Surf: There’s a palpably relaxed outer-island Creole feel to Rodrigues, a bit somnolent too, distanced from the mainland bustle of Mauritius. Windswept little Rodrigues could be to today’s kiters what Tamarin was to yesteryear’s surfers - an exotic Mascarene isle unspoiled by tourism, malls, junk food, high-speed motorways, luxury hotels hogging the best beaches and all that kind of stuff. Kiters could make a special Santosha-esque film and still viewers would be mystified by the locale, much like they were before Tamarin Fever infected the entire surf world. The roar of onshore wind and trashed surf is constant, the swell-exposed south coast constantly unsurfable, and if your time is limited, you will want to avoid Rodrigues because there is essentially one spot, Passe Jimmy, a narrow hole in the island’s eastern barrier reef that is only surfable on small WSW swells and high tide. Fronted by tiny Île aux Sables, a nature reserve, Passe Jimmy has a right and a left, the left being longer and more high-performance than the right, which tends to be abrupt and hollower. Both are fast and very shallow, breaking over healthy live coral, and are only accessible during high tide, requiring a minimum one-hour boat ride over the shallow lagoon from Baie du Nord or Port Mathurin. The pass closes out with any swell bigger than two metres, and the wind is often blowing too hard offshore, making the waves choppy and unrideable. Occasionally Passe Jimmy can offer fun, clean waves, but Rodrigues is not a place for a designated surf trip.