Buggerru, Italy

Is surf a good tourist opportunity for west Sardinia?

From mine shafts to curling tubes, surf city Sardinia here we come. Intrepid surfers all over the world never stop searching for hidden beaches and tasty waves as yet unclaimed. Europeans enamored with the sport on vacation, or perhaps they just watched North Shore too many times, have been especially adventurous in trying to find unlikely places to surf. Around the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean, Italian surfers have found beaches and mapped waves all over the island, as long with all the things that could flatten or froth the waves, like Mistral winds.

A homegrown surf scene has developed to the point where there's even a local competition sponsored by major surf companies, like Quicksilver. Alongside some of the cherriest surf spots are abandoned mines, the local officials want to try and sex up the mines as tourist attractions, but the burgeoning surf scene offers a better potential for redevelopment. The abandoned mines have abandoned villages attached them overlooking some of the surf spots. With the collapse of the ancient mining industry, which path offers the best opportunities for the community?

Mission Report

Leaving at 5 am from Cagliari to hit the west coast and try to ride the first wave of the day. I know it was a long night and the day that followed was quite blurry.
Before we took off we had to stop at the train station’s bar for coffee and cigarettes, but none there seemed interested in Buggerru. Railway workers don’t surf much. Miners do better.
Once we got to the beach (almost 2hrs drive) the sun was just about to peak out the hill behind the cove, the sea was calm and the only people populating the area were 3 young fisherman who just managed to catch 4 tiny sea breams overnight.
The old mine was an incredible presence: climbing over the hill and overlooking the bay. I must say that even if mining is a hard work, the view they had every day pulling out the tunnel was definitely astonishing.
The mines closed down over 30 years ago and now the city’s economy has moved into tourism and surfing: so it’s easy that the local surf champion, Simone Esposito, is son of miner, just like everyone else. He works now in a mechanic shop since he admits that sponsors in Italy tend to privilege surfers from Rome and Tuscany. So nothing is left for Sardinians who proudly keep on with the hard work to show everyone that surf ain’t for spoiled kids.
Luca Legnani