Under Israeli blockade the Gaza Strip is regularly referred to as "the largest open-air prison on earth." Yet with access to the sea, this is a prison with a difference. With no recreational spaces to speak of in Gaza, the Mediterranean, alluring in spite of the sewage, is an immense source of release for the local population. To find the sport of surfing here is at once both surprising and completely natural; in a region where the common narrative is conflict and daily life is marked by constant struggle surfing offers a means of escape. Still a fledgling sport in Gaza surfer numbers have been kept low due to a dearth of equipment in the territory. Of the 30 surfers now practising the sport 26 have their own surfboards, mainly due to the efforts of international donors. With large winter swells and softer summer waves hitting the 41-kilometre strip of land many believe surfing, with more resources, could flourish in Gaza. For now the group is small but they are some of the few who get to escape the confinement and who find some semblance of freedom, every time the waves come.
