EL Reportaje del Surfista

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BIG DROPS, LOTS OF ROCKS

So I´ve moved on from the friendly beach breaks and white sands and happy tourist lands of San Juan Del Sur to find myself living in a dingy little room and the end of a dirty little road next to a sometimes stinky little river right next to a world famous surf break: Popoyo. I´ve been here nearly a week now, and i learned early on that this wave does not mess around. If the size of the drop doesn´t trip you up, surely the rocky reef will get you or your board at low tide. And if you manage to avoid both of these hazards, there are always the locals (they rip), the food (so far so good, knock on wood!), or the river (what kind of septic code do you think they have out here?). But man oh man is this wave good!

Its a reef-point-peak that breaks left and right, but mainly left, and can be anything from a fun sized peak to a massive walled up beast of a wave. Right now the surf is five feet at 18 secs, making for well over head faces of seven and eight feet on the set waves. Some of the drops and carves I saw today were worthy of surf movie footage, as there is quite a bit of talent here. Normal people life me, however, have to sneak in and out of the inside section to pick off the smaller waves in between the sets, a cat and mouse game that can get tiring after taking a few 10 wave sets on the head. It´s a great challenge of a wave, and the ones i do manage to pick off are quite exciting, there is room to do a few turns and time to play around on the wave before it shuts down.

As for the scene here, well, it´s quite a scene. Surfers speaking all sorts of different languages can be found in the lineup and within 500 yard from the break at any given time. Ten years ago this was a deserted beach, inhabited by some fishermen, and a few hard-core surf travelers, now the ´end of the road´ here at guasacate is jam packed with hotels, hostels, restuarants, surfcamps, and lots of ´real estate for sale´ signs. Ding repair shops are doing especially well, it seems like you can´t surf this wave without hitting a rock or another board. This break especially likes to break boards in half too.

So i spend my time here either in the water, in the hammock, or on my balcony with my ukulele, watching the people come and go. If i stand on a chair and look with my binos i can see when the lineup is not crowded, so i grab my board and run out to the sea. From my door to the sea it takes about four minutes! I really couldn´t ask for more- this life i get to live right now, doing a dance with the sea, walking on water, celebrating the cosmic combination of energy magically transferred from the sun into a rolling cylinder of liquid! And so I do my best to soak it all in, every minute, all the pleasure and all the pain, all the smiles and the stinkeyes, the peaceful times and the anxious times- all of it is a celebration of all this is, and i feel so blessed to merely BE.

This computer that is costing me $5/hour is not allowing me to upload the photos of this place, so if you´re reading this you´ll just have to imagine it in your head until i get to a place that will upload photos. I´m thinking that I´ll be here at Popoyo for a month or so before i move on (its hard to leave a place that has offshore winds all day, everyday), and internet is kinda spotty right now, but its great to hear from you all through comments or emails. Thanks for reading, and until next time, Ryan.

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Photos

Looking North
the view of the beach from the hill...

From the beach...
sorry about the lack of zooom here, but what about those colors from the reef to the sea to the sky..... this is one of my favorite pics

going left
get out your magnifying glass to see how the wave works on the left... this is on a smaller but fun day

just droppin in..
popoyo at low tide

derecha y izquierda
anybody wanna split a peak?

me, my board. my uke.
i´ve got everything i need right here. all that´s missing is you.

Comments

[Yer Momma]

UTube Video of the Surf
Wow, doing some internet tours of Popoyo. Found a video from a Ding Shop showing the quite impressive surf! http://www.popoyo.com/index.html

[Ms. Sander]

Lovin' Life
Dear Ryan, I loved reading about you and your surfing. Guess what? This summer I took up surfing! I have a 9'6'' longboard. It is a Phearson arrow. Can you even believe it? Unfortunately, the waves have not been so great. They did improve near the end of the summer, as we had a few hurricanes come by. Glad to hear you are able to enjoy the water daily. Best wishes. Peggy

[Senior Popsucker]

Life in the water
Looks like an amazing time my friend! Life is is a lot like those waves - full of highs and lows, and with or without you - it just keeps on rolling. Live it up while you can!! Looks like a blast.

[Husk]

Surf dreams
Thanks for providing my evening entertainment. I want to split a peak.

[Paul Mazzei]

Damn, sick A frame
Orion, it looks amazing. You must be getting pretty damn good at surfing. Hope all is well.