I recently took a trip to Mexico and South America focusing on just photographing waves, not surfers (sorry friends). I was pretty disappointed when I arrived in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. I checked out a lot of the surf spots many recommended to me but was not feeling any of them. I even had a bad encounter while in the water at Playa Linda. It’s a fishing town so there were literally thousands of fish in the water with a lot of large birds circling around, diving into the water catching their prey. A school of hundreds of large fish swam by me bumping into me for about a good 5 minutes. I mean a good 2-3 lb fish just slamming into me nonstop – it was an uncomfortable experience being all alone in a break I wasn’t not familiar with, but if I want to get the shot, I have to make sacrifices, so I stayed in the water.
After a couple of days shooting at Playa Linda with no real good shots, I tried a new beach a few miles down called Jetties in Ixtapa town. When I arrived, I was immediately impressed; the wave would hit the jetty and create a nice barrel , similar to The Wedge in Southern California. Photographing waves is not as easy as holding down the trigger and praying for a good shot; conditions have to be just right (offshore winds, glassy, and size). You also have to put yourself into the pocket and remain there while the wave is coming towards you. I realize this was a great opportunity to capture some of the artistic waves I have been so desperately seeking during my 30 day trip….This was the spot.
I spent three days here at this break, I met some great local bodysurfers and bodyboarders that come here often. It reminded me of my own break in Honolulu called Sandy Beach. I realized no matter what country I’ve been to, the same type of people come to these types of surf spots, and the language barrier goes out the window. They all are stoked catching a sick barrel, they all laugh when their boys goes over the falls, and every surfer that paddles out into the line up has that same look of anticipation and eagerness. This commonality between us bonds most surfers no matter which country or language you speak.
I took hundreds if not a few thousand photos in Ixtapa Mexico and met a lot of great new friends. Thank you for the great experience Jetties, until we meet again. Mahalo from your Hawaii boy.
