Hey yall,
i’m planning a trip to peru in june or july. any general information I should know? Any advice? Anyone been?
If you have some good stories, or some things to share, please shoot me a pm.
Unless you are going surfing. In that case, just pm me when you get home.
Thanks.
The surf is surreal and the people are very kind and beautiful. It’s cheap and tons of fun.
It’s so good that you may never come back…
Hey poser516
A friend of mine “Bob” has been to Peru twice and loves it. Apparently everything Plus One said about the place is true. Bob knows a shaper / surf guide down there. He has this guy shape him a board and it is waiting for him upon arrival. At the end of the trip he sells it back. If your interested I can try to get you some contact info. I know its a friend of a friend of a guy on Swaylocks kind of deal, but you asked for it. I’ve got some pictures of the boards someplace. I’ll try to post’em. BTW if you do go, be prepared to dance… a lot.
.
eat LOADS of ceviche - the Peruvians make it the best.
Ceviche!!! hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, unreal. Check your pm Poser516.
Go to Paco y Cecilia’s in Punta Hermosa, Playa Senoritas, best ceviche EVER. Great folks, Paco and his sons are surfers.
i could be put against the wall and shot for saying it where i’m from - but the peruvians take ceviche to an art form. It’s like a meal there. The best kitchen in South Am, for my money.
we’re also thinkin about going to peru, what about renting a car? Is it worth it, or is public transport good enough to explore the coast?
Be careful. Kidnappings are more common towards the north. Be advised:
You will love the surf in Peru. The dusty desert landscape and the gloomy weather along the coast… not so much. The mountains, however, are incredably beautiful. My trip was definitely an experperience to remember. The Peruvian surfers are great folks. The police on the Pan Am. highway are lame. Hiring A Peruvian guide (one that surfs) to drive you around is a good idea. We hired a guy named Pulpo (Octopus). He’s crazy, but you will have a lot of fun with him.
Hi ya, don’t know if you are going to Lima or not, but the south america explorers club can be a good point to pick up general information http://www.saexplorers.org/clubhouses/lima/. Also, have a quick look at a recent South American Handbook. My info is way out of date as I was there over 10 years ago.
You should definitely go to Peru if you have the opportunity. The variety and quality of waves is incredible. Good food, good people, amazing ancient ruins right by the beach in some areas. Check out these guys from Peru Surf Guides…
http://www.perusurfguides.com/
They are really knowledgable and great guys as well. If you go, do not miss a little known left north of Lima (and it’s not Chicama).
Hey.
thanks for all the advice. i checked the travel board page that was sent and it had a lot of info. sort of freaked me out a bit though, too.
Surf guides are not really my style. planning to rent an suv and sleep in it as i surf up the coast. probably going to spend 7 or 8 days driving north from lima surfing, then hike machu.
what’s an acceptable air fare?
Surf guides are not really my style. planning to rent an suv and sleep in it as i surf up the coast. probably going to spend 7 or 8 days driving north from lima surfing, then hike machu.
I went to Peru four years ago, so maybe my experience is out-of-date; but, I don’t recommend driving yourself around coastal Peru. We drove from Punta Hermosa to Chicama and back over a seven day period. On that trip we were pulled over by the police at least 25 times (no joke). Each time we were pulled over our guide had to fork out the Peruvian monetary equivalent of $2 to $3. We paid up-front so these payments came out of his pocket. I imagine that if we didn’t have a Peruvian driving us, then the cost per pull-over would have been much higher. One time we got pulled over and our guide didn’t have any small change left. He wasnt about to ask the cop to break a big bill, so he offered him a half eaten bag of sugar cookies. The cop sighed, took the cookies, had a bite, and waved us on.
I said above that our guide was crazy. I meant that in the sense that if you were confronted by bad guys, that he was well prepared to defend you. We did encounter some bad guys, and … we’ll leave it at that.
I have been surfing in a lot of countries: Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, South Africa, and Indo. Peru was definitely the most intense in terms of my feelings of personal safety. I highly recommend you get a guide. You’ll probably end up saving money in the long run, and you will be supporting the Peruvian surfing community.
Also… without a guide you probably won’t be able to find that little point North of Lima, mentioned above.
I was down in Lima, Peru in May-June, 1995 on a ocean survey. Almost at exactly the time our plane touched down in Lima the Sendera Luminosa (spelling?) (Shining Path) blew up the bottom floor (the casino) of the hotel (Maria Angola) in Mira Flores that we were going to stay at. No one was injured as they had cleared everyone out first, but it made a big mess of things.
We stayed at a neat little place with a nice courtyard a few blocks away. When we first arrived there, the concierge said: “Don’t worry. They do this about every 9 months, so you’re safe for a while.” The next day, while we were being driven to what would be our temporary office there was a big billboard in the center of a large traffic circle. It read: “We are at war, the order is to shoot!” (BTW no way would I consider driving in Lima!!)
About every third entrance to a building in the commercial area had an armed off-duty army guy standing guard (and making some additional money on the side as their pay was really low). For example, we worked off a Navy ex-mine sweeper and the captain of the vessel told us he made $39 /month (which he supplemented by making and selling leather belts). And it wasn’t just the engineering offices, etc. that were guarded. Even the Jack-in-the-Box had a guy on the roof armed with a shotgun watching the parking lot and building.
Even so, it was a fun trip (although my supervisor ate something that he definitely shouldn’t have and ended up overnight in the hospital).
mtb
(BTW no way would I consider driving in Lima!!)
Man, driving in Lima is great. Especially when you get back to the states. You find yourself driving 90 in residential areas!
The first time I went back in the late '80’s, we stayed a month. My sister in law’s 16 year old nephew surfed, so I had a daily surf guide, I just had to do the driving. We went up north to this little reef one day (which is a long, crazy story in itself) and on the way back, I took a wrong turn and started going towards “Centro de Lima.” The kid starts freaking out, “we can’t go there, we can’t go there!!” I go, “why not?” He tells me that we’ll likely get robbed or killed or both.
So I’m freakin’ now and start yelling at him, “why didn’t you tell me not to turn there?” He goes, “you drive like you know where you’re going!” 
Luckily, we found a turnaround and got the hell out of there!
All I can say is that: Maybe I (being an old man ) won’t get into as much trouble as you young-uns did. I am going to run the coast in '08 from that secret left to Chicama and the "Sunset-like " right in the North. Wish me the best. I’ll take any info on the PM. Lowel PS–Plan on leaving whatever boards I bring there with whoever helps me along the way.
In case you run into Sendero Luminiso, learn some Quecha: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/8750/EngQheDic.html
You will love the surf in Peru. The dusty desert landscape and the gloomy weather along the coast… not so much. The mountains, however, are incredably beautiful. My trip was definitely an experperience to remember. The Peruvian surfers are great folks. The police on the Pan Am. highway are lame. Hiring A Peruvian guide (one that surfs) to drive you around is a good idea. We hired a guy named Pulpo (Octopus). He’s crazy, but you will have a lot of fun with him.
I go every year now. Next trip will be my 6th time there. Wouldn’t even consider going without going to the north. Also wouldn’t consider going without having Octopuss as our guide. This guy will keep you(and your things) safe, and find you the best waves. I have found another indo only it’s over sand…
Interesiting reading before you make any final decisions
http://magicseaweed.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10621