Southern Baja is worlds away from most of my regular Californian spots such as Waddell and Davenport. Punta Abreojos’ distinct sharp-bottomed, hollow sections have long lured many a traveling Californian surfer, especially in the prime May-September swell season.
(This feature originally appeared in the August 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
StoryKai Katchadourian // Photos Alex Bitoun
This part of Mexico’s Pacific coastline also sports a consistent wind pattern and sets up for down-the-line wave sailing very suitably up at the point. The potential is there for a kilometre-long ride in optimal conditions.
Abreojos is considerably further down south than many of the more known spots like K-39 and San Carlos and is also is more exposed to the ideal south swells, making for a perfect surfing and windsurfing combination destination. But beware, this is no place for the beginner wave sailor.
The shallow sections, like the inside stretch, known as “hamburgers”, will take its toll if you are unaware and go too deep. In fact, some say the name Abreojos means ‘open your eyes’ in reference to how treacherous the coastline was to early explorers.
THE BEST THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO …
The first time I went there was way back in 1989 with Aloha Classic legend Rich Meyers and he dialled it in for me. We scored a truly epic session right on the day we arrived. I figured to leave it to the best scenario and wait until it truly fired all the way from the point to the inside bay before I returned.
It never dawned on me that would be 23 years later though. So upon my reappearance, with Mike Archer and Alex Bitoun, it was as if time had stood still. There were some houses where there’d been nothing before, but the town itself was mostly as I recalled and the waves, well, I’ll just say it was worth the wait, no matter how long it was.
ROCKY ROAD
The trip was essentially a drive in surgical strike for what was predicted to be a 4-day swell. You don’t see 21-second period, 3-metre swell from the south that often, but that is what we were looking at and it did not disappoint.
Logistically, to drive in Baja you mandatorily have to purchase motor vehicle insurance. It’s just not worth the risk and when you see the conditions you’re driving in, you understand. As far down as we were going, it truly is a “highway of death”. Past El Rosario there are single track sized two lane roads with massive trucks and sleepy or worse drivers behind the wheel. We had to power the drive but made it easier by crossing the border at 4 a.m., which got us to our first session by about 4 p.m., 13 hours from the border – not entirely that bad as long as you play it safe.
It does help a lot to have someone aboard who speaks Spanish. Of course a majority of folk speak some English, but it just soothes things when you’re at the checkpoints and being sussed out by the Federales. While Mike and I were there to sail, of course it wasn’t windy all the time. No wind gives the chance to surf the break and help your timing for the sailing days, so we were out there paddling around as often as we could.
Alex was dedicated to surfing the lower section, “Razors”. I knew in the back of my mind that once the wind blew I could make it that far and further from all the way up the point if it set up right. I knew that I’d need to play it cool with the surfers themselves, but the goal was in mind to make it happen after 23 years of waiting.
DIRECT HIT
The second afternoon we saw the swell arrive in force with a striking level of perfection and beauty. As we were out surfing the lower section, it began to hint a breeze and I paddled in. Walking up to my truck and rig, I already knew the moment had arrived, finally. My 4.7 Simmer Blacktip was rigged to perfection and I had an 85 Simmer Quantum with my fins all the way ahead, which allowed me a massive level of mobility and kept my turns snappy.
Drawing from my experience in Cabo Verde, this session, such a long time in coming, was a true pleasure. Entering the empty line-up was a snapshot I won’t forget anytime soon. The point was just firing. Mast-high and bigger sets completely winding all the way down the line.
Having a line-up like that to oneself is what you travel such great distances for, but the moment you’re there, you need to rise up to the level the conditions are at. It’d been 23 years. The last time I was here, my career had just begun, the lights were on. Now, in 2013, there I was, alone. Still scoring the epic sessions after all this time. The point opened up and I went to town.
By the time Archer and Alex saw me speeding through the last section, as if on autopilot, I’d connected it all the way and crossed into the zone where you can’t put a foot wrong. I repeated that a few more times and then looked for the sick thick ledgey ones that offered the big air, but not the freight train all the way.
GRINGOS
Mike Archer was a long way from home, but he adapted immediately. I was very happy to have had the opportunity to bring him and he made a stellar travel partner. Never too much on any particular tangent, a levelheaded man of good drive, in and out of the water. At first I think he felt he needed to impress, but after a few long rides he realized as much as we all did that the waves for the most part were doing the talking and that we were just paintbrushes on a magical type of canvass. He connected several epic rides that did his fellow countrymen proud to the letter. Archer did have a crash or two, nothing serious, but certainly reminders that we were deep in the desert and to scale back the attack occasionally also meant you had another round in you for the next time.
As that session wore on, the approach on my part evened out and I started to go back to charge mode. Alex had missed my best air, so I had to get back on it and get the shot, which ended up being kind of more of a forced effort, but the landing was about tenacity and not quitting. That wouldn’t normally have been good for me if hadn’t made that landing in front of “Hamburgers”. We ate it up. There was about enough wind to have us happy and tired enough to eat whatever the local watering hole put in front of us and, before we knew it, the swell was over, the trip was done.
BACK TO REALITY
It’s like entering a new world even though its home, when you cross the border back. Be prepared to spend some time waiting on your return. We were easily there for another 4 hours after our 13-hour drive to the border. Once we dropped Alex off in San Diego, Archer took the wheel for that long stretch of lonely highway known as I-5. Before we knew it we were in Palo Alto and the mission was a 100% success. Good planning and accurate forecasting are the beginning. What you really need are likeminded folk who both trust your instincts and have a flair for the adventure that awaits those willing to roll the dice. Abreojos is not for everyone, but for us, it was the best call ever.
KK
BAJA NECESSITIES
A wetsuit in the 5 mm range
Surfboard for southern Baja is mandatory…wear booties also
Shuffle your feet in the shorebreak, beware of stingrays !!!
Mexican Car Insurance…buy it online & save the hassle !
Extra Drinking Water
Snake Bite kit
Sharp Knife
Map
Spanish speaking passenger
Sturdy tent with solid supports that will hold shape in 20+ knots
Maalox or other type of stomach remedy if you happen to try the tacos in Tijuana
