Anyone else get some today...?

[supermodel159]

Italy this morning

That looks fun.

[Atrain505]

Just back from a month in Peru. Will get some pics up and more details.
Short review.

Lima waves are meh, but La Herradura is gnarly.
South of Lima is a wave magnet with insane waves.
The chicama hype is totally deserved and real.
Pacasmayo is rad.
Lobitos I must get back to on a real swell.

Peru is absolutely stacked in the wave department!

[Ottime]

Sounds like a nice overview. How does it feel to be back home? Are you enjoying the same cold snap we are down here.

Took the week off to ski and got back in the saddle today. I saw three short windows to surf today. The first one got cropped quite a bit, and by the time I got up the coast, it was looking like it would be a real short session. Coupled with a recovering cold, spent legs, sub 50F air temps and hours in the car with the family yesterday, it was easy to just talk shop on the cliff, run a few errands and save it for later. The second window closed on me, which left me with leaving the house at 4:20 with a 4:51 sunset. The decision to go for it was the right one.

I had my legs in my suit before the wife got home, so once I arrived at my spot, I parked the car, pulled up the top and ran to the cliffs. Saw the sets filling in wide and decided to scramble along the cliffs to the top of the point. The wave was filling in around the corner, so I easily paddled out the back and was outside the peak. Quickly worked my way into the impact zone and soon picked off a smaller ten footer. Did I mention it was pumping today? Rode that for about a 100 yards in a few seconds, kicked out and worked my way out the back again. Saw a few familiar faces, and said my hellos as another set arrived. I let the first several go and the peak was cleared out when a larger one loomed. Stroked in smoothly and started racing the thing. It was solid. About 14'. The second section started to move fast, and I boogied on the top third of the the thing until it pinched. Found way too much speed for my 6'6" as I raced down into the pit, came through some chop or something and got knocked off. Somehow I was able to dive straight down and under the thing and pop out the back. The next few required a bit of paddling and duck diving to get through, but I soon found myself outside again. So I paddled back up the point. I was chatting with a buddy when another came in. A little smaller than the last, but still DOH. It lined up soooooo nicely, and allowed for two big sweeping pocket turns before it raced. I though about pulling out of it before the pinch, but someone was hooting to go for it. So I did. Not even close. Had to straighten out, and never was able to recover my down the line speed. Too bad, as it looked like I missed it by a couple of feet, and it was slowly winding up for more.

The next few were big and on my head. It was past sunset, so I called it an evening. Pretty stoked right now on those three wave. Nice to see the juice is filling back in. We went for a few weeks with meh waves and even meher conditions.

[whitekingsalmon]

Ottime.... you should have just said you caught 3 waves.... jaja. Turkey town has surf and 85degree water...the surf house is cleaned n open for business soon.

[jtran10]

sounds nice ott. my local was basically walls of whitewater on the 18s period last night. got a nice arm workout at least

tough to get in a good session down the cliffs with so little afternoon daylight right now.

[Atrain505]

Ott - 3 wave sessions are sometimes the best sessions as that normally means they are damn good.

Back home is nice. Cold and crisp. Waves on the way. Snow in the air. Although I'll miss the 3/2 versus the 6/5/4 with booties and gloves.

[supermodel159]

Quickly worked my way into the impact zone and soon picked off a smaller ten footer.

Smaller ten footer...I like that.

Decent winter direction finally came to SB yesterday, it was fun to have a surf in town for once. Plenty of action, everywhere.

[aircat]

Hi, guys! I just thought you might like this!

The name you might know - Kepa Acero realeased a new video on YouTube "Connecting Dots" telling about his inspiration and it gave me goosebumps!

Let me know if you like it!

[meter-man]

Nice little post on snowbrains on the swell that came through SF last weekend. http://snowbrains.com/video-huge-wor...isco-ca-today/ Some pretty hilarious commentary too.

You can't see me in the video - but I would have been the one paddling like a demon and failing to get through the monster whitewater.

[Ottime]

Come south. Scotts had dry hair paddle outs on Monday morning, and I only had to duck two small insiders to get out at the peak of a unnamable break just west of town at sunset. You OB guys are willing to put in so much work getting out there.

I was told a pretty good rip opened up just north of Noriega on Monday, making for easy outs. Some all the way to the Farallones.

[Ottime]

Another solid day out there today. As was yesterday. And will be tomorrow. Gonna get plus sized again on Monday and conditions look on through Wednesday. Loving the autumnal season.

[whitekingsalmon]

Peahi... oh&hhhhh&yaaaaaa going off

[Ottime]

deep water cdip at 20.4@17 as of 4AM. Gonna be a day.

[strawjack]

What's going on over in SC? Mavericks had a nice bump eh? Too big at the lane?

[Atrain505]

Super stormy chaos up in Canada. Nice to get some in the cold again though!

[Long duc dong]

Atrain,

When is the Peru info coming? Chicama has always been my dream wave, so I'm waiting with bated breath.

[Ottime]

What's going on over in SC? Mavericks had a nice bump eh? Too big at the lane?

I haven't seen much of the ocean the past two days, other than at a distance. Surface has remained fairly clean. Drove Swift to Bay in the morning, and there was some solid swell hitting, but tide was pretty damn full and most of everything was running right up into the rocks. Made for some cool splashing. A few guys out at the middles peak. Drove by the lane and west cliff till mitchells yesterday around noon thirty. Low was going to be around 2, I think. It was rideable. Big, but not huge. Middles was over DOH for sure, and a big lump of lumpness. Indicators was a pushy looking thing, but plenty of folks out. Cowells looked kind of fun. Lots of heads (say 40?) out at getchells and john street. Bet it was good up in there.

Don't think it was too big for the lane, but when I have seen it, this swell was not as clean as last Monday's. Which was smaller, at least on the buoys. But that thing was fucking crisp. This one had more burger in it I think. That is fine for mavs as it is just a giant slab, and your board is not designed to turn. Or some of the way tucked, super low tide spots here in town. But the tide never went out too far. And the lane is not one of those spots anyway. Personally, I prefer the point and slot a few feet OH. Once it gets bigger, there are other places I prefer to go. Middles can be fun enough, and I've seen indicators ripping, but usually it is a slow, backing off, almost wave that goes for a long time.

Up the coast has been big. My buddy called saying they passed on scotts and were headed up to mav's to paddle out and watch from the channel. His message said he planned to be back in town for an afternoon low tide session. Knew he would not be making back. Another buddy was with him. He is a regular out there. But he had a broken arm, so no paddling into waves for him. Might of been the reason they skipped out on scotts. Never got the full report why they passed. It was possible the channel was getting choked by the swell, making a paddle out nearly impossible, and quite frightening as you try to pass the pinch. Never got the full report on mav's other than it was a mission, and it was big. I'll be sure to get more.

Last I heard he was headed to surf Scotts this morning. Bet it was pretty good up there today. One confirmed report of it being clean. I drove to Monterey today. Bay looked clean. Lots of guys parked at moss. Some on the dunes looking, but it seemed like folks were out. Bet that place was fun this morning. Almost stopped at reservation road, but continued to the aquarium. Drove out to graveyards and back. Swell was smaller than expected. Still some decent small waves in lovers starting to work.

I get to get out and play tomorrow. Can't wait.

[Ottime]

Still fun this morning. Periods have dropped into the 11-14s range, but the ledge was still well OH to nearly DOH and heaving. Nice session. Plenty of waves and small crowd.

Reports coming in of Mavs pushing 50' on Monday, Scotts completely shut down with 25' closeouts. Tuesday Scotts was in the 8-12' range from reports, so a bit bigger than today.

Loving the 6.6. Had a lot of sessions recently where it seemed like the perfect boards. Much shorter, and people couldn't quite get in. Any longer, and you had to stay more out on the facer and ignore the pocket.

Weather hits us tomorrow. Might be a few weeks of stormier conditions. Boo. Swell expected tomorrow is looking XXL though, so once the winds shift out of the NW Friday, spots in town and deeper could be real nice once the tide drops out.

[strawjack]

I'd like to see Mavs going off. Some day...

[Atrain505]

Peru Surf TR.

So I went to Peru because the wife was working in Lima for 3+ weeks. I had been on a multi month grinder of consecutive shoots without any time off and was completely burnt out. So my only mission in Peru was to relax, reset, and surf every day. People said "oh what about Machu Pichu." I replied with I have no interest in complicating the reset. So on to the surf.

Lima. Lima itself is a cool and modern city with quite a surprising amount of shear wealth surrounded by utter poverty. Have a big lunch "menu del dia" at any local, small eatery and you are spending 7 soles (about 3 bucks) for a giant appetizer and main course. Cheap and delicious. We were staying in an Airbnb in Barranco, the arts district. The waves themselves in Lima are "meh." No other way to describe them. Dirty water, constant gray clouds and fog, and disorganized beach break essentially. Basically only surf in Lima if you are there on business or for some other reason.
We had 2 local waves that we would walk down to, Barranquito and Laniakea.


Barranquito was a messy and ultra slow left that most of the time didn't line up. Great for long boarders and lots of surf schools in the afternoon/weekends. Every once in a while it would line up all the way in for a surprisingly long ride with many turns, and cutbacks.


Laniakea was a faster right that only works when bigger. It closes out quite a bit, but every once in a while would line up for a fast down the line ride. Intermediate wave that any type of board can have fun at. The very last day before jumping on a flight home it was a big swell and the wave was quite fun. In general this wave is completely empty, even though it's a better wave than barranquito which will be crowded.

This is Laniakea on probably one of the smallest days we surfed it and the smallest it works. Perfect long board day. Wive wanted photos from surfing this trip. So took the GoPro off my quadcopter I use for work. I'm not good enough to take it out in crowds so only during small shitty days.


Wife about to go for toes on the nose.


Punta Roquitos. We would take a 10 sole cab ride to the "best consistent" wave in Lima. A little bit more power. Good, local short boarders alway out. Left's and rights. Disorganized. But bigger and with juice.

Pampilla. Just down the beach from Roquitos. This was actually my favourite wave in the city. This wave would actually line up like a right hand point quite often. Long rides, fast in sections, slow in others. Great for turns. Any type of board will have fun here.

There is one exception to Lima. That is La Herradura. A truly world class wave, that used to be called one of the top ten waves on the planet. A heavy left point. It needs a big swell. Never broke when I was there for the first 3 weeks. Last day before our flight home it was maching! We went and it was way too heavy for my wife and potentially for me but I wanted to surf it badly, albeit I wanted no part of taking off at the top of the point. I'd take off further in and still reap the rewards of 75% of the wave. Watched one guy with the gnarliest well over double overhead, foamy, air drop in front of rocks, I have ever seen in person. The wave runs forever and has an inside barrel section that only about 10% of guys seemed to make. I did the "right" thing though and said, "I'd really like to surf here, but if you really want to surf, than we should go somewhere else." So we went to Laniakea which was still a blast.


45 minutes to an hour south of Lima the waves are amazing. So much more power. The whole area around Pico Alto. Still foggy and gray so only a place for surf, beach vacation for non surfers is a no go.

Santa Rosa. A steep and fast left point. I was by far the worst surfer in the water out of maybe 6 people. A few of them were apparently Peruvian champs. Amazingly fun wave. So many drops where I was right on my tippy toes just making it. I didn't quite have the right board, but was a blast. Little barrel vision on the inside before getting exploded. A full pitched with the lip, disconnect from board air to the flats on one take off.
Shitty cell phone pics for a lot of these photos if that wasn't obvious already.


Respect d locals! I'm not Taliban I'm rastaman.


Punta Rocas. Apparently "the most consistent wave in the world." Works from 2-18 feet and picks up an insane amount of swell. Lima would have been small this day and we show up to head and a half rights. Mellow drop that turns into a powerful wave. Perfect wave for huge turns. The kind of wave where if you spent a lot of time you would get good, fast. Another inside barrel vision here. Blast of a day.


Punta Hermosa. Right. Looked head high and perfect for my wife. It's a way off shore and paddle out to double overhead sets. Way above her league and pushing mine big time. Apparently this is a mellow wave most of the time. My first ride was mellow. Had a couple more decent ones. Then got pitched to the flats on one, and held down forever on another. Certainly a worthy area to check out for surfers.

Spin cycle. No better reset exists.


San Bartolo. Further south. Little beach town with sun! First sun we had seen in weeks. 3 waves in a bay.


Northern Peru. This is where the true gems are. I will definitely be going back. For the last ten days of the trip we took the over night buses and explored north.


Chicama. Longest left in the world. Mechanical perfection. Plain and simple. We had a small swell that many people said would be flat. I saw a picture online that showed a similar swell with waist high lined up forever waves. We had to check it out to see if we needed to come back on a swell. It's a small fishing village with enough different options of restaurants and markets to make it work, but for the most part you are there to surf. And there's sun! And perfect offshore winds all day, every day. 30-45 second chest to waist high perfection. 2 feet bigger and the ride would double or triple by making it around the next little headland. If I had a 20 second ride I'd battle the current and paddle back. 45 second and I'd walk around. Some people were using a zodiac but seemed pointless at that size. If it were well overhead the boat would make sense as the current is insane. I'm a regular and I will be returning, but any goofy this is absolutely a must. Fast in sections, hollow in others, turn sections.

Sleepy and tired nights after paddling the current.


Looking at the point.


The lady transfixed as it rounds the midway point.


Looking back towards town. Does it blow your mind that on good swells you can surf almost all the way to that pier way off in the distance on one wave? Well it blows mine.


Good view of the takeoff zone.


Guy in the money spot.


This is what you see every wave. Just the perfect wall forming in front of you.


I had one of those transcendent moments here that surfing provides every so often. Pumping down the line racing a section and then just high lined it and stopped moving a single muscle. The little offshore ripples were racing under the board so fast they were just humming at the perfect vibration. Beauty.

Pacasmayo. Picks up more swell. Apparently even longer than chicama. It's a ten minute moto taxi (tuk tuk) from town. Missing the constant off shores of chicama, so really only good in the morning. First day was a little over head high. Next was waist. But another super fun, more powerful, left hand point. I think it would need to be double overhead and insane to really line up for a long way. Where chicama always seems to line up. 20 second rides here. Could see the potential for the whole ride.

Lobitos. Another 8 hours north. Close to Ecuador. Every surfer kept talking about how it was the best place in Peru. Even more perfect than chicama. Barreling point, just not as long. 5 waves within walking distance of this little town. Sunny, off shores. White sand. There isn't much in the town so groceries need to be had in the city 30 minutes away. We only surfed one afternoon. Flat the rest of the time. Had some fun bodysurfing mini waves. But could see the possibilities as perfect little knee high barrels spun down the point constantly. Would like to go back some day but it is a mission to get to. 18 hour bus ride back to Lima.
The point.

Potential.


Adios.

[meter-man]

Come south. Scotts had dry hair paddle outs on Monday morning, and I only had to duck two small insiders to get out at the peak of a unnamable break just west of town at sunset. You OB guys are willing to put in so much work getting out there.

I was told a pretty good rip opened up just north of Noriega on Monday, making for easy outs. Some all the way to the Farallones.

Haha, OB is so damn humbling. I'll take you up on that...but the way this winter is shaping up, I'm more likely to be driving up east than west! Soon though...

Peru Surf TR.

...

Guy in the money spot.

Indeed. Such an awesome trip. Take some rides on the Peruvian spin cycle for a reset - added to my list. Thanks!

[Long duc dong]

Atrain,

Thanks for an incredible report. I am a goofy, and have always dreamed of going to Peru and sampling those insane left points. Chicama at chest high sounds unbelievable. While I would love to surf it bigger, I think chest high would still put me in heaven. Great pictures and write up, I really want to go even more now.

Glad you had fun, and one again thanks for the write-up.

[Long duc dong]

The winds are really shutting down Orange County today. There is some swell, but the conditions are awful. It sucks to have this time off and not be able to surf. Tomorrow things are supposed to calm down in the morning, so hopefully I will get out then. I hope the rest of you guys are having better luck.

[Long duc dong]

Got in an hour and a half late morning early afternoon session today. It was coming from the NW and WNW, so mostly rights wrapping in and breaking from each jetty south, as opposed to summer when we get lefts off the jetties. I was fun, around shoulder high with some pretty long rights. Nothing fantastic, but the wind held off and did not destroy it the way it has the last few days. Hope the rest of you guys get some.

[strawjack]

Peru Surf TR.
This is what you see every wave. Just the perfect wall forming in front of you.

That pic is the perfect angle. Nice TR!