Words Janni Hönscheid | Surfers: TPW Mermaids Janni Hönscheid & Sylvi Bodi | photos by Simon Williams – Swilly (follow Swilly on Facebook and Instagram)

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“Other side”

Remote. Rawness. Beauty. Sometimes you have to go away from civilization to find your soul. Away from it all… to a new place. A place in the middle of the ocean, with green mountains, warm waters, coral reefs, powerful waves… a place where nobody goes. Where you are the only tourist getting off the plane.  A place where the ocean sound puts you to sleep and people wear flowers in their hair. Where sun and rain dance around each other and make you wander where the end of the rainbow is… as all you saw was the start.

A place like Micronesia.

I had never even heard of this place before. Sylvi, who had been here already, told me about this beautiful and crazy wave called P-pass. We were going to travel to Hawaii and heard about our friend and photographer Swilly being here so we thought… why not?

Then I tried to find it on the Atlas and realized it was exactly on the other side.

Sometimes places that you never even dreamed of can surprise you the most.

After departing in Oahu, we had 4 stops before arriving in Pohnpei. Each stop was on a beautiful island, where the airport would be right next to the ocean. On some of the stops we got off the plane… one step out and the humidity would hit you. The water would be so turquoise that you wouldn’t believe your own eyes.

We would get some shell souvenirs from the friendly locals that opened only for this hour – as there is only one plane a day that flies here, always at the same time. And get back on board.

Till we reached the most beautiful of them all.

Our room at the Pohnpei Surf Club is right on the water. It’s a place where you want to jump from the balcony, because you would actually land in the sea… Jump into life.

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The next morning when I looked out, the water was that glassy and the reflection in it so perfect  that I thought I was upside down.

And then I met the wave. Palikir Pass. And I fell in love.

At first I was skeptical. Only one wave. A damn heavy one. I saw the pictures. Huge heavy barrels. Would I even be able to surf this wave?

We paddled out with two other guests. No one else. This is the crowd. 4 people (!) And this made a huge difference. You could position yourself perfectly and get to know this new wave. I had a first little wave to begin with and I surfed it super safe. Then I had another and that one broke the ice. I paddled back out with a huge smile on my face. Then I saw Sylvi going for a big set wave. She already had some beauties under her belt. But this wave was somehow different then the last ones… it looked like it was pretty much below sea level.

However, my brave Hungarian charging surfer friend went for it. She nearly had the drop but then decided to do a superwoman move straight with the thick lip flying through the air and getting washed to the shallow reef. She was in the washing machine for a while but then also made it back out. And I realized it’s a wave that will keep you on your toes. Get comfortable but never underestimate. Don’t have fear, but respect. Never turn your back on her…

Palikir Pass has many faces. And I’m excited for the next 10 days. I want to see them all.

The Perfect Wave Mermaids are incredibly fun loving surfer girls who just happen to be renowned international models. They are inviting you to join them on their upcoming 2016 TPW adventures. Our Mermaids have a trip lined up at Aloita Resort, the Mentawai this coming March/April 2016, and their annual Maldives charter boat trips in July/August which sell out rapidly. Click here to find out more.

photos by Simon Williams – Swilly
(follow Swilly on Facebook and Instagram)

Written by:
Ben Horvath

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