Having traveled halfway through Central America, I waited three weeks for a chance at scoring this big wave spot. It’s one of the heaviest, if not the heaviest reef in this part of the world. I arrived at the tail end of its peak swell season and although some fun swells had come through, they were either too small for the reef or plagued with onshores. On my second to last day there my luck finally changed. The beast of a wave finally came to life with only myself and Australian bodyboarder charger Sebastian Miller in the water for a solid low tide session. Very few people surf this wave at all and it goes almost unridden on the low tide due to the dry rock shelf on the sketchy end section. Of course, this didn’t seem to phase Seb from Mona Vale, Sydney, who was dropping into bomb after bomb, even rag dolling across the dry reef on a number of occasions. It was such an epic session and I could not help but think that scoring solid slabs of this quality with one other person in the water is virtually unheard of these days.
These photos do this wave no justice at all, almost making it look inviting, somewhat mellow and easily makeable – but this is one heavy wave. It’s shifty and unpredictable with three distinct sections that can link together on the right angle, offering a long wave with multiple barrel sections. Alternatively, each section can break as individual wave depending on the angle. The outside Cloudbreakesque section is super fast and down the line. This section wedges on take off and offers a long, throaty barrel that often pinches on exit just before the dry rock shelf. If you wipeout here you will undoubtedly lose a lot of skin on this unforgiving cheese grater. It is difficult to determine from the photos, but you would literally come out of the barrel here and almost ride straight onto the dry rock shelf on low tide. Sketchy as f@&k! This dry rock shelf (covered at high tide) is where the second slabby section of the wave begins. It offers up a Padang Padang style barrel right next to dry reef before running through to the more mellow inside section. Although I was stoked to have scored such a good day at this reef, I still would have killed to see this wave break on a really solid swell and see what this beast is truly capable of. Believe it or not, this day only took place during a mid-sized swell with a long period, while all other surrounding spots struggled to break at shoulder high. It has to be one of Central America’s truly undercover big wave spots.
This world class wave is easily one of the best waves I’ve come across during my year long travels in Central America. This big wave spot and swell magnet, although rarely surfed, is actually no secret at all. But before you finish fashioning your noose and sharpening your knives, I have no plans to give up its location (or even which country I found it). If you know where it is, good on you. Don’t blow it out and instead go and charge this beast of a wave for yourself, by yourself.
Good luck.
