Road trip to Las Flores
Two French guys, (Antoine and Francois), a squeaky, unresponsive Mitsubishi Montero sport and some car
keys and we headed to Las Flores for a 5-day camping trip. The goal: find some
unreal, un-crowded waves away from society. Mission definitely completed.
To start things off, the roads are insane; imagine a normal
road but all patched up with random earthquake holes left and right. While
dodging cars that are coming at you in both directions you have to watch out
for the cracked out truck drivers that will plow over anything and everything
that gets in its way. In this case, it forces bikers, small cars and of course
us off the road for this to pass. This equaled an adventure in itself.
The overall drive down to Las Flores from West to the East
coast was about a 4-hour drive. For us, it took a bit longer because we were
stopping left and right at little towns. A small 3-hour tour brought is to Play
Costa Del Sol. This random village town had about 5 nice multi-story tall
bungalow looking restaurants. Right when we pulled up, a group of guys ran out
to silicate us to park in the restaurant. In return, we get a free parking spot
but a obligation to eat there after we surf. Which was fine. This gem of a
beach was a powerful beachbreak and from the look of it scary shallow. It
offered this hollow 3-4 foot speedy barrel. If locked in, you get a solid fast
ride, if you fail; you get worked and thrown into the sand and fun deep breath
to hold in.
We watched if for a while and decided to paddle out. The
current was pushing hard, and before we knew it we were a half a mile down the
beach. Constantly paddling and dodging walled up waves. 9 out of 10 waves I got
tossed straight into the sand. You get out of the water covered in gold sand,
filled with adrenaline. It was pretty fun! The couple of waves I did get though
were pretty fun. Fast, tucked down and holding my rail, if you lift you life
your head too high up the waves would smash your face and throw you over the
falls. This session turned into a long one. You would see your friends way down
the beach, catch a wave, then run back up to the zone, and do it all over
again.
After the session was over, we headed back to the car. But
actually, instead of the car we got funneled into the restaurant to eat. We
ended up upstairs with a private, old school jukebox playing a mixture of
Spanish and English jams. One song would play, then stop for 15 minutes, then
start again. It was a nice treat when it turned on.
The menu here was a surprise, it reminded me of back home.
Fresh seafood on the menu but fairly expensive: $15-20 a plate. These sneaky
bastards one this battle, well at least for the French they did. Luckily, I
found the daysayuna (breakfast) on menu and got myself a big meal for $2.50. I win.
Back on the road we headed. Sometimes you see road signs,
then all of a sudden it forks of into 2 or 3 roads without a sign. You cross
your fingers and hope it right. Quite a few times, we were wrong. Finally after
passes an incredible mountainous terrain filled with volcanoes in the
background we arrived in the town of El
Cuco. This tiny village offered nothing to us. It was right
on the beach but trashy and not a place we wanted to stay. Next to El Cuco was
Playa Las Flores. This was the place we were looking for but from the sound of
it, the area was full of American resorts and a place for the group of friends
to party and surf for a week. We drove past this and found the off beaten 4x4
large gravel road that in hope would take us to Punto Mango. After about 30
minutes of driving and about 8 kilometers later, we found it. Not sure how, but
we found it. On top of that, we found one of the best camp spots of all time.
It overlooked the point and maybe a 1-minute hike down. This was a dream in
itself and a picture perfect view you see in magazines and don’t think they
actually exist.
Well they do.
We grabbed our gear and ran out there. It was almost sunset
and not a single person out in the water. The waves weren’t great, but
manageable. After we got back, we set up a campfire, ate some food and set up
camp. Meaning, I threw my surfboard back on the grass and my sleeping bag on
top of that for my bed. This night was interesting, we didn’t know our
surrounding and heard scratching and noises all over. About 2 hours into half
sleep/dream mode about 4 locals popped up out of the bushes walking through our
campsite. This scared the shit out of me, no harm no foul, they said “hola” and
kept walking. Good news but still was a interesting situation. Time went on and
still heard noises all around us. We all knew something was there but couldn’t
figure it out. I soon fell asleep. I then instantly woke up to a known object
about 20 feet away. Shined the light onto this white unicorn looking creature
and soon realized it was a cow. A damn
cow, all he was trying to do was walk by us but we were sleeping on the trail.
The light scared it away…Finally fell back asleep looking at the stars. This
time woke up to the same noise. Shine the flashlight in the exact same spot and
this time was a white horse. They switched spots and again trying to pass by
but we scared it off. At this point, it was some twilight dream state was going
on. I couldn’t figure out if it was real or not…
Woke up to the sunrise to some funny stories about the
night. You finally look around and see your surroundings and realize the bush
in fact was not a human, but the horses and cows were definitely real…because
they were still next to us in the morning. Pretty funny to say the least.
We ate and headed straight to the water for 3-4 hours.
Unreal waves: long, hollow barrel waves that peel for about a football field,
maybe more. If you took off the wave too late you get thrown into the rocks.
All of which happened to us 3 and soon learned not to do that again. My back
got scratched up and a very sore back but lesson was learned. This was a bit
more difficult for me since everything out here is a right and I’m a goofy.
Nonetheless, great practice for me and by the end of the trip had some huge
improvements.
Still no people, and a whole private world class break to
us. This made no sense to us. There were resorts 10 kilometers down the road
and seemed like they had no idea about this place.
We ended the session and headed in for siesta and food. Woke
up to the blistering heat and about 10 people and 2 boats in the water. It all
made sense now. But like idiots they arrived around lunchtime to a full blown
out wave and choppy conditions. We were very happy about this.
For the next few days we made do of what we had, re-boiling
cans of rice and beans for dinner and passing out at dark (which was probably
around 7 pm.) Words can’t even explain the treasure we found. The photos don’t
capture what you see and only long term memories get in-grained into your
memory.
The last day here was a real treat. All night we heard the
waves getting louder and louder. At one point the whole see was white. We
counted 16 well overhead waves fill the sea with water.
That morning was firing. It took about half hour to paddle
out to the point. Again very consistent and sometimes so big it was scary.
Right when we finally got to the point, two boats arrived with about 6 people.
Great thing was, the waves were happening so fast that it didn’t matter.
Everyone was friendly and took turns. The group was from America. They were the
classic one-week stay away from the family but were all super cool. This was
the group that reminded me that it was thanksgiving! You know you’re on
vacation when you don’t know the date.
These waves that came in on Thanksgiving were the fastest,
scariest mountains of water I have ever surfed to this day. These were all
steep and sucking up to barrels within seconds. You would drop down the line at
mock ten-speed, grabbing your rail and praying to god you make the turn. A few
times, I didn’t make this turn, but the ones I did I will remember for the rest
of my life. The waves that day were consistent 8 foot slab barrels. Good god!
Some the sets were bigger. These were the ones you paddle for your life and
hope you can duck dive the thick piles of water. My fish had a good time, I can
tell you that. A new board in the future
is coming.
This trip sealed the deal. Best camping and surf spot to
this day. I know I keep saying this and will probably continue to say this but
as far as rights go and pure adrenaline this is at the top of the list.
Well played El Salvador…
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