Surfing with LakerCraig in Mainland Mex
Met up with the Lake-Man himself at Puerto Vallarta airport. I was standing at the car rental booth and turned around and there he was with full fam in tow. Little Tommy was on the airport floor, doing the 'curly shuffle' so I went over to meet him and Gail. Had a great time with Craig, Gail and Tom, along with another couple from DC area whom we had flown down with. We all rented a nice 3+3 house 100 yards from the north end of San Pancho beach on a hill overlooking the surf. Beautifully constructed with stone, brick, tile mosaics and mahogany doors and entry ways. Atypical of Mexican construction quality. Overall, a wonderful experience in a beautiful little village. I'll try to keep this report limited to surf content.
Trip stats: Total full days - 8 Days surfed - 7 Knee to waist - 2 Waist to head - 2 Overhead - 3 Air temp averaged 75-88 degrees, mostly very mild and very comfortable. No humidity worth mentioning. Water temp ranged from low to mid 70s. Some people actually wore short suits in Sayulita. I only trunked it and wore rash guard after my stomach got raw. Physical mis-haps: Craig kissed the bottom on his last day and caught a few cuts'n'scratches. During the same session, I caught the tiniest tip of an urchin in my foot and brought it home as a souvenir. Four out of seven of us got sick either on the plane home or after arriving home. I attribute this to either airline food or due to the stresses of re-entering the smog-o-sphere. Disaster rating - not even showing on the scale....
Sayulita: is a mushy cobble stone river mouth, sheltered on the north side of a rocky point. Perfect for mellow long boarding sessions and also for full suited vacationers from Connecticut wearing Gath helmets and sporting Al Jolsen-ish lip-balm applications (not a pretty sight). Not-so-perfect for middle aged, overweight, stiff jointed short boarders like me who need a steep, late takeoff to get any respectable speed. The potential of this break only becomes apparent when the local contingency of 90 pound mini-groms appear after school to take advantage of the afternoon glass offs. Some of them are born locals, some are ex-pat offspring who home-school during their extended stays in Mexi. But most all of these kids rip like frenzied rats at the long, sloped ramps. I watched, amazed as they fed on the previously hidden speed, busted airs and pulled 360s on waves where I would normally be sinking up to my beer gut. Next time I go to Sayulita, I will take a water housing for the EOS, rent a boat and ferry a couple of these water-rats to one of the many flawless points in the area for some good water shot sessions.
San Pancho: This is one of the cleanest, friendliest villages Ive ever experienced, with every street constructed of cobble stone. People smile and will help you, even if you don't know Spanish all too well. Some of the best waves I found were right in front of the rental house where we stayed, 200 yards north of Costa Azul. This stretch of beach starts on the south with a left point, which we never actually saw in action, but was told it had good potential. From there, it stretches North maybe a mile, a shallow sandbar shelf extends 10-20 yards out before quickly dropping off into only God knows what. There is a stark rock outcropping on the north end of the beach, right in front of the house, that produces a gnarly wedging side wash. This makes for a wave something between Newport Wedge and Newport river jetties. Deceptively, it starts out as an easy take off, then quickly jacks up to triple face, square off, and pitch out into about 2 feet of water. My kind of wave, except that it is very fickle and conditions change rapidly (4-8x / hour) between sloppy, unmanageable close-outs and A-framed pseudo perfection. I had brought two 6'6's and this wave was closer to what I was looking for. I was body slammed a couple of times along with the obligatory nasal-douche and also performed one rail smash with my thigh. Overall, I had a couple of very sweet sessions here. The paddle out is short and easy and only once did I share the lineup with another surfer, from Vail. Tip for surfing here: Know how to land in very shallow water. At any cost, make thy drop and get thyself into thy tube, where the crush shall be the softest.
Boat trip: Finally managed to talk someone (yeah Craig!) into exploring one of the many reefs accessible only by boat with me. I surfed about a half dozen waves and was the only guy out. Another boatload pulled up just as I completed my last couple of 120 yard lefts. Mechanically, it goes something like this. The peak comes in very predictably in the same spot every time. You stroke maybe 2 or 3 times and easily glide into the pitching shoulder. Bash... bash... mini-cover... bash bash..., mini-cover. Like a pre-programmed robot with no will of your own, throw in a couple of tail slides to break the monotony. Then, finish the last 30 yards with a fast racy section where you chose to either float over, pull in, or eat urchin before the long paddle back to do it all over again. Pretty damn boring wave, so do not even bother trying to find it.
Puerto Vallarta: Another stinky Mexican city where you can buy the same stinky crap found in every other stinky Mexican city. Overpriced, over rated and over-run by gaudy tourists. I got pulled for speeding while leaving town, just as I passed the airport. I repurchased my confiscated California driver's license for a mere 200 pesos on the spot, which I considered to be quite a bargain. Another guy we spoke with at the airport had a cop walk up to him on PV beach holding a bag of Coke and telling him that it was his and that he was going to jail. He got off for only a couple hundred bucks. Corruption still thrives in this part of Mexico, believe it, respect it.
Costa Azul: If you like all inclusive rip-off packages, it's not too bad. Spoke and surfed with a few of the guests who all complained about the prices and amenities. Personally, resorts offer little but charge a lot of dinero for it, so I prefer to wing it.
North of Punta de Mita is beautiful country with near perfect roads for driving around and through some of the densest palm-grove-jungles to be found in Central America. Jalisco and Nayarit has some of the best Mexican food and variety of salsas / chiles to be had on the planet. One night, my wife and I went into Sayulita looking for some pescado and came home with a huge slab of fresh Dorado which filled 5 people twice, for only 120 pesos. Not just because my wife prepared it, but that was the tastiest, freshest fish I have ever eaten. And of course, smothered in fine Jalisco picante. Come for the waves, stay for the food, chile and beer.
Too many good times and non-surfing experiences to write about. Photos can be found here in a few days. Thanks Laker Craig and Family for making the trip even more enjoyable.
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