Surf Forecast  Pigsty/Piggy

Pigsty/Piggy surfspot characteristics

More about Pigsty/Piggy surfspot

Aka Svinestien, it's one of the few spots in the Jaeren area which can be considered 'world class'. Winter training ground for locals preparing to travel to the more core areas of the surfing world. Fast, ruler edged rights with barrel sections and some less speedy lefts. Must be E winds and a lined up NW swell, big enough to keep the boulders submerged. It's always crowded unless it is bird wintering time and the surfing ban is in effect (see Environment text). Large fines and jail time are the deterrents. Bore Strand Camping is 5mins away.

Camp at Bore Strand Camping, just 5 min.'s drive away.

Park where the ones before you have parked.

A great tragedy for the local surfing community struck when, out of the clear blue sky, a ban on surfing was established that included Piggy. The ban had no hearing up front, it was a last minute ammendment to a major bird protection area act, which had been processed for more than 10 years before finally being put into force December 2004. This is an RAMSAR-area. The surfers had no problems understanding the importance of this area for the over-wintering and migrating birds, but being an activity of minimal disturbance and covering a very small area it was, and still is, impossible to see the rationale behind it. Violating the ban, you risk having to pay a fine of an amount equivallent of GBP 800,- or a couple of weeks behind bars and denied access/visa to many countries around the world, incl. USA. The Norwegian Surfing Association has complained to all the regulatory bodies involved, based on support from biological behaviourologists and politicians. Still, the surfers got refusal from all government institution. If anyone out there knows about areas where surfing is allowed within bird protection areas (e.g. RAMSAR areas), please contact Jan Erik Jensen on j-ejense@online.no or tel. +4790113339!