Surfing in Mexico

[Jhole]

Looking on some feedback on recent travel to Central Mexico. I am thinking of going to Rio Nexpa and La Ticla. I know it gets good down there. I just need some feedback on the cartels and safety issues. Any advice and feedback would be appreciated.

Peace

[Piggity]

I just hit Southern Oaxaca in August and it was fine but it's not close to where you are going. We did the same trip the year before. We had a guided trip so it always make it easier/safer. Mexico is mexico, there has alway and will always be some risks involved. My biggest problem was banging on the rocks during a Double Overhead 20 second day at a 300-500 yard point break, good times.

[Piggity]

I lied, my biggest problem was the green toilet bowl aliens I excreted for a week after returning. 12 years of driving to baja and also surfing mainland mex and this was the most legit case of Montezuma's I've ever had the pleasure of taking part of.

[Boarding Medic]

Central and Southern Mex aren't as bad as the border areas.
I used to surf local Baja 2-3 times a month. I wont even entertain the idea now.
I live in San Diego so we hear all the news from south of the border every night. It's BAD right now.
Just keep in mind that the county is in a bad place. Be careful and use your common sense.
I would honestly rather go to Central America than deep Mexico. I felt a lot safer in Nicaragua than I do in Mex
I really miss my morning Baja runs, such a bummed
On the Mexico pudding butt note - Get your MD to prescribe you some Cipro before you go and take it at the first sign of the shits

[Piggity]

Cipro vs. Oaxaca Cheese, that could be an interesting UFC battle. I hear ya on baja, I have cut those trips short myself.

[Boarding Medic]

I got Montezuma's bad on a Cabo trip a few years ago
I absolutely ruined the bathroom at Cabo Wabo. Would have been embarrassing if I hadn't already had a good buzz going
That is one hell of a diet. Only time I have ever come home from a vacation and been 10 lbs lighter than when I left. You can eat anything you want and not absorb any of it. Of coarse you have to plan your meals around being close to a clean shitter for 2 hrs after.

[Piggity]

tearing up a good bathroom in Mex is always fun!

I had the porcelain throne behind me and trash can in front and was doubling down during the peak, every 5 or so minutes. Dehydrated X's 100,000

We were leaving that morning and my buddies had to pack my surfboards for me. Every flight attendant asked me if I was going to live or not. We flew into Tijuana and my buddies had to carry my boards across the boarder for me. Anything that hit my stomach would immediately go out both ends, no gatorade, water or anything. I was absolutely useless for those 24 hours.

Then I had the normal Montezuma's for the next 4-5 days once the vomiting stopped. I have never been so happy to 'only' have the usual Monte's revenge.

[Sluffy]

headed to sayulito soon, it pretty safe right?

[tgray]

I used to get down to Sayulita before people started writing it up in Outside magazine, and the airlines inflight mags started touting it as
the mex surf destination, after that came the gringo vacation home speculators, then the surf camps/ school. when I was there the
locals were friendly and for the most part happy to share their village and surf, Now , maybe not so much. the gringos have driven up
the real estate prices and families have been selling out and moving further away. the local mex groms have to share the waves with
all the wanna be surfers who haven't the grasp of surf etiquette or water skills. for good or bad , the village is easier to get to with a new
safer highway from PV. now that the gringos have moved in there will be no shortage of white people on the beach, safety in flocks. on
one of my early trips to Sayulita , having just arrived and stashed bags and board in the casita, wandering through town looking for dinner.
happened that there were two local fellows who were in the process of sorting out some long term animosity under the Drunk tree [ the
shade tree that the local men liked to sit under drinking beer and talking story,] went from trading insults to fists then the loser went home and
came back riding his horse and strapped with sidearm , OK corral style shootout, well the guy without horse was either less drunk, Quicker
or a better aim, maybe all of the above. come saturday the horse was pulling a wagon with his owner in a wood box, taking him to Playa las Muertas.
because of the gentrification of Sayulita ,the village has lost some of the flavor that was an attraction in the first place. not to say
that I need to experience the mexican drive by .

[Sluffy]

thanks for the insight, we are actually staying in Punta Mita but will be near sayulito but hopefully away from the junk show... from what ive heard the thing i really need to be scared about is Hep A, so im on that.

[skideeppow]

East Cape is the place to be.

[Piggity]

Eh, Hep-A is just part of the surfing game, especially in Mex. you'll shit it out in a few weeks, then you'll be immune for life.

[Piggity]

By the way, never been but I've heard good things about punt a mita.

[ratcliffe81]

headed to sayulito soon, it pretty safe right?

when will you be in Sayulita?

[tgray]

Punta mita is probably a good choice, water is cleaner than Sayulita, least it was when I was there, Sayulita sewer has outflow into the
drainage that dumps into the ocean over the reef where the surf breaks are, there are two breaks , the right and the less popular left.
that may have changed with the expansion of the village, they may have actually built waste water treatment.

we used to hire a taxi when the break got crowded and surf Punta Mita, although the breaks along that side liked a swell from a more southerly direction. a good NW would still wrap around for some clean rides.

Burros- along the road , 1st break you will come to closest to Bucereas, small but fun never crowded, you will probably be alone.
La lancha - next down the road ,similar to Burros , not sure of access because of mega beach homes that were planned to have been built
along this stretch. Panga dayboats come down from Anclote and drop surfers here. Insta-crowds.

Anclote- a really nice nose-ride wave, machine like and with the right swell its perfection, cold beer and margaritas close at hand,
at low tide its really shallow with coral, so if you have a habit of falling feet first, have med kit close.

El Faro- The better of the breaks , hire a panga for a drop off, or you can hike out to the point from Anclote , if you hike , getting on and
off the beach is the hard part, super shallow for a distance and it's Purple Urchin hell. we would wear booties and tevas and take
a length of cord, wade out to the point where we could safely paddle, go to deeper water and anchor the tevas and booties
until the surf session was done. these days I think I'd just hire the skiff.

If a really good NW swell happens, check out a taxi north to the village of Chacala, hire a panga out to the surf break north, we called
it Chacala, it breaks shallow and you can get some epic hollow rides, beware the urchin.

Sayulita, not much to say except beware of the sting rays here, not worry on the reef but if you are in the sand bottom area
around the sayulita hotel and south, they are thick lots of people have been spiked stepping on them.

Have fun !

[Sluffy]

thanks for the info Tgray!! i am getting really excited, though your the 3rd person to warn me bout sea urchins.. hehe

the place we are staying is a hotel right in front of anclote.

ratcliffe, i will be there from april 6th through the 19th

[teton snow and air junky]

did a 3 month mex pacific coast surf tour last mar-may 2010. was rolling in a nationalized van with mexican plates, fully tinted/blacked out windows. slept in the van, in a lot of different places. the only scary hassles were actually federales waking us telling us we were crazy and to drive on to the next pem-ex and sleep there.
the beach zones are pretty legit. nexpa and la ticla were definitely two of the nicer and more well known stops on the tour, with 10-30 people in the water. power in a nice package. caught a good number of double overhead days, and the waves will push you. both those spots are killer. la ticla has both, but the left is choice, and sometimes quite difficult to get out.. timing and entry point is key, strong current, shallow rocks. but worth it. nothing much there. got to pay to camp, the proprietors have hawk eyes, but its pretty cheap. a copule of places to eat.. and the sea lice tore me up, scratched that shit for the next two weeks.
i digress: your question is about safety, and i've got tickets to get back down there in a few days.. am i going? starting to get scared. the news is rough, beheadings in acupulco.. which was next in our sights. last year, we got word that la ticla had been held up one night about a month before we passed through, everything was taken from about all 30 people camping - everything of ANY value, and it was all done by machine-gunpoint. we were there for 4 days, and all was good. heard it was two rival gangs trying to make each other's state look bad?? whatever. at this point, it's a calculated gamble. as always, be way low key, don't flash shit - camera, laptop, ipod, nothing. be cool. and. for what its worth, my opinion is you better have a decent grasp of the language. things change in a hurry for those with no language skills, especially in the nether regions, where english, or even spanglish wont really fly.
nexpa is way more established as a tourist spot, although still chill and small. more amenities, more food options, and again, a sweet left with a punchy take off. pricier to be there than la ticla for an extended period. both are pretty remote from any airports.. but it is spectacular country, the coast tees off down there.
on the large part, the people of mexico were great, but we were chill, in the country for a total of 5 1/2 months, and were pretty fluent, and interacted with most everyone. the coast south of vallarta is a different world, from vallarta north, way less dense, way stronger waves. sayulita/punta de mita definitely have there moments, but they are generally wayyyy mushier/long board/fish board breaks, although san poncho can break a board easily, just north of sayulita. south of vallarta is hotter, heavier and stronger (by several factors), more rugged and a little more sketch in general - vallarta north is tourist central - they rely so heavily on tourism, that crime against gringos is held a little more in check up that way?? that was my gut feeling.
oaxaca, guerrero are rougher, by a longshot. watch every move down there. and even then the ball is not always in your court. the cartels run the place, just dont cross their path.

one BIG point, and my last, is the state of 'colima', just north of nexpa/ticla by 4-7 hours drive time (as i recall) is by all locals' accounts the safest state around - there is something about that state that the drug guys dont have the same foothold and leverage. ALL my mexican friends shared this opinion, and there is great surf there, particularly around manzanillo - like 5-7 different breaks, but it was kinda polluted from some nasty industrial smoke stacks - you can see them on google earth. so a safe and fat break option there.
pascuales is very close by, but wayyyy heavy. you better be reallly good, and have back up boards, this place is no joke. it wasn't an option when i was there- 20 ft tow in only faces, jaime obrien's crew was there.. some pretty epic footage surfaced on the internet. although it was at an "undisclosed location"
i'm on the fence about this trip. if you see a two toned blue 95 chevy van, wicked tinted, with a built in bed, and a hot blond holdin down the fort, you'll find me in the water. shout out to your boy.
or if you want to buy the set-up... it could be for sale. comfortable and styley. mexican plated, keeps you safe. i'm in it at $5K, and got a clean title, plus a month's worth of work to get it set-up, all done. its tried and true, a pure surf mobile. ipod stereo - booyah. peace

[Sluffy]

just got back from Punta Mita, such an awesome surfing experience. 14 days of surfing, 2 good swells and 4 days of almost no waves... kind of. We surfed anclote most of the days because of the awesome long rides. (and like mentioned before Great for Nose-riding) also a good SUP trainer on low days. A few of the days when it was super small at anclote we would go to La Lancha and it always delivered, even with low power swell. Saved the rest of the breaks for future trips, if you have never surfed before this may be the best place in the world to learn and once you got the hang of it there are some pretty challenging waves. We did get in really good with a few locals that showed us some breaks not mentioned anywhere on the internet and i'm gonna keep it that way. Lets just say if you wanted to, you can definitely get barreled in punta mita too (maybe next year for me)

[BirdRock]

Did you fish at all? Incredible offshore action there in addition to the surf. 200 - 300lb yellow fin are regularly caught in that area.

Let's see some pictures!

[skideeppow]

heading to east cape for 10 days on friday. Super stoked.
Goind from thigh deep pow on aspen mtn to head high waves on sea of cortez

[Piggity]

Skidee, keep us posted man. Looks like a legit fin gash. Check those fins I mentioned for future trips, Take care man!

[Jhole]

Ended up going to El Sal and not mex....it was sick! Mex next time.

[Tunco]

Where? East or west?

[Jhole]

Both east and west. Had better waves on eastside.

[comish]

Anyone been to Troncones, near Ixtapa? Wifey and I are thinking of heading there for a bit in another month or so. Any opinions on waves, safety, places to stay?