Keep Your Boards Fast and Your Plans Loose: Scoring in Oaxaca

I was sad to leave. Truth be told, I'm always sad to leave Oaxaca. Waves that good are hard to walk away from, especially when its 2ft in San Diego...

Oaxaca in film

I learned an important lesson that day—whenever possible, keep a loose itinerary. When the sandbars are set up and the swell conditions align, it's a surfer's dream of right hand perfection. Another important lesson, bring your fastest surfboards—options that can help you connect through long sections and, ideally, get totally barreled. In essence, keep your boards fast and your plans loose.

I’m not one to wax specifically on the names of the places, you’ve seen the barreling perfection all over your IG already. If you really want to be convinced, check out local phenom Sebastian Willams’ all Oaxacan surf film, Euforia. It's been out for a few years and Sebastian's surfing has only improved but its still an absolute classic. Como se dice "hammer"?

Victor Bernardo and McKenzie Bowden do a great job of this in this in the SILVERMOON film from Album.

Of all the places I’ve traveled, Oaxaca is one where I have spent the most time and have the best memories. It's a fairly easy trip but feels like you've transported to a world away.

Simply driving south from Huatulco to Salina Cruz along the pristine coastline—an increasingly rare sight around the world—is like cat nip for the surf spirit. Thanks to the autonomy of local communties, the land is off limits to foreigners and thus protected from mega resorts and gated communities. Locals only Papi.

Where to stay

There’s plenty of ways to do it, from booking an all-inclusive camp like Punta Conejo in Salina Cruz, staying amidst the action in Puerto Escondido, or my personal preference, staying in Barra or Huatulco for a bulk of the trip and maybe striking to other zones or even cruising to Oaxaca city for amazing cuisine, architecture, culture and history. 

If staying in a low key surf town with no bank, supermarket, ATM, or any other modern amenities doesn’t suit you, then Barra is not your place. Huatulco is only 30 minutes away and has hundreds of options between hotels and epic villas like this one, Villa Escondida. It even has its own onsite mezcaleria.

My favorite time of the year is later in the season, once summer rains have brought all the trees to life and the forest sheens with a lush green. With a bit of luck the winds are light and the sandbars along the southern points are producing miraculous right-handers. The day is hot, way hot. The ocean beckons you to escape, a cerveza awaits you to unwind. As my friends told me, if you can swing a trip in late October, plan for some days on the coast and some in Oaxaca city for Dia dos Muertos. 

It was after reading a 2015 story in SURFER about Pablo Narvaez and his presence and history in Barra de la Cruz, I thought, this is who I want to meet. It was at the end of a photo assignment for a mezcal company when I made plans to meet him in Huatulco and spend a few days together. 

Oaxaca is one of the few places where traveling with a guide isn’t just recommended, it’s a necessity. Once you get to the Southern Points, local guides are required to visit the remote waves. In Barra, you have to pay a daily fee to surf, which goes to support the maintenance of the restaurant and bathrooms on the beach. 

Some people may find these regulations strange but I think they’re essential to keep local control. The upside is that there are several guides who are legends, my favorite being Tio Pablo, aka the le-yend. 

Now in his 50s, Pablo isn’t out there surfing the heavy days but he still gets his waves on cherry-picked days of Oaxacan perfection. He loves teaching beginners in the offseason and getting frothing surfers the goods during peak season. Where he really shines though are his connections (and his stories) because Uncle Pablo knows everyone. 

This pays off in random and miraculous ways. Once, we were in Huatulco for dinner, and the chef and owner of the place came out and basically joined us for the meal, offering special off menu dishes at every turn. After desert, Pablo’s other friend arrived with a special bottle of mezcal con cannabis. Things got giggly after that…

Today, Pablo runs the best restaurant in Barra, a remake of his original space that burnt down in a fire years ago. El Chantal is both a nod to the indigenous people of the region and a home base for modern surfers from all around. His sister rents rooms just down the street and you can keep it pretty easy by just staying and surfing there. For those who want to stay in Barra (as opposed to Huatulco) and check out the other waves, day trips with Pablo are the way to go.