Chicama, Peru

I was just there last month for 10 days. It's a very mellow town - Muy Tranquilo. I'm a goofy footer, and long rippable lefts are pretty much what i live for, but in all honesty i was disappointed and wouldn't go back.

Its a huge long point, very sheltered from swell, which has to wrap and wrap into the best parts of the point losing size the whole way. We hit a nasty flat spell in the middle of the trip, with just waist high sets for several days. I wish i had brought a mini simmons for these days. At the end of the trip a solid southern hemi swell hit but the wave was still only like shoulder/head high and idiots seemed to come out of nowhere and fill the lineup. The wave has really been whored out by the local places, stuffing the lineup with boats (i counted 8 at one point) catering to aggro SUPers and beginner longboarders taking them right to the top of the point after every wave and dumping them into oncoming sets.

With all that said, i got some amazing waves and was able to work on my frontside roundhouse turns like never before, scored a few sessions with 2-3 guys out in the middle of the day (the wind never really comes up or is blocked by the huge cliffs that line the point, so its pretty much always clean) and if you bring the right board, even at 3 feet the wave has amazing shape for several hundred meters and lets you just rip one turn after the other.

 

I really have no issue with any kind of surf craft, if they respect and understand the dynamic of a surf lineup. Some of the BS going on at Chicama was over the top aggravating, and it was basically all being done by boat operators and catering to greedy longboarders and SUPs.

Still its an amazing wave. Do your research. I've been there once, what do i know. Maybe the week we were there was some kind of holiday for bankers and lawyers in Argentina and France and they all went to Peru that week with their wads of cash and SUPs.

 

On a similar note... When scheduling trips I always try to check the holidays and school schedules. My first time in PR was nuts because school had just let out for Christmas break. It was much more calm when I went back the next time.

 

Did you take any pictures? If so, post a few. The place looks amazing in magazines.

Any other good waves in the area? There's nothing worse than boatloads of jacktards clogging the line up.

 

Yeah i shot a few pics. It was a long rocky walk from where we stayed to the surf break, so kind of inconvenient to shot pics and surf. My feet got pretty tore up. Typical set wave on one of the better days during the week. This guy is near one of the main takeoff points, and the wave will pretty much run down the point at the same size / shape as the section he is on for about 400 meters. He'll be on this wave for about a minute if he wants/doesnt fall. The guy getting into the water is getting in where i got in nearly every session...long dance over nasty rocks.

 

^doesn't look too crowded that day. Also, can you go up and hit it, or are you chasing sections cutting back and doing it again? Also, Also, how would you compare that wave to Pavones?

 

It wasn't always crowded, but that picture might well have been taken minutes before 8 guys were dumped into the lineup right at the top of the point off two boats.

You can hit the lip somewhat hard if you time it right, but its a pretty soft wave and if you throw too much at it, you could push right through the back or just bog. The beauty of the wave is how it lets you just string turns together and really start thinking about connecting turns back into the pocket, while carrying speed out of the turns to stay with the steep section of the wave. I've never been to Pavones. From video i've seen, Pavones is more racy, and looks way more exciting.

 

Yea, it looks fun as hell but a little soft. The fact that you can ride for so long always intrigued me. I would break Panvones into 1/4s. When it's good, the river mouth outside is an easy softish drop and offers a good turn or two, then your racing to next section. You make that and it gets phat for a cutty, then it can get hollow and steep, you make that then you have th hook at the restaurant (I always like those two middle sections, beyond that the inside can be racy until you turn straight b4 rock.). Although there is nothing like making it from river mouth all the way b/c of the variety through the ride. I have probably surfed it a total of 18-20 days over multiple trips, I have only made the complete wave setting up perfectly 5-6 times. Those walks back are the best! Ugh I need a surf trip l!!!

 

yaaaawwwwnnnnn.........come on, guys....if the local boat guys are dropping off loads of surfers, you might conclude that there are better points than that elsewhere.
Unless, of course, you like surfing with dozens of your best strangers........

 

Yes, you travel the ungodly amount of time to navigate to bum**** Peru to surf the point "around the corner" from Chicama.

 

Point is, moron, don't go to Peru.
There are millions of other better places that don't take as long to get there, and some that take more. Tavarua, perhaps?? And I am sure there are better points in Peru than Chicama as well--you just haven't had them marketed to you.

 

I surfed Chicama last year. It is a mellow, mushy, wave, but it was super fun. Yes a boatload of surfers can crowd the peak but the rip is so strong that nobody stays at the peak for long and there's always a section to catch as you drift down. Lots of lazy surfers means that the wave is nearly empty at dawn every day.
Another amazing thing about this wave is that as the swell increases the wave just lines up more and breaks longer. The actual wave height doesn't increase to more than head high.
Don't doubt the naysayers. Chicama is one of the surfing wonders of the world and worth a trip. And if the crowds bog you down, there are LOTS of waves to explore on the coast. Pacasmayo is another famous wave in the region that picks up more size and has a hollower shape. have fun!

 

Really??
Then WHY go??? Long trip for head high wave.......

 

You really should lay off posting 8000 times on a website dedicated to the sport you apprently participate in and spend some of that time doing some minor research so you sound less like a dumb kook.

Back to the OP, it's really an amazing place to see and experience, like busquelo says, it's a freak of nature, absolutely one of wonders of the surfing world. While the wave lacks some power, the sheer length and ripableness of it make it absolutely world class. But as Mitchell was saying, you really have to mentally prepare youself for 2 big factors.

1. The crowds and boats are infuriating
2. It takes ALOT of swell to make it work, and that swell has to be SW. The majority of big swells they get from the straight S do not even show there. With that in mind you are better off staying down in Huanchaco or up in Pacasmaya and travelling to Chicama when you see a swell coming. Better yet, you could even stay in the Lima region and hop a domestic flight up to Trujillo for a swell, as there are many more options and a better swell window in the Lima region.

 

Let's see....you call me a dumb kook because of my proposals/commentary.
Then you reiterate (that means repeat, moron) exactly the points I was making!!

So who is the dumb kook now, dumb kook??
hahahahahah!!
"Stupid is as stupid does....."

 

#abandoner

 

That corner of Peru (mancora) works on north swells, so you would have to go during our winter.