Rider profile: Carlo Mau-Asam

Maui, Hawaii formerly Curacao, Caribbean

Winter 2005

Amazing waves are all over the world waiting for us to ride. The problem is a majority of us rarely visit these places.

Some people do visit excotic locales and often. Carlo Mau-Asam is one of these people. Carlo, 26, has been traveling all of his life. He lives a traveling-dream life that most people inspire to do, but never accomplish.

As a child Carlo’s Dutch mother and Indonesian/Suriname father took him all over the world.

“It really started when I was 5-years old when we moved to the other side of the world to a small island in the Caribbean Sea called Curacao, where I still call home,” Carlo said. “The location is very central compared to the rest of the world. And I love it here because flights are cheap and easy to get anywhere.”

Carlo travels and travels, then he takes a break and travels again.

“I love to travel to places where I can surf and I am looking for the locations that are available on a low budget. Most of the time I have been working a whole year for a month or more of vacation,” Carlo said.

He has traveled to places, such as California, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Europe and other islands in the Caribbean.

“I like to visit Aruba a lot. It has lots of beach breaks unlike Curacao (where he lives) where we only have reef breaks, “ Carlo said. “Other than Aruba I love Puerto Rico, which to me is one of the most beautiful islands here in the Caribbean and a good surf destination.”

The best waves he has experienced are the ones on the pacific coast.

“I love the endless power filled waves in Mexico and the laidback waves in Costa-Rica.”

Mexico

“Welcome to Mexico is the first thing I read on the sign at Guadalajara Airport. It is a small airport located in an area with huge mountains and eye-popping views. Mexico is the land of the crime, big waves and marijuana. It is a true adventure.”

Flying to Mexico from the island of Curacao took him three days. After the flight he had a 15-hour bus ride and a $40 rip-off cab ride with a cabbie a person may recognize from the movie “Blow.” But when he arrived everything came together.

He hit the Mexican locales of Tecoman, Ticla, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas

“I met a couple of guys on the Internet that invited me to join their trip trough the mainland. And so I did. First visited the mainland of Mexico where we surfed some sick waves.”

He surfed at a mainland spot called Pasquales.

“If you have not surfed anything in your life bigger than 6-feet don't even try to drop waves in at Pasquales.”

These are 10-foot monsters on any given day and it gets twice as big sometimes, he said.

“I also had some horrible experiences with some of the waves that would close out on you. Once you were going over the falls it was a fight for your life. It was either hold you breath and try to relax or let it go.”

Sometimes he even had to swim to the bottom instead of the surface minimize how much he would get worked.

“There would be times when sets where coming one after another and I would swim to the bottom and just put my hands in the sand, let my board go and just prepare for impact.”

He stayed on mainland Mexico for nearly a month and then went to Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

At Cabo San Lucas he surfed at Lovers.

“It was a crushing shorey that will leave sand in cracks you didn't know you had,” he said.

He wouldn’t change anything about Mexico.

“Mexico offers it all. If you are on a low budget and you like to surf big waves stay on the mainland because there is plenty of swell and sightseeing. If you like a lot of people around you and all the touristy stuff you can visit places like Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan where the price of booze and food are higher,” Carlo said.

When it comes down to it Carlo travels more than just to bodyboard (sometimes).

“I like to meet people during my travels. The reason I go alone is that I can really experience the places I go to. I am not saying I don't enjoy travel with others. It just seems a lot easier sometimes when you are alone.”

Carlo said people need to visit Mexico at least once in a person's lifetime and don't forget to bring a portable table fan.

“Most places don't have air conditioning and that fan might be able to get you the sleep you need for the morning sessions.”

Update: Sense this story was written Carlo has moved to the island of Maui.