Location: North Peru
Date: December 2015
Resort/Camp: Mancora Marina Hotel (3.5 out of 5 stars)
Airlines: Delta (Business class) and LATAM (coach)
Surfboard Bag Fee: Delta (150 USD each way), LATAM (free)
Surf Guide: Magoo DeRosa (5 out of 5 stars) via WaveHunters North Peru.
Cost: 1941 USD (May-Dec14); 2169 USD (Dec 15-Apr 30) per person per Wave Hunters. North Peru Wave Hunters
Crowd Factor: Moderate (will need to paddle battle) (3 out of 5 stars)
Waves: Cabo Blanco, Mancora, and couple local breaks around. Combination of beach break, point breaks, and barreling waves. Has the same power as North Shore, Oahu (5 out of 5 stars)
Food: Ceviche, steak, and seafood. As with all Peruvian food, all very good. (4.5 out of 5 stars)
Transportation: Moto-taxi from hotel to nearby restaurants (5-10 minute ride). Cost is 10 Peruvian Soles. Ease of transport (5 out of 5 stars)
Overall experience: 4 out of 5 stars
Would I go back? Unfortunately, no. December is when Peruvian surfers from Lima migrate to the north to surf for a couple of months straight. There are guys who live at Cabo Blanco for a couple of months waiting for good swells. Even the other local breaks are aggressive. Even though North Peru is beautiful, you are competing with semi-pros from Lima to catch waves. I would say, travel to North Peru to experience once.
Trip Report:
I flew Delta from Honolulu (HNL) to Atlanta (ATL), and then to Lima (LIM). Business class is usually reasonable on Delta, and it costs around 1900 USD round trip. It was worth it to have lie-flat seats to gets some sleep.
Here is a picture of HNL airport and my airplane!
Line awaiting to board.
Arrived at Lima airport. Takes about 20 minutes to get through immigration and luggage check even on a busy day. Not too bad!
This is the Mancora Marina Hotel. Looks nice, but the facilities are dated. Breakfast has 5-7 choices (I usually got eggs and ham), has fresh juices, and bread selection. Dinner is well made, and reasonably priced (20-32 USD). I would recommend going to Mancora town for dinner options.
Ceviche with mango.
Beer of Peru; brewed in Cusco, and hits the spot after a long day of surfing.
Overall, good surf in a moderately crowded place that is packed with surfers from Lima. The water is warm, where you only need to pack a 1-2mm wetsuit top with board shorts. Its a far destination to travel to; only to compete with semi-pros for waves.