The El Cheepo Surf TRips

You could probably get waynetheinsaaaane to drive you south of the border to your own private break in Baja. On the other hand, inside that van may be the highest price you'll ever pay for a surf trek. Disregard!

 

In 1998, I had $5,000 saved up, quit my job and took off for as long as it would last me. I did 7.5 months in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Cuba. So that's roughly $22 a day but really a lot less because I was also paying COBRA health insurance, which was actually my biggest expense. And I took 6 weeks of Spanish classes.

 

3 months in costa rica

camped and took the bus places

biggest expense was getting there and eating every day

 

I have a friend that goes to Peru quite often, he saves a few thousand for it and stays months there...swears by it...he says the people are awesome, food is great and relatively safe as far as travaling in a third world country goes. He does say however, that the waves are a little finicky...but at the same time, everywhere is like that, but when it goes off, close to a world class wave.

 

I lived pretty insanely and came back in quite a state. Mostly ate rice and local stuff from local markets cooked on a camp stove. But also, it was 1998 and 3 of those months were in Ecuador, where the economy was tanking and the then-strong US dollar went a looong way. In Cuba I didn't use dollars, but converted them on the street to the now extinct Cuban peso, which foreigners were technically banned from using. It was like monopoly money.

The moral of the story is an understanding of local macro-economics can stretch your dollars. The worse shape the country is in, the longer you can make your money last.

 

if you want to SURF - really - then peru has the best bang4buck. i mean really surf.

 

Peru has some of the best waves in the entire world. Insane spots I have always had Peru on the buck list.

 

im jealous of all of you especially the guy who spent 7.5 months in SA. My cheapest was costa rica for a month

 

For real, Get a $99 southwest flight from Charleston or JAX to San Diego. Bring a soft roof rack. Rent a beater from the airport or from a junkie off craigslist (usually $150-200 per week).... Drive over the border and go here. http://www.coyotecals.com/ - Its about 4 hours down and the directions get super sketchy, I.E. make a left at the cactus on the second dirt road and drive until you see the ocean.

I think it was about $10 per day. We would stay there about 2 weeks at a time, usually during the Baja 1000. At any rate, we spent all day surfing, fishing for dinner. Picked mussels most nights right off the reef out front. There are tons of Stone Crabs down there.... The owners actually drive a couple hours to the nearest town each day to a market, get enough to cook dinner. I want to say it's $5 a head if you want to eat "family meal"... Its like a hostel but not....

But for $10 per night, you are ON THE WATER, with world class surf in every direction. A rivermouth about a mile from there goes BONKERS! There are multiple reefs and points within 5 miles either way... THERE WILL BE NO ONE OUT. You will have that entire stretch of Baja to yourself usually....

There is one little shack in "town". Give the young man $5, and say Quiero Mota. He will disappear for a moment, but then return with what looks like a pillow case full of funk... The only restaurant in the town is in this ladies living room. You have to walk up and knock on her door. She cooked us up FEASTS back in the day. She even had the real mexican bottles sodas.

So, once you rent your car and airfare, you can live off $100 per week down there for sure. You will spend all day cooking beans and hunting for your own dinner, but it's really only a good idea to surf about 8 hours per day. Spend the rest of the time getting your food supply up....

That is the cheapest trips I have ever taken. Leave with $500, come back two weeks later with $300. And have surfed all day, every day the whole time. Points, Reefs. All that. And not running all over the country and trying to find sh**. Make sure to drive during the day though. And always have some cans of Tecate in the back in case the "kids" with machine guns running the last check point on the way down are in a bad mood.

 

Where do you see $99 flights to SAN....? I see $900-1200 RT flights CHS - SAN on SW.

 

My buddy just flew from SD to BWI for $99 he said. Flying from around here is tricky. Gotta check Charleston, Savannah INT, hilton head and Jacksonville. A flight from BWI to Savannah can be $289 each way and the same flight into Charleston is like $109.

Just saying, take the cheapest flight, with 25 connections from One of the three major airports around here. You may even be able to fly into TJ, but I wouldn't mess with trying to rent cars and sh** down there.

I have just been looking at flights to PR from every airport, even Atlanta and NONE of them are cheap. Same with CR and NIC and places. You are looking at somewhere between $500-$800. And you gotta get a rental car and pay around $100 a night, yada, yada yada. I just think those "quick" trips down to PR and places often add up real quick.... If he takes that stretch of road down to Baja, you run out of places to spend your money. You are out in the middle of no where with waves, and hopefully enough food that you can stay as long as you want. The rest is history. Completely off the grid.

 

Man I gotta ask the dudes that have been down to Mexico in the past two years...how nervous were you? Those cartels have made kidnapping pats a pastime, and they love a quick ransom dollar. God knows the embassy doesn't help when you're south of the border.

 

Okay, I found him one for $189 each way, Delta. From Atlanta. Orbitz.

 

It's been like that since 2006 when the Felix Cartel Fells and the Sinaloas gained 1/3 control. Everyone celebrated this big victory, and in the following years, bandits from every corner of Mexico moved in on the Baja/TJ territory, which is the mostly highly trafficked drug intersection on earth. There was no rule. A hand full of American's died. It was nothing major, but there were messages sent to the US and the Cartels told everyone to stay out. They killed their own people. They destroyed the already fragile third world economy they had there. Blood shed in the streets, but by 2010, things were cooled off again. Going to TJ was never what it used to be. Surfers still fled to Baja, day in and day out.

American's just got smarted about how they travel, where they stay and when they go. There has never been a market for general "kidnapping" in the Baja area. Or all of mexico. It is only individuals with money or power that are of any value. They don't just go randomly snatching up Americans. If you are down there flaunting wealth, they yes. But the only real danger has always been losing your belonging at the drop of a hat. Poor people down there, cartels or not have always been quick to relieve you of your worldly possessions. Usually with a gun and band of people, but there is no violence. It's nothing but a few petty thieves mix with a ton of good people. Don't start nothing. Won't be nothing. People aren't going to waste their time, energy and freedom (because the cartels will kill them if it wasn't an order from their organization) just to hop tie you, drive you out somewhere, and find out you have no money, and nobody loves you. At that point, you aren't even worth the cost of a bullet.

Since all that went down, I have still been to Baja dozens of times. I just always drive during the day. I stay at the same hotel in Ensenada every time, that lets you lock your car in their courtyard gates so it's right in from of your room and secure. I don't go out to the shady, side street, alley bars that have "Donkey Show" in the window. Don't drink the water. Always watch the bartender pour EVERY DRINK you get. Trust me.

But its the same ol' sh**. You are no more likely to get robbed down there today than you were 15 years ago. The drug cartels aren't just riding up and down the streets with AKs and women, shooting into the air. You don't just stop to get gas and see a "gang" down there. It's not like that. If you encounter a drug cartel, you probably got lost... They aren't out looking for trouble.

Their bosses kill them for that. NOBODY used to mess with gringos in downtown TJ while the Felix Brother ran sh**. If you raped an american, they would kill your whole family. If you commit a crime that draws negative attention, they would have your head. This is because the Felix Brothers were in deep with the government and the politicians, so he helped their local economy. They let him do his thing, he paid them handsomely, they actually acted as the general guardians of the TJ area. People forget, a lot of dangerous places in this world, sometimes need a dictator and sometimes need some bad people to get involved to make sure the politicians aren't screwing everyone.

Anyway, Mexico aint bad, unless you are very wealthy or of political influence.

 

if u ever go on unemployment u will learn.I had a job I was making 540 a week,got laid off and got 411 every 2 weeks.it sucks but u can make it work.just stay away from booze,drugs,and ciggs and youll be alright

 

Not seeing that. What dates...? Flight numbers? And are you sure these are actual flights, and not those teaser totally BS come-ons from Orbitz that say "$189 from ATlanta to San Digo, book it now!" And when you go to book it, there's no way in hell that price exists.

 

I never experienced any cartels in mehico,but I never been to Baja.i always figured only by the border is a warzone.I know Baja is a smuggling route so I would steer clear of that area.u go down to Puerto,u see more white people than mexicans

 

I just searched the entire month of July on orbitz, any time, any departure. I didn't click all the way through to the checkout phase. But It said $189 each way with 2 layovers each way. Seemed real. I have never been duped booking on orbitz. Didn't look at the layovers. Doesn't matter though. I didn't even look at LAX. He could probably get in for a lot cheaper flying into LA. Either way, a flight from the SE to southern CA is half the going rate of anywhere else I would rather go. I am going to PR next and I am excited about it, but its on the companies watch, so I am not even really looking at the costs. I will have to take which ever flight they give me and stay wherever they let me stay. Ohh well. I would fly out to SoCal with the Blaster and show him around mexico, but I might never come back... So that wouldn't be good.