I spent 3 weeks at Pacasmayo a few yrs back (9mths in south America) and loved the place. Although the town is a little zuss at times as long as u behave yourself you will be fine. The surf is unreal. If u feeling rich u get a taxi from town out to the top of the point and then catch 3 or 4 waves back to town. Unreal. The rip can be super strong making it tricky to hold yr position in the lineup. Make sure u have some decent volume in yr boards if u go. Otherwise it's about a 25 min walk from memory to the top of the point. Looking at my trip notes I was living on about 15 aud a day including a few beers over dinner. A big night out would cost another 10. There was not a lot of choices for accom when I was there. It's a really old town that seems pretty run down and poor. Lots of wicked old buildings litter the coast.
If u get the chance get yourself there. It picks up more swell than chicama as a general rule. We never had it absolutely perfect but pretty close most of at the time. We were there in late nov early dec which is not the best time. Crowds were bad - most days there were no more than 5 in the water!