A Trip to the Beach: More on Marbella, Playa Pelada, and Casa Arboles

Shane says that the Marbella waves look "perfect for barrel practice." Well, the pics make it look like just the right size and it was basically as you imagine, but I'm pretty frustrated about it nevertheless. First, it was heavier than it looks because it was breaking into about three feet of water and the size was highly variable. You could stand there waist deep and have an overhead barrel coming right at you. I duck-dived right into the sandy bottom a couple of times. Also, the bigger clean up sets were a foot or two bigger and were amazing. We watched it for an hour while we had lunch. The offshores were howling the whole time and a van load of pros from SoCal were getting long open barrels. I finally got stoked enough to give it a shot. It took about twenty minutes to get it wired. Then, within moments, the wind shifted to solid side-shore and all the magic evaporated. It went from all-time to choppy, shifting, and dangerous in about five minutes! Still, I dropped into three solid lefts and one heaving barrel, but the wind had shifted and it closed on my head. I wish to god I hadn't waited during lunch. Still, I'm proud of myself for giving it a shot.

Playa Pelada - a tropical Leo Carrillo

Mommy and baby at La Luna, Pelada

I'm taking a bit of a break yesterday and today now that the surf has dropped to about 2-3 feet, with an occassional 4 footer. It's still pretty good because the offshores blow hard in the early morning and I've had some amazing rides on 3-4 foot waves. This Playa Guiones where we're staying is the most mellow beach break I've ever encountered. You invariably have a good long glide during the drop in and then a sloping shoulder to carve on. It's even easier to ride than Trestles. Strangely, it has just enough force and shape that I've been riding the Ludwig 6'4" successfully even as most of the other folks out there are now on eggs and longboards. Basically, it's mellow and fun and good practice, but not heavy at all. The locals say that when the surf is above 5 or 6 feet it gets hollow and barrels, but that happens more often on big summer south swells and then the wind can be onshore by early morning, like at home. Interestingly it will hold up to about 10 feet. The pictures are on the restaurant walls to prove it! I'll be back for sure. Between here and Marbella is about 40 minutes by 4x4 on dirt roads. It's another 40 minutes to Playa Negra, which is by far the best break around. It's then 10 more minutes to Avellanas, which is gorgeous and mellow. I also found a great little break that peels off a rock on a south swell. It's very much like Leo Carrillo minus the old guys! We were there for dinner so I didn't surf it and now I don't have a car and it's about a 30 minute hike from here. Still, the point is that this whole area has tons of surf, including miles of beach break and rocky offshore reefs I didn't even check out. It's still unpaved and relatively uncrowded. The weather is also blissfully drier and more comfortable than further south and during June. I'll be back for sure during a January school break, probably next year.

Here are some shots of Playa Pelada where La Luna Restaurant and the little twin of Leo Carrillo surf break are both to be found: https://picasaweb.google.com/surfer.prof/PlayaPelada?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNvjw9Clwtr7MA&feat=directlink

I broke the nose of my board today on the back of my right hand during a wipe out! Yes it hurt as much as you might imagine, but seems to have done no permanent damage.That means the board has to dry for a couple days before I attack it with SolarRes repair goo. I'm glad I brought this board and not my new Becker. The extra thickness is great on Nosara's softer beach break and between the airline and my wipe outs I'm doing some serious cumulative damage to it. Anyway, my body hurts tons from so many sessions so it's probably a good thing that the surf has dropped .However, I'm a little worried that, at the moment, there's nothing really on the horizon. Still, it's a good opportunity to rent a longboard or big egg while the surf is small. The good thing about renting here is that they let you trade in the board endlessly as the conditions change so I'm going to rent a mini-Mal for a week for $90 and then switch to a different board if the surf pics up. For a trip of less than, say, two weeks there's really no reason to bring a board. Good rentals are everywhere, even in tiny Playa Negra (which we miss; that place is cool).

Casa Arboles. We live downstairs.

The little house we rented, Casa Arboles, is very basic but is working great for us. It's amazing how we've adjusted to sitting around in 90+ degrees without any AC on (it's really just in the bedroom) and still feel completely comfortable. The kids play on the porch and hammock and chase bugs around for fun or play with pots and pans and water from the house. We're cooking a lot to save money. I even made Gallo Pinto from scratch, including soaking the red beans and all that. Today we're hiking off to the Beach Dog Cafe for a tasty treat of familiar restaurant food for lunch, something we can't afford to do very often right now. Catalina was promised Mac 'n' Cheese and some ice cream.