Hey all,

Just thought I'd pop in and share some joy with you. Flew into Trujillo last night and am currently staying at Chicama Surf Hotel. So nice to see a wave that breaks for more than 10 metres, and well! Good swell coming over the weekend, so may be posting more pics then, we'll see.

Nice pic, I zoomed in on it and kapow. That place is on my bucket list for sure. Cheers for the update. ( more photos will be compulsory)

Been eyeing off that spot for a few years.. long soft left.. then walk back out and do it again,,yew..
Need some reports.

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quirkus said..

Been eyeing off that spot for a few years.. long soft left.. then walk back out and do it again,,yew..
Need some reports.

I see you're from WA. If you do ever end up going there, do not include LAN (as far as possible) as a provider for any of your connecting flights. LAN cancelled my Sydney to Santiago flight (about the only way you're going to get there from Australia) and therefore made my 30 hours flight time into around about a 40 hour flight time, not to mention the waiting time in between. They actually flew me over to Auckland instead and put me in a hotel for the night. Not a bad end in hindsight, but a guy I met at the airport had LAN flights booked all the way from Perth to Brazil. Literally every one of his flights was delayed/cancelled. He spent 4 days continually in transit. /endrant

I've only been here one day, and it was a small day. .8-1.5m swell producing ~3ft set waves during low tide and ~2ft during high. I can confirm it is a soft wave at this size. During high tide when it's small it gets sectiony. During low tide when it's small (I'm obviously only reporting on one day's experience) it's pretty damn fun. Not sectiony, but still pretty fast in certain sections. See it build in front of you, pump one or twice and feel that flowing speed that keeps us all going back for another one, and then a cutty or a nice roundhouse if the wave allows. Walk back is pretty magnificent given the landscape. Chicama Surf Hotel do offer zodiac service, just FYI. But obviously you piss people off if you're getting back up to the point 'too quickly/often'. That said, when the waves are coming in consistently or bigger it's like a conveyor belt; there's no point in trying to paddle to the point. It's fair game for everyone. The wave is user friendly too, much like the Goldy.

Oh yeah, and just quietly, Greg Long's here at the moment. Came out for breakfast this morning and there he is, just sitting quietly on his computer. Ya know those moment you see someone you idolise but know that you seriously need to keep your excitement on the down-low? Yup, that was me.

Surfed it in "87" place was a flea pit spent all day trying to find some thing to eat but scored 4 to 6 feet 2 to 3 waves to the jetty..............paddle out around the island was fraught ...........wasn't soft, have fun holds a massive crowd.

That Zodiac has destroyed the fun of the average punter
Make sure you boycott it
Also is the old boy at El Hombre still alive. Not sure of his real name but he is a good laugh

I remember chatting to El Hombre when I was there in 05. Got some great waves, one that went from the island to about 100m from the jetty, jelly legs set in about half way down the point.

Haven't been to El Hombre unfortunately. Been cooped up at the hotel most of the time due. Mostly due to it being a hotel and catering to most needs, but also due to the fact that when the swell died down a bit after Tuesday last week the hotel turned into a miniature ghost town. That meant that hotel staff could tell when you left. I went for lunch at a restaurant down the road called Chicama for lunch one day and hotel staff noticed it. What do you know; the waitresses pitched up at my door that evening encouraging me to come to dinner. Bang went my plans for getting out and experiencing local culture without coming back to disappointed looks. I'm a softie for keeping people happy so I absolutely hated seeing them with the look.

Banks just have not been on for the last two weeks. Rarely lining up all the way from the point down to even the hotel. Still, long enough waves on some bigger days to feel significant leg burn. My backhand has improved exponentially (regular, obviously). Never ventured further down than the hotel as the banks further on were even more uncertain. The entire time I've been here I've only ever heard of one guy (funnily enough, a guy that lives a few suburbs from me in Perth) who made it from the point, past the hotel. He was gunning it on a 9' softboard though.

The zodiac has ruined it. But only to a degree. Yesterday it just us hotel crew up at the point, trading waves with the assistance of zodiac that was of mutual benefit to us all. Everyone had smiles on faces. Weekends are a difference story though with upwards of potentially 20 people on a space bout 5x5m on a good swell. Mix of locals and tourists. The current is always moving people down the lineup, sure, but there are always the strong paddlers focused on the best of the best waves.

Speaking of good paddlers, Greg Long was staying for about 5 of the nights I've been here for. Great guy, really humble, really easy to talk to. Got a photo with him, stoked.

Went out to the cape on a smaller day (talking 2 foot max at Chicama main peak). Was holding 6-8ft out there and was an absolute blast once you figured out the shifty nature of the place. No barrels had, but a great drop and plenty of wall and power to put in some hard carves. Thousands of pelicans flying overhead and on the nearby hill all the time.

Video from a wave of mine today:

Nice, long wave

Looks like loads of fun.

Did you have the camera on your head

Thanks Sparki ,,, goes to show you even in surf heaven, sometimes the conditions aren't brilliant.. Looks like a lot of fun though, and you managed to squeeze them dry.

Glad to see you enjoying yourself sparki - its a nice long wave . I spent a lot of time at a spot not too far from there called Pacasmayo - which picks up more swell than Chicama and had much better shape when I was there. Was normally a struggle to find anyone to surf with to be honest - although that was a few years ago now. Well worth a stop in if you have the time. Its a nice long walk out to the point or get a buggy to drop you off and surf all the way back to town. Have a feed and do it all again. When its big it can be very fast - great fun though - but can be a tough paddle out.

I was biting the floaty backdoor with the zip lace tied into where you'd normally screw it onto a mount. Took me a day or two to figure out how was the best way to bite it and the video format, but I clearly got there with the vid. If find that having the camera mounted on the board gives a somewhat unrealistic perception of speed, so I prefer the way I was doing it, even if in the raw footage it sounds like Darth Vadar's behind the camera.

Went to Pacasmayo, definitely preferred it too. Love it how the sets at the top of the point really rear up. Got one of the best speed runs at Pacasmayo when I went there on a day trip with some Chileans. Chicama hotel is thinking about building a day stop there; shade, shower, maybe drinking water. There's obviously enough demand to get up there for them to want to consider it. We got a local with a zodiac. Current was way too strong without it. We got it 6-8ft.

Another wave is the one out at the very furthest tip of the cape that those that haven't been there before may be able to see on a map. Was 2ft at Chicama peak one day so we got a group together and got dropped out there once. We got dropped 500m away and trekked/duck dived to it. Was easily 8ft and there thousands of birds constantly in the sky - mostly pelicans. Just a few of us sharing these nice solid waves. The adventure is often worth it!

Sounds great, hopefully you'll have some more picks to share when your home

Go pro videos from eye sight are so much better IMHO.. Im not sure i could manage to hold it my mouth though, a wave like that id be busy sucking in some serous air

Gaffer tape and an old snorkel work well too..




Wearing it the camera sits at chin height. Can breath through the snorkel end. Looks ridiculous, works surprisingly well.