Puerto Escondido

One of Chris’ life goals was to learn how to surf. So we decided to spend a week in Puerto Escondido, which is known for its monster waves, as well as a few beginner beaches. When we arrived at Playa Carralillo, we observed about 20 surfers sitting on their boards a few hundred yards out, scanning the horizon for waves. Each time a big wave would come, the surfers would turn around, lay on their boards, and line up to catch the wave just as it started to crest. As the wave approached, the surfers would paddle furiously. The wave would pick them up, sweep them along, and then come crashing down. Surf boards would go flying strait up in the air, their European renters tumbling over backwards, scattered across the ocean like a box of spilled toothpicks. This, we thought, is our kind of beach.

We signed up for surf lessons with a guy named Chila early the next morning, before the partying crowd was able to drag their boards to the beach and when the waves were larger. Chila gave us a brief lesson on land on how to paddle, position our hands, lift ourselves to our feet, and demonstrate the proper surfer stance. Then we headed into the ocean. Chila wanted us to focus on standing up so he did all the thinking for us. He scanned for waves of suitable size and steered us into position. As the wave approached he would hold on to the back of our boards and then give us a gentle push to get us started. Chris improved quickly and soon graduated to catching waves on his own. It was totally tubular. Unfortunately, the only footage we were able to capture of Chris’ new skills is this grainy clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nS_aR8XX_U&feature=related

Mia slowly worked her way up from baby to medium sized waves.  After a few gnarly wipeouts ending with her being dragged by her ankle across the ocean floor, Mia went into surfing retirement, preferring to drink cervesas on the beach.   

Puerto Escondido, like many of the touristy destinations in Mexico right now, has a weird ghost town feel about it. We are here in the low season, but it’s also clear that the panic over H1N1 has led to far fewer foreign travelers in Mexico than usual. A place like Puerto Escondido, with the capacity for a huge number of tourists, felt like riding an empty late-night bus.  It’s nice to have the place to ourselves but at the same time a little eerie to be the only people in a restaurant.