Castles Made of Sand

The Black Plague

stevolj — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:34:53 +0000

It’s one thing when you’re a little kid playing in the shore-break, but fully-grown with piercings and tatts with a boogie board… its like the black plague in some of the major cities I’ve visited here in Mex.

Vallarta river mouth looking fun except for the "infection"

This wave is right in the center of town and apparently never breaks... and when it does... 15 boogies sit on the peak. Not one surfer in the water

Nayarit and Northwest Swell

stevolj — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:43:20 +0000

nayarit nugget

With a large northwest passing through Hawaii and California last week it looked like there wasn’t going to be much here in Colima so we headed north for the weekend. Just up the road is the state of Jalisco and an area called “costalegre” (the happy coast). It’s an amazing piece of coastline with just a few fishing towns in between the 280km stretch. Then you hit the bay of Puerto Vallarta and just north of there, the state of Nayarit. My Mexican pals down here didn’t have much to say about surf in that area so armed with some google earth maps and a general idea of where I wanted to be (and some friendly Spanish/ pesos to convince security guards to let us through private property), we amazingly managed to track down some empty waves.

Sayulita is a mellow little expat-hippy surf town and a good base for exploring the area

It’s kind of mind boggling to me that in 2012 with the number of gringo expats that lurk in Vallarta that we found empty surf on a weekend. Just goes to show its out there if you want it.

30 pesos and a smile can go a long way to opening doors, or gates

Many people might have missed a slightly obscure news story back in the fall involving Mexican authorities foiling plans of Gaddafi’s “party-boy” son to sneak under the radar into Mexico, aka “Operation Guest” (read about it here or here). Well, as it turns out, one of the houses he allegedly purchased was in the exclusive Punta Mita, the large headland area at the top of Vallarta bay? Just when I thought this site was losing it’s “Arabian flavor”…

Maybe Saadi Gaddafi heard there’s good surf nearby?

a little mushier on the higher tide can’t complain

Belize You Me

stevolj — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:51:12 +0000

So I’m willing to admit I had to look at a map to confirm where exactly Belize was. I knew it was vaguely in the region but I didn’t realize it shared a border with Mexico. Formerly known as “British Honduras” until 1973, the laid-back Caribbean coastal people didn’t kick the Red Coats out until 1981.

The Belizean islands showing off some Caribbean colors

We crossed into the country by the northern Mexican border and the first night in town was a bizarre experience. The place has one of the most diverse populations in the world for such a small country: there are the original Mayans who were overtaken by the usual Spanish conquistador submission, the British who later came in and colonized and brought Chinese workers for their mahogany farms, as well as a large black population thanks to the slave trading days in the nearby islands. And to top it all off there’s a whole bunch of German Mennonites (think Amish) running around with straw hats and whisy beards. So with English as the official language you’ve got Spanish, Chinese, German and Creole all over the place, spread out across the lowest population density in Central America.

The Belize Barrier Reef connects up the coast with the Yucatan reef making it the largest coral reef system in the world second to Australia’s. This protected park area in the south of San Pedro island is crazy: fish, sharks and rays everywhere (hence, snorkeling tourists everywhere as well)- and a little playful peak

We were meeting my extended family and had some complicated travel logistics so bringing a board was out of the question (although my fishing gear had to come). I was a little disappointed when our boat pulled up to the national park snorkel area and there was a glassy little reef pass peeling unnoticed. The laid back island-style boat captain was quick to discourage: “Beleeeeze me mon, der aint nah way chewwanna churf out der. You gonna git sliced up real nice on dee coral”. I didn’t bother arguing, but looked damn fun to me. Maybe I’ll make it back some day…

The nearby site of Tikal, just across the Guatemalan border, was one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. The ruins of the city are amazing

Another empty pass in the Belizean reef. Snorkeler in the foreground gives some size perspective

Somewhere in the UAE

stevolj — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:23:57 +0000

I can’t say I’ve been missing the emotional roller coaster of waiting for waves in the Middle East, but I do get a little twinge of discomfort when I hear from the boys back in the Sand Box that the waves have been good. This shot is from my good buddy Rixta who did some scouting outside of the usual Dubai swell spots… somewhere in the UAE…

merry xmas

For nostalgia sake, older Middle East posts linked here

Winter?

stevolj — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:23:38 +0000

Spent some time back in San Diego for a couple weeks over Thanksgiving and just got back down to Mex ready for overly-festive Christmas decorations, cooler weather (all relative of course) and no more south swell. Thankfully, I was quite mistaken on the latter… colima didn’t get the memo that south swell season is over… still pumping…

Not many visitors in town this time of year which means only a handful of guys paddling in the lineup. The regulars on the machines (jet ski step offs) were unfortunately picking off the best ones

feliz navidad! hopefully more before the end of the year

More Michoacan

stevolj — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:13:42 +0000

South of Colima, north of Guerro, the state of Michoacan has long been known for it’s plentiful waves and it’s still full of treasures for those willing…

park at your own risk around this place. we took a pass

not just points down there...

Flaco here knows this point like the back of his hand

only thing better than a cow party is a cow party and a flat tire!

Michoacan and beyond

stevolj — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:29:17 +0000

more to come

Tubes and Crocs

stevolj — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:36:26 +0000

good idea to have a nice cup of joe before tackling the early morning paddle

hmmm...

When I first went down to Puerto, Todd Morcom was one of the heaviest gringo chargers hanging out down there. I guess these days he prefers the darker sand tubes up north here but guy still gets shacked off his head

not as lazy as you think

I'm still getting settled down here but managed to pick off a couple

and... just another for the "mexican beach scene" file. this 8yr kid not only had a killer shirt/ hat combo but had no hesitation belting out tunes in the restaurant like a man

simple math

stevolj — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:23:45 +0000

HURRICANE + CRAZY RAIN = RIVERS BURSTING = NEW SAND + SOUTH SWELL =

Post-Jova

stevolj — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:25:43 +0000

The storm was so close that a lot of little places in town that don't normally get waves had some pulse..

Hurricane Jova which touched down here in Colima on Oct 12 was heavy enough for the Governor to declare a state of emergency. The storm itself wasn’t that eventful as it was downgraded when it made landfall but the rain and aftermath (flooding and landslides) was really devastating. Only a few deaths in the region but insane damage, especially to the major agricultural towns nearby. President Calderon was here in Manzanillo this week on a follow-up visit.

Las Hadas here is one of the premier golf courses in Mexico. Doesn't look like much golf any time soon. Maybe a cable wakeboardpark?

Because the Manzanillo port is such an important economic hub the clean up crews were out in full force to get roads somewhat repaired. It was pretty impressive how they had everything up and running in a couple days (although Manz airport is closed for a few weeks).

there are some really interesting fingers of coast right near my house. I was watching this mysto slab for a while in the rain but for every one like this there were about 25 on dry reef. With no one out and a long paddle (not to mention the middle of a hurricane) I took a pass...

post-jova damage in colima. photo from The Guardain