I know El Salvador has some good spots. Last time I was there I didn’t have time. I arrive 7 am on Sunday and will go straight to the hotel. I need a couple of hours sleep but after that I should be ready.
First time surfing El Salvador
I don’t know anything about surfing in El Salvador, but Punta Roca in the La Libertad province appears in my google search as the closest one.
It’s noon and some wind. I didn’t check the forecast, but I am happy really just to do something different. If I catch one wave it’s is worth it, two is great, three unlikely, I say to myself as I approach the Salvadoran Pacific coast.
I look out at the sea. Definitely waves, not too good. Onshore wind. Nice weather. I go to the bar and ask for a board. The person in front of me is a friendly guy who speaks Spanish with an American accent.
– Soy de Miami, he says when I ask. We continue in English.
We go up the stairs on a deck with a good view of the shore. There are a couple dozens surf boards there. – This is a very good one, Robert says and hands me a minitanker.
Low expectations at work
I ask for advice. – Well, as you see today, it’s not very good, but try to walk up the beach and exit where the last house is. Then paddle towards the guys in the Northern end. – Any rocks to be aware of? – Everywhere, he laughs. I understand, normal, with other words.
So, I grab the board, take of my t-shirt and head down to the beach. I see the two others he talked about. It seems like the best spot.
I rarely surf. My paddle technique is mediocre and today I feel like a walrus as if my stomach has expanded two inches the last week. Too much office work for too long. No excuse.
Anyways, I get out, sit there in the sun and the 26 degrees air-water temperature and feel good. After half an hour I get my first wave, only the white water really, but another half hour later, I get a nice one. Backside, bottom turn and back. Super fun, highly unexpected.
The time machine feeling
Thrilled by my surfing “abilities” I decide to have a bear before I return to San Salvador. I sit down with Robert and chat.
Hi tells his story. He and his buddy (a guy not afraid of taking risks or do stupid things) came down here in 1973 (the year I was born). They drove down the Pacific coast through Mexico to Central America in a classic Volkswagen surf van and Robert decided to stay in El Salvador.
Robert was the one naming the spot Punta Roca. – I am Mr. Punta Roca he says and laughs.
His son, Jimmy Rotherham used to be a pro surfer. Robert shows me a video from Punta Roca of him surfing. It’s jaw dropping, both the surfing and the waves.
I will come back here some day, I think for my self.
Travel letter from Lofoten
Most important: The black gold as it was called in the old world, remains under the seabed. – The politicians took to reason for once, says one of the owners of Johs. Giæver Hostel in Henningsvær, Lofoten.
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