Chupacabra
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Location: La Jolla, CA
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Christmas surf trip
With a solid NW swell on tap, a friend and I decided to spend Christmas camped out on a lonely Baja pointbreak. We left La Jolla at 6:30AM, and made
excellent time with light traffic and a newly reopened toll road. We headed for a secret spot along the stretch of coast between Punta Baja and Punta
San Carlos. There's tons of surf in this area and many other "secret" spots awaiting discovery.
We rolled into the point in the late afternoon, just in time to set up camp and get in an evening session to wash the dust of the road off. We were
treated to 3-5 foot waves, glassy and well shaped, right in front of our camp:
The Christmas eve sunset was fantastic:
This is our campsite, an nice flat spot in an arroyo with easy access to a nice righthander:
Besides easy beach access, the arroyo also provides deluxe bathroom facilities:
If the arroyo was not to your liking, there were alternatives:
Christmas morning brought cold offshore winds and fun waves:
There is a small fish camp down the lee side of the point, and a camp dog came to hang out with us.
A low pressure front blew in later Christmas day, and we actually got a little rain that night. Christmas dinner was a can of Dinty Moore beef stew.
Overnight the winds picked up out of the southeast. This made an unusual situation where the normally cleaner south side of the point was somewhat
choppy, while the more exposed NW side of the point was clean and groomed. Basically it was going off:
The NW side of the point also had some bowly lefts that were nice for a change:
The next day saw dropping swell and a more westerly wind. My friend is a retired lifeguard who is in his 70's and, having destroyed his knees doing
triathalons, now rides a sponge. I played photo b-tch on our final morning since the size had dropped considerably and the offshore wind was
freezing:
Another great trip!
************************************
WTF
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MMc
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Glad you scored!!! How was the coast road? Same, better, worse
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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Chupacabra
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Location: La Jolla, CA
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The roads were in excellent condition. They had clearly done some repair after the rains, and we averaged about 25-30 mph! Even the areas that
normally have moondust were clean and clear.
************************************
WTF
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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great report and photos dude...nice bathrooms eh!
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Maron
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Super, thanks for the words and pictures.
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BajaGeoff
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Mood: Heading To Baja!!!
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Nice report. Thanks!
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Tomas Tierra
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Love that spot! Used to put my truck and camper right down in the arroyo/your potty,'door opening right to the tide. About a ten point turn! Actually
drove up and out through the arroyo once..That place can smoke on the right swell/conditions.
Road from fish camp south is hammered! Was there for Odile
TT
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Marc
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Cool pics...thanks!
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woody with a view
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T minus 6 days and a wake up!
Cmon, Neptune!
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Goyo
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Nice report, thanks for posting. Long-time lurker here but I want to add a story about that place. So please bear with me. I used to stop by that
place for a few nights on my way further south throughout the '90s. It's often very windy and cold. Surf is okay only because it didn't used to get
crowded. Last time I was there was Thanksgiving 2001 for the big swell that ended up being the topic of the video "100' Wednesday" which featured
huge Mavericks.
As I left SoCal in the early morning, the Pt. Conception buoy was something ridiculous like 15' at 24 seconds. For the non-surfers on this forum,
that size at that interval is extremely rare and can only result from a huge storm that created a massive fetch.
I arrived at said location and, like every other time I had been there, no surfers were around. The swell hadn't started showing yet. The next
morning, as the swell was starting to build, I paddled out and within a half an hour, some guy with a surfboard appears at the cliff and eventually
paddles out. I was actually looking forward to finally surf with someone there. I had a feeling I knew who he was because a few years prior, the
local Mexican fisherman asked me if I knew him. So, as I'm out in the water, he paddles past me without saying a single word or giving any
acknowledgement whatsoever. Seriously, when he paddled past me, he was less than 10 yards away.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Not only is this guy (who is about 10 years older) completely ignoring me, but he has the audacity to paddle up from me.
To those non-surfers on this board, this is an extremely rude thing because by doing such, he's claiming priority for the next wave that comes.
So, after about 15 minutes, after riding a wave, he paddles back out (and yes, he is on his way paddling up from me again even though, technically,
it's not his turn). He does manage to utter a "hello." The first thing he asks is how I found the place. Then he tells me what a great place it is
and that I need to keep it "under my hat." I simply replied by reminding him that I was there by myself and was keeping it "under my hat."
For the non-surfers of this forum, there's something old crusty Baja surf-farts tend to do. They want to know who's been surfing the place longer
because they think it gives some kind of de facto priority privileges. But people will only engage in this topic if they feel confident they have
more seniority. First, I knew for a fact that I had been there many years before him because I knew most of the fisherman and, therefore, was aware
of when he started frequenting the place. Second, I don't play that game and never tell people when my first time was because, to me, it is
irrelevant.
This guy purchased the tall shack which is set back from the cliff and just before the road goes down to the fish camp. So, naturally, in his mind,
he's a local. I grew tired of his presence so I left the water and went back to my lone camper parked on top of the cliff.
The next morning, as I'm out in the water, I see a caravan of three huge SUVs (probably Suburbans) headed to his shack. Each vehicle had a ton of
surfboards stacked on top with 3 or 4 people in each. That's right ... the guy who was vibing me and trying to school me about keeping this "secret
spot" under my hat was with a group of about a dozen people! I was completely dumbfounded. Immediately, I was thinking of ways to torch the shack
(but during a future trip when no one was inside!).
I left the next morning. I haven't been back since, mainly because I was entering a new phase of my traveling (Mainland Mexico).
The guy's name was Tony and he owned a surf shop in San Clemente called "World Core." A bit of research tells me he's been in Kona, HI since around
2004. So, I'm curious if any of you on this forum had a similar experience with the burro.
Now that I'm getting reacquainted with Baja, I might return - especially because Mayor Tony won't be there. But I'm sure his 12 buddies told their
friends, who told their friends, and so on, and so on ...
Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread. Perhaps this weekend, I'll post a trip report about my recent trip to the "Five Brothers" region during the
stellar run of surf in early- to mid-December. But don't worry ... as a surfer, I know not to name spots or show pictures with distinguishable
landmarks!
Happy New Year everyone,
Goyo
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woody with a view
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don't you just love it when the caravan arrives, with it's own crowd in tow?
keep paddling deeper!
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MMc
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The little rooster game, We all stand around and crow about who been going longer. some of us get it many don't. Showing up at a trade spot with four
is rude, showing up at this spot four is insulting.
Goyo, I meet Tony at the wall a couple of times. There was a couple next to us in the ghetto headed south, he made a big deal that the were not
walking out far enough for their morning business. It wasn't them but he had made up his mind and that was that.
This coast is so windy it will never be that poplar.
[Edited on 1-3-2015 by MMc]
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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Chupacabra
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Location: La Jolla, CA
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In the few times I've been there it's been a complete ghost town with regard to other surfers. That includes July 4th and Labor Day weekends, both of
which had good size, well-publicized south swells running. There's the fishermen and few guys who sift and bag gravel in the larger arroyo to the
north, but I've never seen any other gringos.
As an aside, the main reason I went there on Christmas was to compare how a NW swell breaks there versus a SW. Definitely better on the SW based on
my limited experience.
************************************
WTF
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Goyo
Junior Nomad
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Registered: 1-2-2015
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Thanks again for the great post, Chupacabra. Perhaps our paths may cross there sometime. It would be a pleasure to surf with you. Seeing how I've
only been there for winter swells, I need to return for the souths.
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Tomas Tierra
Super Nomad
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Fall time in calm weather with both swells running..... Mmmmm
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
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You scored Chupa! Thanks for the report. Interesting thread. Just got back from the region today.............dusting off the dust.
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rts551
Elite Nomad
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Is all that white stuff in the arroyo TP?
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
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usually! unless it's snowing............
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pappy
Senior Nomad
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for tony to think in 2001 that was a secret-what a joke....
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