So I'm a bit confused by the article (probably due to being hungover). Can someone clear up a few points for me? When's the best time of year to go (I'm not interested in surfing 8 foot slabs yet, I'm beginner/intermediate level)? How many days a month can you expect to get fairly decent clean conditions? Are there any shark problems? How hard is it to find an uncrowded break? How would you rate Peru as a place to go for a month or so for an improvers surf holiday? Cheers!
Peru is extremely consistent, working year-round, but Nov-Mar is when Nth Peru hits its straps. There are many easier, improver waves, especially on the protected inside of the points. 90%+ surf days, no sharks (attacks at least) and loads of lower quality waves to be found up and down the coast. Awesome destination for any surfer to spend a month, especially if you are a goofy! The new Stormrider Guide Peru eBook will have all that info plus a lot more - check www.stormriderguides.com for more details.
I would just like to thank the informed readership for pointing out my monolithic Mexican mistake and allow me to put it down to too much peyote. Quoting a knowledge base website; "It’s easy to confuse your Aztecs with your Incans because they have a great deal in common: Both empires reached their peaks in the early 16th century, both made huge technological and scientific discoveries, both dabbled in the delicate art of human sacrifice, and both suffered mightily at the hands of Spanish conquistadors. As for differences, though, the easiest distinction is geography. The Inca empire controlled parts of modern-day Chile, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia. The Aztecs, meanwhile, set up camp more than 1,000 miles to the north. " I would like to point out MSW don't write these articles, just publish them and if I had been doing my job as Stormrider editor, I should have spotted that faux pas from space. Apologies to all the Incas that I have offended and all the Aztec egos that have been expanded by the odd thousand miles. I humbly offer myself up for a public flogging, although in this case, human sacrifice may be appropriate!
Crikey MSW has sorted out their Aztecs from their Incas in double quick time, impressive. At least a couple of got a laugh out of it before the big bad censor got up.
Great article BTW nice to see some extended footage of some of the jewels in Peru's crown that the Conquistadores left behind.
In my 50's and sidelined from surfing for the past few months due to recurring old injuries, I thank you so much for a nostalgic journey back to the days of my youth. Traveling alone and spending the latter half of the Peruvian winter "surfing my a$$ off" with new friends, I became completely spoiled due to excellent waves. Yeah, maybe you can no longer surf Chicama alone or with a handful of guys like I did, but if you can spend at least a month in Peru with a chilled-out attitude, you'll discover even more good surf than is mentioned in the MSW article. Go for it!
I am disappointed that yet again surf spots are being overly exposed by activity such as this. I totally understand needing a surf guide and rate SRs as the best, but this activity does more to send people to Peru in the first place, not selling more guidebooks for the publisher. I just came through Peru and in places its over crowded and getting crazy, Mancora is a case and point. I know money makes the world go round and helps drive economies, but at what cost to the natural resource? Travelling should reward the curious not feed the lazy. I feel a positive spin to this would be to make this more about the depth of the destination and that great waves exisit, not just a naming of a load of surf spots to give any idiot witha board the directions.
Mostly true, but consider this, only the Bolivar desert section showed a spot that is not easy to get to and lets face it anyone that turns up at Cabo Blanco expecting a chilled uncrowded session hasn't done their homework.Peruvian surfers watch for north swells and drop everything when it's on, same with El Hueco. Peru is a very poor country and anything that get's more tourists to spend their money there is a good thing even if it annoys the purist surfers who should be happy to move on, there's plenty more great surf all over the world.
I re-read your comment 3 times to make sure I hadn't read wrong: "I just came through Peru"...
And yet, you have the gall to write this tripe about keeping spots secret. You are just another "idiot with a board" if you choose to keep that mentality. You are no different in your right to surf a spot, however remote, than someone who bought his first board yesterday. We all have dreams every day about waves like this, and who are you to put down someone pursuing that dream.
Totally agree with your point. Peru is very poor and does need any help it can get from travelling surfers and a lot of these places are already on the map. When I went to Mancora I had foolishly high expectations, I guess it would just be sad to see so many of the other chilled out and laid back places in Peru become like Mancora, but you're right, plenty more points, reefs and beaches to be had. Thanks for the sensible response, it's responses like yours that promote a decent discussion on forums as opposed to the ranting and raging of others, which puts people off from ever voicing their opinions...
I agree with that - the old Surf Report format of general overview was much better- it's all about surf package holidays nowadays - the romance of surf nomadism and surfing as a lifestyle sport are sadly long gone.
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