Some of us are getting out of the cold. It seems any time i talk with my buddies about a surf adventure, we always look into coldest, most miserable time (btwn January-February at least here in Carolinas) to book a trip. We don't like to plan btwn Sept-December because of 'cane season and water still be warm thru the end of the year. So I'd like to get your guys' take on where in the summer months do you look to fly/drive to surf (factor out the crowds), even knowing you may or may not get waves. I'm looking at going back to Southern Cali because of its consistency, and the water is just bout wetsuit cold any month of the year there anyways. What spots in the summer would you reckon your chances booking blindly months ahead?
I've been really wanting to go camping up in Acadia National Park in Maine, and would love to catch a wave while Im up there. but camping would be the main reason. Looking at late August. My plans have changed for next month, I'm flying into Chicago for a quick weekend, not bringing a board. I have to head back in June, another wedding, driving for that one and staying for a week, bringing the board and hoping to check off lake surfing from the bucket list. I know my chances aren't as good as they would be in winter, but I remember a lot of storms off the lake in late spring, even a little wind swell knee slapper would make me happy.
I know we were kind of talking about this on the other thread but the Pacific side of CR pumps during our summer. Big storms in the southern hemi sending swell. You are guaranteed good surf. I was there for the last half of july and first half of August and there was fun waves every single day. It's also much less crowded that time of year.
Cabo San Lucas. The place is a south swell magnet, and it sits in a place that gets continuous south swell. Even if it's a tiny south, almost everything in the area will be breaking to some degree. That being said, Cabo can be a bit brutal in the summer. Just leaving your hotel room for 15-20 minutes can easily produce 2-4 litres of ball sweat.
Hoping to get back to El Salvador next summer. Its cheap direct flights/quiet little coastal villages/world class waves. For me, that's the trifecta. I love So Cal, but don't relish going from summer traffic/lineup crowds at home to worse summer traffic/lineup crowds on vacation.
Yeah, I'm kind of curious as well. I've heard stories of El Salvador before, both good and bad. I know they have surf camps, I'm assuming they are safe?
La Libertad/K59 area is about 45 minutes, Punta Mango/Las Flores and the spots "out east" is about 1.5 hours. The roads are fine, rural small towns the entire way. Never had a single issue down there, never felt unsafe. Walked all over the damn coast during the day, I did not go out to the bars at night. Not that I would have been scared to, just enjoyed a few cold ones on the beach every night right in our village with a few locals hanging out. I really think the surf destination section of ES has been mellow for at least the past 10-15 years. I don't know anyone whose gone there and run into problems I've only been twice, so I'm no expert. I'd go back in a hot minute, and plan to.
Just to add to that.. We stayed near la libertad for 2 weeks. Lots of good food..surf..and locals. We also didn't go out much after dark. Never had to pay off the policia. We just surfed ate and drank. Knowing some Spanish is helpful
Mexico/Central America (Pacific side). Costa, Nica, El Salv, Panama, Mex all fire in the summer. There is every type of accommodation you can imagine. I have not had problems (note: never been to Panama) except in El Salv. Butt it wasn't criminal activity. It was gastrointestinal. That place screwed my stomach for a month. Not everyone got the ole backside mudslide but it hit me bad (twice).. perhaps I am puss puss
I have been to Panama, and the only real problem I've ever had in Central America or Mexico was in Panama. I boarded a bus for what was supposed to be a 5 hour ride, like noon - 5 p.m. Carrying boards, gear, etc. Bus left 4 hours late, might not have been the right bus to begin with (it went to our destination but made tons of stops after being led to believe there was an express bus) Bus broke down, driver ends up continuing with no headlights, driver bribed cop to let him drive the bus at night with no headlights, next cop pulled him over and wasn't playing the bribe game. sat in the middle of nowhere (bus was hot so we sat in the cow pasture) from about 10 p.m - 1 a.m. Another bus shows up half the size...At this point I have no confidence we are even going in the right direction. We get back on and I keep asking the new bus driver how far it is to (whatever the village is we are wanting to get off at). He just nods his head like "STFU gringo...I was banging my mamacita when the bus company called me at 1 a.m to bail your ass out". I'm sure his night was as bad as mine was. We reach our destination village in the middle of nowhere at 3 o'clock in the morning. It all worked out, but the stress of having NO idea where the hell you are going in the middle of the night. People in Panama were friendly and chill. I'd go back and surf the Pacific side in a heartbeat. There are TONS of breaks, and empty ones at that.
We almost crossed the border from CR into Panama on the Caribbean side when on my first road trip through the country. We were at a town called Puerto Viejo, just a few miles from Panama. Another surfer said his friend had crossed and had not been heard from since, his folks were flying down to look for him and that scared us off. We didn't score the Carib side, it was pretty flat, did a lot of snorkeling, partying. I randomly ran into a former neighbor who helped build the hotel we were staying at. What a small world sometimes. There was a lot more coke there than other towns we were at, and a lot of locals had habits, but we always felt safe. There is a doc called Searching for Captain Zero (actually a book turned into a doc) about a guy who goes there to surf but developed a habit and never left, lives in the jungle and hustles. Crazy story. I would love to check out Panama, El Salvador, Nica, ect.. but would probably go about it a little different than I would have when I was younger.
Cancelled CR due to time limit issues, so we used those credits to book Southern California late July. We'll fly into LA and leave out of San Diego. It's actually cheaper to leave car in San Diego than back in LA if you can believe that. Going to spend several days at each location, but may not book any places until about two weeks out when we get a feel of what waves may do. Just under a week, but we're excited as all hell for this one
