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Published: April 8th 2008
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TICLA
As we descended a windy mountain road along the coast, we spotted a long stretch of beach with what appeared to be large, surfable waves. A bill board with a surfer riding a wave corroborated that we could surf at playa Ticla, so we turned off the highway and headed for the beach. We pulled into a palm fron, beach front palapa where we were told we could stay for 30 pesos a night ($3). We threw on some board shorts, grabbed our surf boards and headed for the waves. Large waves, moderate wind and a strong rip current combined to quickly tire me out. I caught one wave then headed in. Andy stayed out until it was dark due to his endless amount of energy and supperhuman paddling ability. When I went back to the truck, a local on a bicycle approached me and sold me a handful of herbs for 50 pesos ($5). I was a little hesitant to buy them at first but they smelled skunky and were extremely cheap. The only problem was to smoke it all before we hit another military checkpoint, but it was a problem easily solved. There is something extremely nice
and relaxing about a marijuana binge on beautiful beaches in Mexico. We played with the LED frisbee at night and noticed that this beach also had some phosphorescence. In the morning we had another surf session. This time we went around the corner to a better break. It was less windy and still pretty big waves. Once again Andy surfed for over twice as long as me. After we packed up camp and drove a short distance south to another surfing beach, Barra de Nexpa, which boasts one of Mexico's best lefts.
BARRA DE NEXPA
We rolled into another picturesque beach side palapa and upon inquiry found out that the proprietor, Don Lilly was away but would likely be back the next day. We quickly met our neighbors who were staying in a nice two story cabana. Living in luxury they had a stove, a bathroom and their own shower. Up until this point the only bath or shower Andy or I had was in the ocean or a river. They turned out to be a great group of guys on vacation from the states. Crow was getting his PHD at UCSB collecting fish in Baja and diving
off the coast. Aaron was an environmental scientist who worked for a company that did environmental remediation. Ben just got a government job in Florida monitoring fish populations off the coast and in the Caribbean. The wind was too strong for an evening surf session, so I pulled out a J and they busted out a bottle of tequila. We grabbed a few beers and taught them the art of pitching horse shoes. they were surprisingly good for their first time. we watched the sun set while cooking dinner on our trusty, old stove then promptly climbed into our hammocks and went to sleep. We debated gathering wood for a bonfire, but decided if we did that, we wouldn't make it up in time for a sunrise surf session and the waves here are supposedly epic.
Up at the crack of dawn, we ate a grape fruit and the left over mashed potatoes, grabbed our gear and hit the surf. The waves were big, but relatively gentile and perfect for me to refine my emerging skills. I caught some of the best waves of my life and made some break throughs with my surfing technique. It's amazing how fast
The Beach
At Barra De La Cruz you improve on good waves. Andy being goofy footed, loved the left breaking waves and proved that he's a wave catching machine. After two and a half hours, I could barely move my arms to paddle, so I caught a wave and headed in. After a generous helping of oatmeal and raisins, we reclined back in our hammocks and read. Andy, after sufficiently tiring himself out surfing, took a nap. In the afternoon, I decided to skip the surf session, give my jello arms a rest and go skim boarding. The shore break was far from ideal with medium sized rocks that get sucked up in the powerful waves crashing against the sand. The wind was picking up, so I ended the session early, but it was fun to run around in the sand and ride some skim. Due to the high winds, we decided to open one of the bottles we purchased from the tequila tasting. Definitely some of the smoothest tequila I've ever had and goes to show that hard alcohol that is corked is bound to be good. More horse shoes, tequila, beer and mary jane until we were feeling just right. the neighbors invited us out
to dinner at one of the near by beach front restaurants. The wait was ridiculously long considering we were the only customers there, but it gave us time to talk and tell stories. After dinner we tossed around the LED light up Frisbee which is always a blast when inebriated. The disc resembles a glowing flying saucer hovering through the night sky and you usually dont see the person you're throwing to but just aim for a general direction. The other neighbors, a group of guys from Mexico city joined in, so we brought out the other LED Frisbee and had two going at once. They were so stoked on the glowing frisbee that we decided to give them our spare for which they were very grateful.
Up at sunrise for another amazing surf session. After 3 hours and a bunch of good waves we headed back to camp, packed up our belongings and said goodbye to our new friends. We had talked to them about our idea of finding some cheep property in central America and building an adobe house near a good surf break and they had said that if we found a large enough parcel of
land, they would be more than happy to split it with us. so we exchanged emails before we took off. It was very nice to meet some like minded individuals to talk and share some memories with.
BARRA DE LA CRUZ
We went to another epic surf break called barra de la cruz. A well formed wave curls right off the point. Supposedly the longest barrel recorded in a surfing competition was here and it definitely was the best waves I've ever surfed. They weren't too big but a larger swell was coming in. Sunrise and sunset surf sessions were simply amazing and alot of fun. The beach is beautiful, with no development except a village run restaurant. We met and befriended some very chill surfers there including, Tim, Ron, Ivan and Eric. On the second day I got hit on the head with a fin from the surf board which left a inch long and fairly deep gash on the back of my head. The first stitches I ever received in my life were at a red cross in Mexico. They stitched me up well, told me I could still surf and swim but I had to take an antibiotic so it wouldn't get infected. We found out that the problem with our four wheel drive was due to a disconected hose we must of knocked loose while changing the fuel filter. With the four wheel drive back in commision, we were ready to takle whatever the wild roads of mexico had to offer. The mexican car insurance was running out, so after a couple of days we decided to hit the road and head toward the Yucatan Peninsula.
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