Packing for a surf trip

hey emass, dont forget to bring your arm floaties

 

Bubble wrap won't save your deck. Reason being, the baggage chimps heave the 60 lb suitcases in on top of your board bag, and the corner of one of those behemoths will punch straight through bubbly wrap.

Far better to wrap the rails in pipe wrap, as DL has mentioned, and put a thin layer of cardboard and / or more split-open pipe wrap over your deck to distribute impacts, then finish it off with the plastic wrap to give your board a bit of spatial protection from luggage corners.

 

For this, your vewwwy first surf twipp, you should purchase only a one-way ticket. You don't want to miss any incoming swells, right...?

 

People missed a couple things here but lots of good advice>>>>If you have more than a medium sized backpack and you boardbag you have over packed. All of this stuff I mention is SMALL!

1) headlamp
2) COPY of passport if yours gets nicked
3) Dont bring a towel bring a sarong....1/4 the weight, 1/4 the space, dries in 1/4 the time
4) mini speakers http://www.amazon.com/iHome-iHM60GY...1376706409&sr=1-1&keywords=mini+ipod+speakers

5) an aux cable/fm transmitter if you are renting a car---clearly music is important to me
6) Two sturdy straps....Your boards can be lashed to the top of any car with these as long as they are in their bag and packed well. Must be packed in board bag
7) A crappy blanket for the cold plane ride that you can throw away when you get off the plane
8) Ding putty (FCS all deck) not sun cure. Lasts longer, easier to use, not as messy. Pack in board bag
9) Reading material...best if it is on a tablet of some sort

have fun!

 

Allergy medicine

 

Don't bring antibiotics. You can buy them without a prescription at any pharmacy in CA for 1/4 the price of the US. In fact, get some on your trip to bring back. Also, if you are super white like me, you want to think about having a surf hat. Most of them are kookish with a chin strap etc. I just make a leash round a trucker hat and put that around my neck. Rarely lose the hat anyway and it has stood up to some crazy heavy days at places like Catalina and some remote Mexican beachies. have fun

 

good point i forgot about that.

 

For ES, you will definitely need to have access to antibiotics. I have not been there but have seen the months it takes for lower extremity wounds to heal on my friends who went. You also need to make sure you have something you can pull out urchin spines with as well. Hydrogen peroxide and alcohol for your ears is also a good idea.

The river that empties out at the top of Punta Roca is basically La Libertad's sewer system. It's a world-class wave in 3rd world water.

 

yo bring some tums, that rice and beans going to make you ssssshhhhhhhiiiiiiiiittttttttttt. Activia got nothin' on central american cuisine.

Speaking of, bring your own roll of like quad ply tp or even some baby wipes. You will see why as soon as you grab a sheet on the john. they use this super recycled single ply BS, i don't know man, ticos cray.

Flash lights. Bring a GOOD pocket sized flash light. Street lights are rare and you want to be able to see what is in your path. Snakes come out to absorb the heat left in the asphalt at night. I came about 6' from a fur de lance but luckily I could see a reflection in it's beady little eyes so I swung wide. A bite from one of them, 6 hours from a hospital, fahgetaboutit! Snakes down there are no joke, I'm lucky that one didn't get my drunk gringo ass just on general principal.

you looking for trees? Find it in the day time. The other type of snake is out at night.

If it's late, at a busy club, and a tica wants to "dance", odds are at least 50/50 that you are probably being propositioned. Bring some rubbas.

boards... well you mentioned central america, not cr specifically. You don't need to bring a board to CR. I'd even go as far as to call it silly. Panama, nica, el Salvador, etc are different story. If you are making a proper road trip bring one. If you are flying into CR, just rent, man. There are a dozen shops in Jaco that rent really nice boards. I hate seeing my sticks get beat up, I rarely bring boards anywhere these days.

bring me?

 

TSA intentionally punctured the bottom of my buddy's FCD Fark one time... to make sure there weren't drugs in it. Farking idiots!

Seriously, 6 punctures.

 

Hey I don't care what you pack going, I care what you're bringing back. Man, I am so sick of people traveling to Central America, the Carribean, and South America and not briging anything good back.

Hey, how many of youse guys are on adderral? Spicoli, are you on adderral? Just as Mr. Hand was convinced everyone was smoking dope, I am convinced that everyone is either on adderral, xanax, ritalin or ambien. I wasn't so sure before, but I am now. I know the younger, pharmacuetical generations are fer sure.

Hey, I'm thinking of doing a sentimental trip up to Long Beach Island soon, I got my chaffuer on board........sob don't like to go out of county, just like the Duke boys. I wonder what I should bring. Any suggestions?

 

Bring cash for those sweet Ron Jon stickers.

 

Yeah, fo sure.

Can't wait to get The Sandpaper. I don't fish, but Jay Mann is quite possibly the coolest dude in Ocean County besides Mr. Sniffer.

I'll have to be careful, though, some of them LBI locals fancy themselves as tough......It's sad to see LBI/Manahawkin/Tuckerton/Little Egg fall to the dope scourge. Though they are a good ten years behind the rest of the state. I bet ya, Ocean Acres is totally white trashed-out these days.....probably Beach Haven West, too. Bunch of white kids, wearing wife beaters who think they're tough because they drive to Atlantic City or Egg Harbor City. Crazy kids. Watch out for Yurgel, he's out again.

 

this is the best thread ever

 

no crushed ice. ever. cubes or the round ones with holes only. bottled water is everywhere.

reef booties may help, but the locals will heckle you. it is a machismo culture after all. just suffer without em and you'll forget about em in a day or so. if you do wear em for the rock dance, just stuff em in your waist band behind you like Tom Carroll once your in the lineup. then your cool. bring the liquid bandaid stuff in case you cut your feet.

you don't need any shots or any of that. just don't surf around punta roca with any open cuts. that's hep city. if you think you need antibiotics where ever you'll be staying probably has something. hit up a pharmacy if you have to. also, your ears will be fine. eat the hottest stuff you can find. especially serrano peppers. at least a few everyday. helps kill bacteria in your stomach. it works. i've never been sick in mex doing this.

i know this sounds mean, but don't be a pilgrim dork and bring sh!t to give kids or whatever. at least around where you'll be staying. you'll be the new favorite beggar target. remember, to them your just a walking ATM. you should stay low-profile and just be a surf monk. do however bring a really thin bike lock if you have/can find one that can fit through the zipper hole on your board bag, or whatever works. keep your stuff locked all the time.

bring a good wave board....gonna be swell right off the plane.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm calling troll. Dude, seriously, how is it that you've only been surfing a couple months and you have a stash of every kind of leash and still haven't figured out what size leash to use for a certain length board.

Do everyone a favor and learn how to surf before you go giving gringo's a bad name.

This dude has to be NJShredMachine...I'm convinced.