the water was less salty and the Eastern Ghat Mountains dominated the skyline. Everywhere there were fishing birds: kingfishers, terns, pelicans, and many more. Louise, our bird expert, provided the names for many of these.

We slept on the shores, first outside of an island temple and then on the shore to the South West of the lake. The night temperature was warm enough for a light blanket and we woke to see stunning Indian sunrises over the lake, and fishermen starting work in the distance.

We headed back north west, towards the widest part of the lake. On route, our boatmen cooked the most incredible meal of Chilika prawns and rice with delicious spices, served on banana leaf plates. It struck us that this meal, eaten on the wooden decks with our fingers in traditional Indian style, compared well to five star restaurant food served anywhere in the world. On the way, we passed fishing boats under sail and others being poled, and we saw fishermen checking their nets wading in water chest-deep.

Our last days in Odisha were spent working on the coaching course and building up a photo library for an electronic coaching manual. This was a terrific project, and we were proud to be able to help the small band of dedicated pioneers of SUP and surfing in India. We will be back there before long to help again, and see how much progress has been made.

Paul Hyman is the director of Active 360, a SUP school based in London, which also offers tours. He has been involved in paddle-sports for many years and has worked with schools and charities across London to help improve sports facilities. www.active360.co.uk