RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Ok just wondering what travel option other people would choose

Scenario is you have the ability to travel anywhere over next summer for anywhere up to 2-3 months, but probably looking at more like 3-4 weeks.

Budget is around 6 grand MAX. But more likely to spend less ie 3-4 grand.
And this is exclusive of airfare.

Where would YOU go and what would YOU do?

Personally im thinking skiing through Eastern Europe/partying in Prague

or

Doing somewhere like Costa Rica

Or

typical tropical surf trip somewhere.

Ecuador, for sure.

^^^^ plus Peru.

Chile, insane uncrowded waves, $20 per day hire car and $7 accomodation

I was going to suggest Ecuador for sure too.
I was there in the wrong season and got great surf, really cheap, except the airfare. Peru would be great too, but water gets far colder.
Boardies all year in Ecuador, good times, uncrowded waves.

find la jolla
Go to telo islands (new indo place)
Stay in Aus....we have heaps of coast and secret spots
Coasta rica as you said
Mexico would be my best bet , or PNG
Canada....Buy an H bomb

g_u_m_b_y wrote: Canada....Buy an H bomb

well there goes 1/4th of your budget

^^^^^ went to Iran in 1999. Lots of repressed chicks gagging for it. People very friendly once they knew I was Australian not from US as the pr$cks knocked us out to make it into the World Cup . Mud city Bam pre earthquake insane.... not a great deal of surf tho. pretty interesting.

After looking into various locations around south/central america i have decided on Norther Peru. Chicama is just to appealing! sounds like costa rica is pretty crowded these days, and ecuador is pretty 3rd world still.

hey ive been to parts of indo which are really pretty good....like g land etc...

and central america and mexico also

really i think you have made the right decision with peru. its a wasteland of desert littered with beautiful looking point breaks. i spent a month there last year in september. didn't even scrape the surface for available waves. always there was swell. the water is cold even in the north, but if you are in good physical fitness this is the place for you. wear a 4/3 in winter and until id say october up to the ecuadorian border.

chicama is fickle but well worth staying close by. pocasmayo is about 100km away (not far by peruvian standards) and is the better, more consistent option. probably a longer wave when it is on than chicama. huge crumbly, clean walls.

then move up to los lobitos. an incredible surfing experience. in the middle of fucken nowhere, owned by the military, this wave is the best wave i have ever surfed. a left that barrels for up to 400m. accomodation is basic, but worth the experience.

i happen to speak pretty good spanish, but you can get by with absolutely nothing. an aussie guy i met had 5 words to his name.

even try spots further north as summer approaches. no sharks and good times will await you. and also, check out chiclayo for beautiful women. and if you dont fit in the machu pichu, you will regret such a mistake.

Emerald snake thanks for sharing your advice and experiences. Ill def check out those waves, goofy footers paradise. I will be going in January/February so the water should be a lot warmer than what it was in september.

Do you reckon two standard shortboards and one semi gun will suffice?

I want more out of my surfing holidays...i get bored of tropical islands and want to experience a few other things other than purely surfing...more bang for my buck i guess.

Stoked.

Ps i think i will take surfing in peru for a few weeks over skiing in eastern europe!!!

BELEZE! (portugese not spanish) haha

Been to South and Central America a bunch of times. I totally recommend it. Just learn to speak a bit of Spanish.

Mexico is also fun. Cheap accom, viagra, and good waves are the order of the day.

'and ecuador is pretty 3rd world still'

All of Sth America is 3rd world mate. Peru is certinatly no less 3rd world than Ecuador. Peru is cheaper though, because since 2000 Ecuador has had the US dollar as its official currency. 20 US bucks a day will be plenty to live on though, including accomodation and travel by bus. If your doing a trip to North Peru, and if u have the time a trip up into Ecuador would be ideal. In fact I think it would be stupid not to do it. Check out Montanita in Ecuador. Its kinda like the Byron Bay of Ecuador, chilled out hippy vibe, great 200metre long right hand point break. Its super crowded in peak season though, Jan and Feb, due to an international surf comp on every year. surf is amazing, up to 4 metre NW swells, the same ones that hit Hawaii every Hawaiin winter continue down the coast of Sth America, and as Ecuador is the most westerly country it is best positioned to get the best of these swells. Rest of the year decent SW swells are common

in regard to your q carpark king...

yeah probably your quiver will suffice. lobitos and negritos etc are quite heavy waves which will easily snap your boards, like they did mine.

the surf can get big but not immense. you probably dont need a gun. having said that, taking lots of boards up there is a bit of a liability in terms of ease of transport, unless you have patience etc. especially if you are thinking of doing some extra-curricular surfing activities.

jan, feb are prob good times for the northerly swells to approach, so the further north the better i think.

anyway, have fun.

beleza !

Mate has just got back from Colombia. Trying to sell his boat over there. He reckons security over there has just become full on.
I reckon its the only place in South America that i feel a little unsafe.

Isn't Bolivia starting to get bad too?

Bolivia is fine. La Paz can be a bit sketchy(they love their political rallies)but so is the high altitude sickness that WILL affect you.

You're pretty well travelled Kreepy aren't you mate......

I had a great girlfriend Monica when I was in Bolivia last.....not from La Paz but from a small city in the centre of the country called Cochabamba. As a point of interest......Cochabamba was the town where the Sth American drug lord lived , in the movie "Scarface".

Monica's father was a potato crop expert with a UK uni PHD but his Bolivian salary was the equivalent of around $A 5k per annum. The potato crop is Bolivia's main crop after which I believe the "coca" plant follows..... Tipping the "experts" in this crop earn slightly more.

F^ck , don't believe I'll ever get rid of the ol' travel bug. I get a bit pumped even hearing about people's impending trips on here.