Surfing In Peru

waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777 started the topic in Friday, 8 Aug 2014 at 11:08am

G’day fellow lurkers!

I have been lurking these forums for quite some time living vicariously through others surf stories while bumming at work. So I thought I would finally get amongst the chat and see if anyone could help me out as I’m fucking work right off and hitting up Peru for 6 months fairly soon. I am going to be based out of Huanchaco which I know is a fairly consistent wave and has a few options around it. Also, I believe Chicama that super long left is only a short while away. I was wondering if anyone had any hot tips if they have been to that area or if they know of any breaks nearby that are worth the trip??

Cheers lads any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

groundswell's picture
groundswell's picture
groundswell Friday, 8 Aug 2014 at 11:48am

Cabo blanco up north looks pretty good but doesnt get much swell im sure as it faces almost north. Good in different season to chicama.
A few people have broken their necks there though and it breaks about 2 metre from a jagged dry rocky ledge.

Check out Castles in the sky for some good waves and culture in there of peru with Machado and Clay Marzo. im sure the first few waves are cabo blanco but not sure about the others, a lot of good waves though.

Check out wannasurf for info. My x-gf married a guy from Peru they seem like happy interesting people who lead fairly simple lives.

Damothediver's picture
Damothediver's picture
Damothediver Friday, 8 Aug 2014 at 4:00pm

Hey there,

Huanchaco is a cool town to hang out in, It has a nice long left, heaps of young backpackers to hang out with and good parties. Its also a great place to base yourself while you are waiting for decent swell.
Chicama is about an hour away by car and most people will base themselves in Huanchaco and do one or two day strike mission when the swell is on as there is nothing to do there otherwise. You can hire a driver to take you there, they will wait while you surf all day and then bring you back.
There is another town a couple of hours away called Pacasmayo. There is literally nothing to do in this town but surf so would only recommend to go there when the swell is on. The left point there is epic and can be bigger and better than chicama on its day. It can go for a kilometre on a good swell, the tuk tuk guys will run you back up the point for a couple of bucks. Pacasmayo is an hour to the other side of Chicama and again you can do day trips from there.
The thing is that Chicama only really breaks well when there is a massive long period south swell......otherwise there is many other better quality waves around. It needs to be reading at least above 10-12ft and above 14-15seconds to be worth it. Don't worry, its not that big, just needs that kind of swell to be around 4-5 foot and leg burningly long down the point.
Up North near the Ecuadorian border is a cool town called Mancora. Again this is a cool backpacker town with a left point breaking over rock bottom. The locals can be a little full on here but be patient and cool and you will get good ones. A 30 minute drive from Mancora is the goofy footers nirvana!!!!!! Lobitos.......aaahhhhh Lobitos......... 3 world class left points, all within 5 minute walk of each other and an epic peak next to an old pier when its big. You can stay there, though there is nothing to do but surf eat sleep repeat.
Anyway, these are the places I surfed over there and had a ball, jealous I cant go back.
Hope that helps

waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777 Friday, 8 Aug 2014 at 4:41pm

Cheers Damothediver and Groundswell this is all very good stuff to plan my trip! Can't wait to surf good waves!!!!

waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777 Friday, 8 Aug 2014 at 4:42pm

Also what quiver did you bring over when you guys went?

groundswell's picture
groundswell's picture
groundswell Friday, 8 Aug 2014 at 5:55pm

Sorry to say i havent been there yet but hear its Americas land of lefts.

I would bring- a biscuit type shape or small fish or both and a good step up fish nose (alien step up 6'3)pinny thing for 6- 8 foot points as i like fishy things.
But im not really sure if it gets big like Chile does. If it does you might need a semi gun and you might prefer regular shortboard shapes and more vert surfing.

Damothediver's picture
Damothediver's picture
Damothediver Friday, 8 Aug 2014 at 6:19pm

I had a 6"3 swallow tail quad and a 6"10 rounded pin. I only used the smaller board as I didn't score anything above 6 feet. There are a few surf shops that do ding repairs, I had a plug replaced as I had run over some little punks bodyboard he had thrown aside to go under a set........the set I was on........ the repair was good and held for the rest of the trip.
If you plan to leave your boards at the end of the trip, don't just give them away to some kids as this only teaches them that gringos are rich and they will expect free boards all the time. I met a guy over there who has a ding repair and photog business, he runs free ding repair workshops for the local kids and has set up a couple of them with their own cameras to and what he does is make the local kids work a few hours and then gives them a board, so if a traveling surfer wants to leave his boards, this guy pays a modest amount....say 50-100us$ per board and then the kids can work at the shop or take pics for commission and earn their board. I did this with my two boards. I f you want to hook up with this guy let me know and I will put you in touch.

waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777 Monday, 11 Aug 2014 at 4:08pm
Damothediver wrote:

I had a 6"3 swallow tail quad and a 6"10 rounded pin. I only used the smaller board as I didn't score anything above 6 feet. There are a few surf shops that do ding repairs, I had a plug replaced as I had run over some little punks bodyboard he had thrown aside to go under a set........the set I was on........ the repair was good and held for the rest of the trip.
If you plan to leave your boards at the end of the trip, don't just give them away to some kids as this only teaches them that gringos are rich and they will expect free boards all the time. I met a guy over there who has a ding repair and photog business, he runs free ding repair workshops for the local kids and has set up a couple of them with their own cameras to and what he does is make the local kids work a few hours and then gives them a board, so if a traveling surfer wants to leave his boards, this guy pays a modest amount....say 50-100us$ per board and then the kids can work at the shop or take pics for commission and earn their board. I did this with my two boards. I f you want to hook up with this guy let me know and I will put you in touch.

Nice thanks for the advice lads. I will definitely be bringing over something fishy for those long point breaks and something bigger if it gets solid. Damo the diver that would be awesome if I could get those details off yourself. It sounds like a cool thing this guy has going on and I was planning to leave my boards there.

Cheers!

Damothediver's picture
Damothediver's picture
Damothediver Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 8:01am

Sorry, took a little while to get back to you......I cant figure out how to send a private message and don't really want to paste this guys name and email on the front page.........maybe send one to me so I can reply??

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 8:11am

Damodiver ,the private messages no longer exist.......lost when swellnet updated to the new site.

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 8:39am

If you quote someone's post , write you're message , post it and then delete it ASAP , then the person you are quoting will receive a copy of the post in their Email but to the rest of the site it will be nothing more than a fascinating dot that can be stared at for hours. You must replace your message with something ie a full stop in order to delete it.

Damothediver's picture
Damothediver's picture
Damothediver Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 9:01am

???!!!??? something different to stare at.......................

Damothediver's picture
Damothediver's picture
Damothediver Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 9:16am

Thanks for the help guys

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 9:34am

.

groundswell's picture
groundswell's picture
groundswell Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 11:48am

Oops cabo blanco not first few waves, first few of second section after rob says some crap poetry bit.

Theres a wedgy takeoff point break that looks delicious.

waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777's picture
waxmonkey777 Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 at 11:53am

Sweet as got the guys details. Thanks for the help lads I will be heading up that way so hopefully I can link up with him. Been frothing on castles in the sky this morning. Making me thirsty.