I am headed to San Juan to surf next week and cant friggn wait. I am planning on renting from La Ocho surfshop and surfing La Ocho for only 3 days. I didn't know if anybody had ever surfed San juan other than La Ocho? I am pretty adventurous and like a sketchy wave here and there. I have been to La perla and felt like I was either going to get shot or die trying to get back on the rocks. This is the only other place in SJ i have surfed. Any help on another spot or better place to rent would be awesome. Thanks ALL.
speak to some of the local boys in the lineup and they can point you in the right direction, there are a few spots. PR kids can be kind of pricks sometimes, so just stand your own and they can help you out. I forget where the spots are.
Check out Luquillo. Not sure where you're staying but its like a 20 minute drive East of San Juan. Pretty nice little cove there that picks up some swell. Last time I was there it was straight onshore but still looked like some fun, rampy waves.
The Bull. Airports, check wanna surf, not to many secret spots anymore. Ask around. Good luck at Chatarra, great wave razor sharp. I do know one spot further west my friend Steve Fitzpatrick took me to a few years back. No one goes too, surfed it by myself while he took some shots from the hill but I keeping that one to ourselves.
check out pine-grove on days that la Ocho is either too big or too small (but beware, it gets crazy crowded). Pine-grove is close to la ocho (walking distance) so having wheels is not necessary. La ocho surf-shop will hook you up, ask for Peter. Have fun mane, PR is an amazing place.
I'll be spending a few days in San Juan next month (Veterans Day weekend), staying close by the Airport. The trip isn't a surf trip, but if I can sneak out for a few hours, I was thinking of checking out La Ocho. The beach is an 8 minute drive from our hotel. Does anybody have good advice for renting a car in the greater San Juan area and driving around? We'll mostly be sightseeing. Any tips/suggestions/lessons learned are welcome.
Snoop around Dorado... a few little gems, some I'd call pretty sketchy, but worth it if you got the huevos.
La Ocho is a fun break. you can rent a car right at the airport fairly cheap. driving around isn't much differnt then most major US cities. Walking around old San juan is a good time. cool bars and resturants and sites pretty much are right next to each other. its almost better not to have a plan becuase you won't stick to it. Just get out of the car and start walking around and adventure will find you. It can get a little sketchy aftre dark but not to bad really if your in a resturant thats serves Mofungo, order it. its awesome.
I surfed Chatarra a couple of years ago. Sick wave, but not woth the hassle. I got one of the best barrels of my life and still had a lame session. Do like Surftb15 says... I found a couple of real fun waves from looking around and asking where it was good. As long as you're cool to them they should help.
I surfed the San Juan area in December of 1999, and La Ocho (back then everone called it Parada Ocho - Bus Stop #8) was the best spot by far of the two spots I tried out. The other was Airports. It was quite a paddle to make it out to the lineup (several hundred yards), but once I got there it was 6-8 feet the first day and 8-10 the second. The wave was well formed, not too steep, and easy to catch with just about any board. I was riding a 7'2" Frierson shape (sort of a rocket fish) back then and I had a blast. Have a great time!
La ocha and other "in town" breaks do their thing very rarely. IF you are lucky enough to catch that good luck navigating the crowd. Mind your own, there are some unsavory characters in old san juan. I'd hate to see a brother get stabbed. chattara and surrounding areas (there are dozens of waves near chattara) half hour to the east and if you go west about the same distance check out dorado lots of sketchy shallow reef waves with "teeth" in that area. You will do a lot of driving and probably get lost / vibed / attacked by urchins etc. Personally I'd keep an eye on the conditions and take a day trip to rincon or aguadilla when appropriate... That is where you get those perfect blue water reef breaks that make PR the surfing destination it is. Only about 2.5-3 hours drive from san juan. The whole island is the size of Connecticut. Happy hunting, I'll be there this time next month
