1. Surfing fanatic Steve England, also publisher of various surf
magazines, has plugged what he believes is a gaping hole in quality
information for UK surfers.
His site, The Surf Directory
is designed to help surfers plan their trip, without having to waste time
searching for where to stay, where to eat or which gig to go to, once
they’ve decided where to go for the best waves.
The interactive map is the backbone of the site, and takes you through to
detailed surfing information about the type of break, wave and swell
direction, then links to surf schools, surf shops, places to stay and places
to eat and drink. There’s also a surf forecast and in some places a live
beach cam.
2. TripTouch is a travel
blog and widgets site – it’s nothing new, but this site is ahead of its
competitors because of its clean design and good choice of partner sites.
The premise is to offer a site where travellers can catalogue their
adventures, communicate with other users, upload photos and use services,
including booking flights, checking the weather and looking up local events.
Google and Kayak are the main partners, which means technology should be
flawless and the travel searches relatively comprehensive.
3. The shambolic opening of Terminal 5 will surely see a surge in
ranting entries to FlightsFromHell.com
– which does what it says on the tin. It was started by Greg Rottler as a
way to vent his fury at the world’s airlines and an outlet for others to do
the same.
The stories are divided into 15 categories, including luggage and delays, food
and drink, and more entertaining categories such as weird people and odours.
We can’t vouch for the accuracy of the entries of course – stories of this
kind are often prone to exaggeration, but we can vouch for one thing –
you’ll think twice about getting on a plane again.
4. On the back of its user-generated travel guides site, the team
behind wikitravel.com, has launched wikitravelpress.com
– a licence to print your own travel guide. The site has collated the best
entries from its 30,000 destination guides to create up-to-date guides to a
select number of destinations – so far only Chicago and Singapore.
The content is updated regularly and as books are printed on demand, you’ll
always get the latest information. You can also add information yourself so
it’ll appear in your personal guidebook. They cost around £10 to print, and
next in line is Paris, Toronto and Sydney, plus guides in other languages.
5. Destination Cooking
wins our price for prettiest website this month – it’s purpose is less
clear. The site is the result of six operators who have come together to
sell outdoorsy French holidays based on regional food.
You can search by region, which brings up a recipe and some foodie
suggestions, but what disappoints is that there’s no holiday search – you
need to click through to the separate providers to book a holiday or even
get a quote. Nevertheless the site is fun, easy to navigate and great for
recreating dishes you had on holiday, if nothing else.
6. When Carnival Corporation bought Swan Hellenic and years later
ditched the name, avid cruise fans bid a sad farewell to one of the grande
dames of cruising. But it wasn’t long before the name resurfaced – in one
incarnation, as a river cruising operation whose website, www.swansrivercruises.co.uk,
went live last month.
The surf directory seemed to be really useful, I only go to the west country about once a month so seems a useful tool to help me make the most out of my limited time there!
Joe, Bournemouth,