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Jen on a wave. One of the boat assisted surfing guys takes pictures as a side job.
Getting there
Fly via Mexico or the States to Lima
Lima to chiclayo
Transfer from chiclayo is about 2 hours North of Paycasmayo. You can also fly to Trujillo (2 hours south from paycasmayo)
Many of the layovers between Lima and Chiclayo/Trujillo involve an overnight layover - can pay by the hour to sleep in the Lima airport just outside security (https://www.airport-sleepover.com/en/te ... l-terminal)
Where to stay.
We stayed at the El Faro Resort which is 50m walk to the launch spot.
One could also stay in town and pay $15/day to store gear at El Faro.
El Faro is fairly busy and expensive for what you get (quite rustic) but the views and access to the water are worth it for many . (EL FARO PACASMAYO RESORT on Google Maps). To arrange accommodation you text Mercedes on whatsapp: +51 954 974 668 - she also arranged our airport transfer.
Food
There are many restaurants in town , and El Faro also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is included.
There is a big supermarket in town about 1.5 km walk or Tuctuc, about 6 sol.
Wifi
Hotel wifi is slow, okay for email/messaging. Apparently this is the same at other places in town as well. For working we use cell phone data via an esim (Claro network) and that is generally fast enough for work / video calls. Next time we'd consider bringing a travel starlink for better internet.
Conditions
What's on the bottom
Mostly big round rocks, or rock slabs, no urchins but some sharp barnacles can shred your feet. I recommend booties but we were the only people who had them.
There's a sandy beach downtown that has a surfable break when the surf is bigger than about 1.5 m
Wind and waves
There are Wind and waves, April to September, winter there.
The wave is a point break breaking on a rocky reef, but there are many other sections where the wave walls up where people wait to catch it.
The wind has been mostly just barely enough to water start, sometimes uphaul. About 14 NNE/NE on Windguru is the minimum to windsurf on normal gear. Body weight plus around 20%. Kg to L.
Windsurfers mostly slog up to the point from the resort, 20 minutes in a decent non planing wind, up to 40 min when there is barely any wind. Kiters mostly take a shuttle to the point and launch there. They pay $15 per day for someone to catch the kite back at the resort. For windsurfers it's very helpful to have reliable tacks and pivot gybes in little wind. Bringing an uphaul and practicing uphauls in no wind on the wave board would be good training. I've been fine on my 104l Goya Quad/ 5.3. Body weight plus 14. Most people have similar ratios here. Body weight plus 20 would make it a little easier.
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Current
There is a strong current running south to north at around 1 to 1.5 knots.
Temperature
I've been surfing and windsurfing without a wetsuit, it's apparently unusually warm at around 19 degrees water temperature.
Most people are in short wetsuits or 3/2s.
Is it busy
Yes, May was crazy busy with two kite clinics running. Some days had 25 kites, 5 wingers, 5 windsurfers, 10 surfers. I'll won't come in May again. I had my mast clipped twice by kiters.
I mostly sailed the point, but in hindsight it would be more efficient to sail one of the other sections that get steep. On a good day you can easily link at least four sections, but for optimimal training would be best just to focus on the 2nd 3rd or 4th section.
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Priority, priority is as follows according to El Faro Resort but not everyone knows this so you might get shouted at, ignore it.
Prone Surf, SUP, Windsurf, Kitesurf, Wingfoil, Tow Foil. We have been taking that literally since it would be impossible to catch a wave otherwise with about 25 kites, 5 wings, 5 windsurfers, 10 surfers, 2 tow foilers. 80 percent of the time a kiter will pull off the wave and give it to the windsurfer, 5 percent of the time I get shouted at (I ignore) and 15 percent of the time it becomes a party wave which is fine, the wave is forgiving enough to hold a few people at different sections. Windsurfers tend to ride the wave the longest so eventually you'll be alone on the wave.
Things to pay for
Tow foiling, behind RIB $100 per hour, jet ski $150 per hour.
Step off the Jetski surfing, $150 per hour. Jen did this and caught a huge wave she never would have been able to paddle in to.
Boat assisted surfing,
For kiters, shuttle back to to the point,
Rescue, $100, or $15 per day insurance, which includes landing and launching kites.
A huge wave took my gear on a very big day, the rescue guys picked my up and took me to my gear for free, I never would have caught up to it otherwise. I tipped them peru sol 100.
We'd go again for sure. It's not for everyone though, some people thought the hotel was too basic and that there was too much trash on the beaches. Many people did not like the lack of sand.
