r/Sup

Our SUP season here in Northern Italy is slowly coming to an end.

To fight the end-of-season blues, I wanted to share some pictures from our coastal trip to Tropea, Calabria and the surroundings.

Early september we took our boards to Calabria and paddled the "Coast of the Gods" across 3 distinct tours—from the cliffs of Tropea and (the wild waters) around Capo Vaticano to our favoeite spot at Spiaggia di Michelino.

Fun night ride in seattle

I just want to share how beautiful it was today in south Quebec area. 🍁 Probably the last of 20206 for me!

Made the sup more comfortable with a TEMU seat, and more stable with floats (Amazon). No fish caught but at least I had bites and enjoyed myself.

Headed towards the Church of the Good Shepherd this time. Very low lake - I guess these are the remains of the old homestead

A highlight from my summer: seeing my 4.5 year old paddling and standing on their own on the paddle board. (Parent there for safety)

That kid has been on a paddle board for most of their life now. It's great seeing them paddling for themself now!

I mostly made videos on this trip, so not a lot of pictures. Made on 4th of september 2026.

• ​Route: From San Nicola Arcella to Isola di Dino (Calabria, Riviera dei Cedri, Italy)

• ​Distance: 8,33km (5,18mi)

• ​Board Setup: Bluefin Cruise 10.8+Starboard Enduro; Aqua Marina Hyper 11,6 + Starboard Lima

• ​Launch: 7.40 AM (crucial for beating tour boats)

Early Start: at San Nicola Arcella Beach (you could shorten the trip, when starting at Praia a Mare)

• ​Starting as soon as possible from San Nicola Arcella is important. The coastline gets heavily crowded in high season. By 09:30 AM, dozens of tour boats&motorboats.

• Starting at (right after) dawn gives you complete solitude.

​Route:

Cross the short channel from the mainland to the eastern tip of Dino Island and begin preferably a counter-clockwise loop.

Sea Caves ("Grotte"): Lot's of spectacular sea caves, f.ex Grotta Azzurra (Blue Grotto) and Grotta del Leone. Early morning light enters the caves (they're on the south east side), turning the water turquoise (and most of all without any boat exhaust fumes inside)

​There's also some Lore (and we love that):

Isola di Dino is an  abandoned Resort Island (kind of a Lost Plsce)

On the island are the decaying ruins of a 1970s luxury resort complex (built during an era of private development attempts by the Agnelli family/Fiat Automobiles).

Seeing these concrete structures rotting gives the island a eerie, post-apocalyptic feeling. When we completed the turn around the idland i docked and took a walk on the old dock.

Important: the western side of Isola di Dino is open to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Even iif it was a calm/windstill day, we were surprised by the swell/waves.

On the way back we made a pit stop at the Big Arch (Arcomagno)

Just south of the launch point is the famous Arco Magno—a massive natural rock arch with a hidden cove and beach.

Lot's of people, very touristy. Big Tour boats were passing us on the way (also closely), they stop at a beach nearby and release hordes of brainless day trippers who make noise and chaos. You must buy a ticket to enter the cave from the land by a steep walk. We didn't even bother entering it. But it was nice to see.

I guess in autumn/spring it's lonely and beautiful.

But isola di dino is highly recommended when you're in this part of italy.

Hello! I bought a Skatinger SUP this summer and accidentally broke the fin off on my second use.

I bought a generic replacement fin uses a smaller screw so I can't reuse the square nut that's already in the fin track.

No matter what I've tried, I can't for the life of my get the old nut out or get the new but in. There's got to be a way to get it over or under the ridge that stops the nuts from falling out, but I can't figure it out.

I've tried it deflated, partially inflate, fully inflated, using a wide screwdriver to open the track more. And nothing works. It's basically brand new so there's no sediment buildup.

Any tips on how to get nuts in and out of the track?

Thanks!

72 F for the air, and the water is still lovely, though cold (60-61 F). Swam about 25-30 min, it was invigorating!

Water temp 74, visibility was 2-4ft at best! May your oars stay together!!!!

Camp site closes so did the last two rides this week

Longest continuous paddle I've done so far!

No better way to relax after a rough work week ✨️