Punta Hermosa Surfing

Peru has one of the oldest surf cultures in the world with ?Totora reed horses? being ridden for up to 3000 years. Surfing in Peru had it's resurgence and redevelopment a little later than in Hawaii. Peru was host to the World Championships in 1965, and the world was re-awoken to the potential of one of the most ancient of surfing countries. Since then local guys like Felipe Pomar and Piti Block have pushed Peruvian surfing further than it's been taken in almost every other developing country. The capital, Lima, sits on the shores of the Pacific and has become Peru's surf city. There are good waves in the districts of both Miraflores and neighbouring Costa Verde, where the world class Herradura left point can go off. However, due to both crowds and pollution most travellers prefer to keep away from the city, and instead head 1hr drive to the north, to the Punta Hermosa area. This is a great area for a surfer to find himself in, as there are ample consistent spots within walking distance of each other. In the Southern Hemisphere winter the waves around Punta Hermosa are typically big mushy rights with a lack of shape that can be ideal for longboarding. While a lot of the headlands favour the rights, there are also hollow lefts, plus a few offshore bomboras that handle serious size and power.