Esky Lids.
Here are some photos of body-boarders from this morning. It was raining and miserable, so the light was not too good. The waves make up for it, though.
The Take Off
Getting tubed
Air
Merewether Point.
The swell has dropped this morning and the wind still had a bit of west in it just before lunch time. I could not make up my mind whether to go to Bar Beach or Merewether, so I decided on Merewether. The shore break had a few hollow waves but it was very crowded.
Goofy coming off the lip
This guy had the ubiquitous go-pro and was taking off and filming people in front of him. At least it was not another Point-Of-View shot!
Go Pro madness
Getting deep inside the tube
Up and over the top of the lip
Forster Rockpool.
The swell picked up today. It was coming from the East with the sets being up to six foot. The wind was pretty light so the waves were standing up nicely. This wave breaks right in front of the rockpool, just east of the Foster Beach.
Cutting Back
A big set
coming off the lip
Boomerang Beach, NSW.
This morning a big pod of dolphins came into Boomerang Beach and started surfing the waves with all the surfers. I rushed and grabbed my camera and took some shots of them down the beach a bit. The waves were looking pretty good down the beach and the shore break was getting hollow at times.
978 A goofy-footer tucks under a lip
Dolphins playing in the waves
Dolphin with reverse 360
Getting tubed
Blue boy Carving off the top
Pushing the tail out the back
Holding on in the shore break
Right inside it.
Surfing at Bingin Beach
Whoops, I forgot to bring the file I wrote for this blog to the Wartel. I will have to leave the text for another day and just upload the photos. doh! And here it is. Bingin is just down the line from the famous Uluwatu. It comes after Uluwatu, Padang-Padang and Impossibles. The swell has been small the last few days and today it has picked up to about 3 foot on the sets. I think it has been relatively crowded for such an average surf. There have been only a handful of good surfers and most people surfing have been not very proficient.
I flew from Sydney with Virgin Blue on a really cheap sale price – $280. Virgin Blue are pretty good with taking surfboards and do not seem to have a size limit. Some guys had four boards in their board bags. But make sure that you have a return or onward ticket out of Indonesia or Virgin will not let you board.
Boogie Boarder having fun
I struggled with the heat and the humidity when I got there. I ate lots of bananas and drank lots of bottled water. I am starting to get used to it now, but it zaps your energy.
Bingin Beach Bali
Grommet hits lip
You can get a Visa On Arrival when you get to Bali and it costs $25 dollars. There is a long wait in the queue, so be prepared for it. You can change money just when you get out of customs. There is a row of money changers just waiting for your dollars.
Setting up a floater
Today the surf was a bit bigger. People are saying that there is a swell on the way. This guy was surfing really well, hitting the lip and coming off it really well. He set up this floater and went sailing across the top and then landed it down through the white water.
The Floater
Off the top
I will put this post in order as soon as I can. I forgot to put it onto the usb stick. doh! Ma’afkan saya. Update, well it is sort of in order but still a little bit out of synch. You can spot the discrepancies. ha ha.
I hope that this post will help any crew intending to go to Peru looking for surf. The first thing to decide is whether to bring your own surfboard or buy one in Peru. I would suggest that either way would be fine, according to your needs. If you are coming directly to Peru, then bring your own boards. Make sure you have a decent board bag and that you have removable fins on your boards. You will be chucking the boards in the luggage compartments of heaps of buses, so some protection goes a long way. Maybe even bring some bubble wrap to extra protect your board.
For size, most crew seem to have 6’1″ to 6′ 3″. I do not really know because I am a fat old bastard and surfed on a 7′ 4″ fun board. If you want to buy a board in Peru, then there are some really good shapers in Lima. New surfboards are relatively cheap and are good quality. Ask around in Miraflores or Barranco for the board factories. Klimax and Wayo Whilar are good brands. Get a Wetsuit in Lima. I highly recommend Boz wetsuits, they are top rated. If you are only in Peru for a month or less, then just hire a surfboard in Huanchaco, north of Peru. You will get a good rate for a couple of weeks or a month (~200-300 Soles).
Lima Surf Spots
I do not know much about surfing in Lima. It is not that great. I stayed at Barranco and there is a pretty lame wave off the breakwater there. Punta Hermosa, about 40k south of Lima has heaps of breaks, but I did not get there. Bravo Surf Camp seems like an economical place to stay if you go there.
Huanchaco
To get to Huanchaco, you need to get to Trujillo first. You can get a bus there from Lima. Then jump on a taxi to Huanchaco. Huanchaco is not that great. There are some left handers off the point but it just does not get very hollow. You can hire surfboards here for a very decent price. Otherwise, this place rocks for Cerviche. Try it.
Chicama
Get the El Dorado bus from Trujillo, it goes direct to Puerto Malabrigo, which is its proper name. Everyone stays at El Hombre, which is on a hill overlooking the surf. The wave here really does go for a long way. But there are downsides – the sweep is pretty horrendous. You have to paddle your guts out just to stay in one spot. And it is not that hollow, it is more of a wall and a long ride. You can get a ride out on a rubber ducky if you have lots of money, but that is cheating.
Chicama
Mancora
Mancora is about the most northern surf spot in Peru. It is hot, very hot. The wave is fun and there is not much rip, plus you can surf in board shorts, which is a big novelty in Peru. It can get pretty crowded and there will be learners all over the place in the lineup. But it is a fun wave and a great place to party after a few weeks in the desert.
Lobitos
This place is awesome. When the swell is pumping, the main point is as hollow as you will ever see. There are 3 main places to surf, Lobitos, the Jetty and Piscinas. There are heaps of places to stay from luxury to very cheap. This place is in the middle of a desert almost, with nobody but fishermen around. It is a great place. Catch a bus here from Mancora to Talara and get a taxi to Lobitos.
Lobitos main break
That is about it. Its cold, there is always a current to paddle against, and the wind always blows from the south every day.
Byron Bay Surfing
The surf at Byron Bay over the last couple of days has been extremely variable. A small southerly swell has been running and there have been waves from two to four feet, which dropped a bit today. The wind has been coming from the north west yesterday and this morning which made the waves very choppy and bumpy. The crowds have been considerable with sometimes up to a hundred people out in the water at The Pass. The Pass has not changed in forty years. It still breaks the same it always has.
This guy was surfing really well. Taking off deep inside and doing some great turns and cutbacks.
Surfing at The Pass
A lot of guys are surfing fishes and they seem to go really well at times. But I have my doubts. They are very wide and sometimes I think that causes a bit of imbalance or instability. But I think they were meant as a surfboard to have fun on and that is about it.
Pushing the fish around
Here is a wide shot of The Pass. I noticed today how scenic it really is. Sometimes you cannot see what is in front of your eyes or you take things for granted.
The Pass at Byron Bay
Snapper Rocks Surfing Photos.
Today I finally decided to take some photos of the surfing. The wind was from the south so the conditions were ideal for the superbank at Coolangatta. The swell was still a bit small, possibly about two to three foot at the most. Greenmount Point has been the best spot of them in my opinion, but all the banks have been pretty good. Rainbow has some good banks and behind the rock at Snapper has been doing it on occasions.
Young guy coming off the lip at Snapper
This afternoon I took some photos of the guys surfing at Snapper Rocks, mainly because it is the easiest spot to photograph and get close to the action. There were a couple of stand-out surfers in the water, particularly this guy on his long board. He was riding really well. But at the end he lost his board and it smashed onto the rocks and he was swearing his head off. I wonder why he did not use a leg-rope? doh!
Longboarder hanging five at Snapper Rocks
This guy got inside a pretty neat little tube, there were not many to be had, so he was lucky to catch this one.
In the tube at Snapper Rocks
Surfing Photography at Flat Rock, 31st July, 2009
I thought there might have been an opportunity this afternoon for some photos around about high tide. So off i headed to Flat Rock to see what was going on. I parked up the road a bit, looking right into the barrel at the Cowrie Hole. There were a few good waves coming in, so I got out and set up the camera and started taking some shots.
This guy slotted into this inside barrel.
(Exposure: 1/1600, f/8.0, iso320)
And then he just slid down the face, having the time of his life. Ain’t surfing fun?
(Exposure: 1/1600, f/8.0, ISO320)
This guy was getting deep inside the section, using the old drop knee technique.
And then got even deeper into the tube. Great stuff!
After a while I went over to the baths and shot some stuff out the back at Flat Rock. There were a couple of good waves coming in but I think the photos from the inside section were better. I then wandered over to Newcastle Beach and there some guys out right down the end of Newcastle South Beach. I took some wide shots of the guys surfing under the cliff, but the ones above were the pick of the day.
All in all, a fun afternoon of surfing and photography and I was relatively happy with how the photos turned out. cheers.
I started off at Catherine Hill Bay, but there was nothing doing there. There was plenty of swell and the wind was coming offshore, but it was closing out. I went past Caves Beach and it was too big for it to handle it there. Crabbes was breaking and there were guys out at both the left and the right. It seemed a bit fat to me and maybe the tide was way too high for it, possibly.
I went out the headland to see if there were any waves in the channel but there was not enough swell for it to break properly, plus the tide was too high for it to break properly. Maybe it was all right at low tide. I do not know. I went past Merewether and that was not really doing it either. There was a fair crowd out there, but not much action at all. The swell direction was a bit weird as well.
So, I ended up at Flat Rock. Good ole Flat Rock. It seems to work relatively consistently. Today was not the best as the swell was coming in a bit too straight in my opinion. It was a bit wide, as well. But, anyway I got some photos. Here is a bigger set wave that pushed pretty wide. I do not think it is as hollow out wide, but that i just me, perhaps.
I like this cut back, its nice and flat and the spray is coming off real good. ha ha.
Well that is it, let us see what the surf is doing tomorrow. The wind is coming from offshore at least and winter is coming, with the cold weather,, brrr..
