Ok Mark this one’s for you. I am almost 40 years old and have lived and surfed in Orange County, Ca. most of my life. Sadly to say my biggest surf adventures have been Jalama or Carlsbad. I have always wanted to go on a trip to Mexico and camp on the beach, and mingle with the locals but I’ve been to afraid. Bandito’s or corrupt Federales would certainly harm me in some way. Yet even my little sister used to go down and party with her girl friends. I feel like such a pussy. Can anyone offer any advice about a surf trip to Mexico in particular and any where in general. Also I would love to hear about everyone’s favorite surfari’s. Come on everybody, I know you’ve all got some great experience that you’ll never forget and it makes for a great story. IT’S SHOW AND TELL TIME!
I never felt comfortable down in Baja until below Ensenada. After San Quintin I felt like I was home. Don’t let your fear keep you from an amazing place with lots of good surf.
Roger
Ok Mark this one’s for you. I am almost 40 years old and have lived and surfed in Orange County, Ca. most of my life. Sadly to say my biggest surf adventures have been Jalama or Carlsbad. I have always wanted to go on a trip to Mexico and camp on the beach, and mingle with the locals but I’ve been to afraid. Bandito’s or corrupt Federales would certainly harm me in some way. Yet even my little sister used to go down and party with her girl friends. I feel like such a pussy. Can anyone offer any advice about a surf trip to Mexico in particular and any where in general. Also I would love to hear about everyone’s favorite surfari’s. Come on everybody, I know you’ve all got some great experience that you’ll never forget and it makes for a great story. IT’S SHOW AND TELL TIME!
At the risk of sounding like ‘Mr. Spam’ , or something… some of the shots on the ‘photos…’ thread have been taken in various locations in australia.
Different seasons for different places, different water temperatures and colours, a beatiful variety and some nice memories. I definately want to see more…need to save some money then hook up with a few crew on the east coast and elsewhere. There ARE a few of you on this site, I’ve noticed ! And you all seem to be in the 30yo plus age bracket [well your DAD is anyway, Josh !] and have some good boards.
So, who knows ? Hopefully ONE day we might meet and surf together ? And if it’s big and I wimp out, the ever present camera will be there to record YOUR fearless feats, no doubt !
ben
"…share some stoke … "
So, who knows ? Hopefully ONE day we might meet and surf together ? And if it’s big and I wimp out, the ever present camera will be there to record YOUR fearless feats, no doubt !
ben
"…share some stoke … "
I was hoping the camera would be pointing at YOU! too show your efforts! first stop…Deadmans… or ‘ours’ as they call it!
Tehe!
Josh.
I surfed great waves in mainland Mexico. It was probably 20 something years ago. We drove from Orange County straight to Mazatlan first. I think that took us 24 hours non- stop driving , trading shifts of sleeping and driving with 2 other friends. Surfed a little island one day connected by a jetty with perfect right barrels off the end. Every time I got piped I could look out across a bay to palm trees linning the coast. Pretty cool. We also surfed a esturary called Marmole near a cement plant. A good left point break, but the water was green walking out and alot of sealife in the water. No surfers anywhere or people for that matter. We sent out our brave buddy first to test for sharks. He was catching perfect lefts so we ventured out. Surfed for about an hour until this giant manta ray surfaced right next to me and creeped me out. I got the hell out of that water fast. When I was walking in the green water I was stung or bitten by something bad. Had to be a sting ray. That night in our room we rented at somebodys house ?? I woke up and saw a scorpian on the wall next to me… I saw a giant spider under the toilet seat I was sitting on for quite some time ( cause of Mexico ) The things you did when you were young , single, and had balls of steel. Surfed a spot that looked like Puerto Escondido but not quite that far down there. waves were so big and hollow it looked like that wave the bar of wax used to have on it. We raced and put on our wetsuits, started to paddle out and then realized it was much bigger than appeared. In fact so big it was taking awhile for the lip to reach the bottom and in slow motion. When we got out there, we were the only three people around for miles. The surf was so big I could not even paddle into any waves. Top to bottom grinding tubes. We separated in the water and by now the next closest guy was along ways away. I was trying to figure out how to get in. I waited until a lull and raced in without even catching one. One of our buddys broke his board out there. That spot was called Pascules. Any way, what an adventure. Hope this inspires you to go Aquafriend. All for now DR.
SWEET Dronai! Hey my story isn’t nearly as exciting but it’s mine so I’ll share it anyways. When I was 14 I went on a surf trip to Jalama with my mom and step dad, step sister who was a pro surfer, step brother who was two years older and a couple of his friends. I think it was in november. Any ways, we got up there in the afternoon and it was just gorgeous and pushing in at 4-6’. The little general store reported the water temp at 47 degrees. BRRRRRR. All I had was my 3/2 and a 5’10" Hurley twin fin. (That was back in the day before Billabong and Hurley Int.) We were woken up before sunrise by some serious rumblin’ coming from the sea. We pulled our chilly damp suits on and waited for first light. There was a heavy marine layer that made everything seem colder and darker than it was. When visibility finally came we could see three successive breaks. there was a relentless 3-4’ shore break that literally had no lull. nor did the 1st outside break. we charged the shore break and went for the outer break. we were shocked to find it 6-8. There was no grouping in the swells. It just kept coming and coming. For 20-30 minutes we tried to get outside. Some how I was the only one who made it. I paddled out beyond the impact zone and sat up to see how everyone else was doing. I was surprised to see everyone else on the beach watching me. After I caught my breath I started stroking for the outer break. From the shore it had shown the cleanest lines. The water was so cold and deep and clear. As I paddled I could see my hands in the water more clearly than I ever had before. But beyond that it was as dark and black as ink. I got to what I thought was the outside and waited for a set. For some strange reason it was still perpetualy breaking inside but out there you had to wait. I turned toward the shore again which now seemed about 200 yards away and saw everyone jumping and waving on the beach. It took me a second to figure out what they wer doing, but soon I realized they were waving me outside. I had stopped short about 25 yards. I looked to the horizon to see these huge swells starting to lift. I started stroking for my life. Literally. I was so scared. I scratched over the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. I had made it outside. Another wave was coming and I just wanted to get out of there. I had to paddle out even further to catch this one. I turned my board and started stroking for it. I caught the beast on my little 5’10" and dropped for what seemed like minutes. I finally hit the bottom cranked it hard and held the rail. It was and still is the biggest wave of my life. The gang on the beach said it was triple overhead. But the gnarliest part was the wave behind it. I still don’t know why I went for that wave but I’m glad I did. Unbeknownst to me was a set that the others said was 20’+, another 50 yards out. I would have been screwed. But I caught my wave rode it till it was throwing out way over me, swallowed me, chewed me up pretty good and spit me out a short distance from the beach.