I am now in the surf town Barra de La Cruz, Oaxaca. Life in this small, dirt road town revolves around the great surfing wave located at the rocky point. The design of the town is different to any other beach town I have encountered while in Mexico. The 40-50 small houses are settled a half a mile inland. The beach has 1 dirt road in and a pleasant restaurant/bar in front of the break. The rest of the broad sand beach and nearby lagoon are still pristine and full of natural beauty.
The sand-bottomed righthander is amazing.
While I have been here the wave has averaged shoulder to head high. The locals say this is small for this time of year.
I find it perfect!
The wave machine, here at work.
Dawn patrol.
The weather here is hot and dry. The locals here in Barra are some of the most kind, friendly people I have met here in Mexico.
I hiked over the rocky point to the beaches up the coast.
Its a primitive landscape here.
Wild Oaxaca.
In a few days I will leave my board behind and travel inland to palenque...
keep checkin back for the updates.
I am in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. Home of the famous 'mexican pipeline'..a heavy wave! My latest journey started Thursday as my buddy Will dropped me off on the road from Saladita. There I met some wonderful people, great hospitality at Casa de Curtis and discovered I can surf lefts. I caught the morning bus to Acapulco and arrived there bout 2pm. I bought a bus ticket for the overnite bus to Puerto Escondido. I spent the day/evening exploring Acapulco. After dark was when that town wakes up. The disco beat was everywhere as the tourists drank and drank. When I finally got on the bus and headed south it seemed the entire road was one big checkpoint. Local cops, State police, the Federales and even the military were checking everybody coming and going. We were told as we boarded there was some sort of roadblock up the road and we will be delayed. The mexicans didnt seem so concerned so I went to sleep. About 5am we were in a traffic jam on a two lane road near some small town. When I asked if they were the good guys or the bad guys...everybody shrugged?? At 7am we reached Puert Escondido safe and tired. I took a room for the weekend and have enjoyed exploring here.
Blowfish on the beach.
Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
Sunrise in Mexico.
Some Mexican guy was releasing baby turtles on the beach here yesterday.
In the morning I will head south to find some mellow surf beaches for a few weeks. Then off to the jungles for Mayan ruins and howler monkeys..... Keep checkin in.
After 2 months in Puerto Vallarta, I am finally back on the road.
I am traveling with Will, a surfer and world traveler who lives near Punta Mita, Nayarit.
The most difficult part about traveling in Mexico has been the lack of quality internet along the way.
La Ticla is a well known surf spot in Michoacan.
Will and I overlooking La Ticla
Sunset at Nexpa.
On the beach at Nexpa.
Cactus flower.
The waves at Nexpa come from deep in the Pacific Ocean.
The rivermouth makes a perfect, powerful left.
This coast is dotted with these amazing breaks.
The locals have it dialed as the sets roll in.
Play the above video to create the proper mindset for todays blog....SURFING!
My morning usually starts like this. The local fishermen motoring past the boat serves as my pre-dawn alarm clock.
I have a 30 minute bus ride up the coast.
Then I take a 10 minute hike down the jungle trail to Punta Burros.
Add some wax..
Let's Go Surfing!
Punta Burros is a right hand point break with a rock bottom. When all the other spots have nothing...there are usually waves here at Burros. The air temp is about 80 most days. The water temp in 68 which is cold for here. I can stay out for almost 3 hours till the chill forces me in.
This is an average day here in terms of wave size. On this day there are only 4 other guys out ..some days there may be as many as 20 dudes here.
Every year on January 24 the town of Bucerias celebrates the Blessing of the Fleet for the local fisherman and boats. The decorated boats are brought on the beach to be blessed the the Padre, then a church service follows in the nice old church at the town square.
Last year I was on one of these fishing pangas with my buddy Ethan. The swell was big and the fisherman needed a few more beers for courage before we made the beach landing.
Fireworks are a big part of any festival here in Mexico.
After the beach ceremony the whole town gathered in the small church for mass.
Everyone is dressed up for the parade thru town.
My lunch was a mixed seafood salad. Shrimp, octopus, scallops with cucumber, onion, tomato and avacado. Yum!
Ahhh....Mexico!
Of course here a festival is not a festival without this...
Many Mexican cowboys with their dancing horses.
4 out of 5 Mexican cowboys prefer Modelo to other Mexican beers.
In a few days I travel back down to Mexico. Last winter I enjoyed 5 months exploring the Pacific coast from Cabo to Puerto Vallarta. I started as crew on board ''Set Me Free' A Beneteau 42 owned by Captain Joe. The boat is in PV now and I am signed on as caretaker while the Captain is traveling. I have many amazing memories from last years adventure...reeling in that amberjack, surfing punta burro, shrimp hamburguesas, Philos, the Feb 2nd storm, Bucerias seafood, pool vollyball, street festivals, coconut shrimp in old town. You get the idea...the food is pretty good!
Capt. Joe first fish. A little tuna just off Cabo.
In January 2010 Capt Joe and I took Joes brother Pete and his wife Olga for a boat ride. A few hours across Banderas Bay is Yelapa, the old hippy town, our destination for lunch. Half way there we came upon a fullsized humpback whale tangled in a fishing net. After observing the whales struggles I decided to row the dinghy over and try to cut the net. I remember rowing right over her as dipped under water. When she came up to breathe she was right next to me. I grabbed the rope that was wrapped tight around her midsection. The net extended to the bottom so she could only swim in small circles [water depth 330']. I put both hands on her side a spoke to the whale "relax...Im here to help". She listened and just chilled while I cut net with a paring knife from the galley. After a few minutes the net was free and the humpback spiraled down to deep water. Olga shot some great video...watch here.
