He showed up at Aktaou airport with two boards under his arm. In the arrival hall of the port city of Kazakhstan, the curious wonder what this foreigner aims to do here with a surfboard. This huge country from the Soviet Union is better known for the flatness of its steppes than for the undulations of its closed sea. A man has yet dared to venture there with the hope of finding good waves to surf. But before putting on his suit on the shores of the Caspian Sea, Erwan Simon took the time to study the conditions.
In this month of November 2022, he estimates that he has “a 70% chance of finding waves”. We will spoil the end of the story for you. Yes, the Breton surfer has found some. In the small world of exploration, it is rumored that he might be the first to surf on this territory, which is one of the ten largest countries in the world. Story of a surf trip not like the others.
When he sat on his board waiting for the right wave, Erwan Simon had plenty of time to enjoy the landscapes that surrounded him. A surreal and particularly unusual setting, even for a seasoned explorer like him. “I was in the middle of the steppes. All I saw were sandy paths and wild horses. There was no vegetation, no one for miles, ”says the surfer from Morbihan. Apart from the sound of the small drone filming his adventures, Erwan Simon hears nothing but the sound of the swell crashing on the coast of Fort Chevtchenko. This is where the Frenchman identified the prettiest wave conditions in the area.
The misfortunes of Anthony Colas in Azerbaijan
In this country where a liter of diesel costs 9 euro cents, he spent hours in a 4×4 with his guide trying to find the best spot. Erwan Simon is a connoisseur. A specialist in “hydrodiversity”, the Breton made a name for himself in France by creating the first wave reserve in Quiberon (Morbihan). “Before leaving, I had studied the wind directions, the depth and the shape of the seabed. I knew what to expect in Kazakhstan. The problem is that when he arrives there, the Caspian Sea is flatter than Belgium. “Still, I was sure to find waves. I knew that acquaintances had already surfed the Caspian. »
Antony Colas can confirm. This French surfer left in 2004 for the shores of Azerbaijan to try his luck on the Caspian. “I was in the Maldives. I took a flight almost on a whim. There were great conditions when I arrived except that my board had been lost,” recalls the explorer from Biscarrosse. When his surf finally arrives in Baku, the wind has died down and the swell has disappeared. “The only time I was able to get in the water, the waves were insignificant. It was really a story of saying that I had surfed the Caspian. Leaving alone, he couldn’t even bring back a photo of himself sliding on this closed sea. A personal failure, especially at a time when surf magazines love pictures of these unexplored spots.
Filmed by a Kazakh Youtuber
According to Antony Colas, the strongest wave potential of the Caspian would be in Iran. Except that the political context cools any inclination to venture there. Hence Erwan Simon’s choice to try his luck in Kazakhstan. If the sea is smooth when he arrives, the Breton will manage to slide after a few days in slightly salty water, and displaying between 13 and 14 degrees.
It wasn’t Hawaii but I managed to get 1.50 meters with some nice sets. It’s a bit like the Mediterranean. I had good days of surfing even if they were a bit short. »
Erwan Simon is not the first to have surfed the largest salt lake in the world. But is it, on the other hand, a pioneer with regard to the Kazakh part of the Caspian? Impossible to know. “You never know if there is not an American who came there ten years before with a board”, smiles the person concerned. One thing is certain, Erwan’s delirium did not go unnoticed: “People thought I was crazy when they saw me with my surfboard”. Quickly, his exploits are rumored in Aktaou thanks to Azamat Sarsenbayev, local youtubeur who filmed the Frenchman.
“Kazakhstan does not have a sea-oriented people”
“Everyone was very surprised”, testifies the latter, who had never seen anyone surfing his sea. French adventurer. The story of Erwan’s prowess made the headlines of the country’s press, which traveled in large numbers to question this foreigner who had come to tame a Caspian Sea that was thought to be too smooth to be tickled by fins. “People in the street came to talk to me to show me the video. Many have said thank you to me,” explains Erwan Simon.
During the fifteen days of presence of the Breton sportsman on his land, Kazakhstan has carved out a place for itself on the world map of surfing. Will there be anything left? “I hope so but it is not certain, continues Erwan Simon. Kazakhstan does not have a sea-oriented people. The inhabitants practiced sturgeon fishing [pour le caviar] but there are hardly any left. They are down to earth people, they don’t even go to the beach much, except to party. On the other side of the Caspian, Antony Colas had already noticed this distance from the sea, when he was in Azerbaijan: “The atmosphere was very strange because the only people I saw on the coast, it was sick people and staff from a nearby medical center. It was a bit like in Lourdes. The old men in blouses looked at the sea and the nurses followed them”.
“There are always places you’ve never been”
Members of the Surf Explore association, the two men have already traveled a good part of the globe with the aim of finding new waves that have never been surfed. Are there still any left in the age of globalization and the Internet? “We explored a lot. But there are always places you’ve never been. I’m sure there’s still a lot of stuff to discover,” says John Seaton Callahan, founder of Surf Explore and big name in photography.
To his already rich hunting list, Erwan Simon was therefore able to add Kazakhstan. A few months earlier, he had already achieved the feat of sliding on small waves created by the wind in Uganda, on the fragile Lake Victoria, perched at an altitude of 1,200 meters. “It’s an indescribable feeling to tell you that no one has ever been there, that you may be the first. It’s every surfer’s dream. Erwan Simon promises that there are “at least twenty destinations” that he still aims to explore. An endless quest.