FIELD NOTES FROM BAJA
Our buddy Sam Matthews flew to San Diego on a whim and then hopped in his friend’s van and headed south of the border. They weren’t exactly sure where they’d go, all we were trying to do is find some good waves and get the full Baja experience.
I had plans to head to California to see my good friend Dylan. We planned to surf and hang out for a few days. I already had a plane ticket and I was leaving in less than a week when I got a text from him saying, ”bring your passport.”
He said we would be going south of the border, into Mexico, to try to find some surf. I was stoked! I had only been down there once before, and it was a very short trip, but now I would be making a surf trip down south!
When I landed in San Diego, Dylan was waiting next to his van just itching to get moving. I threw my bag in and we hit the road. Going through the border was a bit sketchy because we were in a big Chevy work van that Dylan lives in and they, of course, wanted to search it extensively, but we made it across with no problems.
That evening we camped on a cliff just above the beach and met some guys from northern California that were down there trying to find good surf as well. Come nightfall, we built a fire, opened beers, made dinner and shot fireworks off late into the night.
In the morning we woke up to the sound of waves crashing and birds chirping. (Munk Pack in hand.) We headed back to the main road to keep on trekking, but of course we had to stop at the local fish taco stand for lunch before we did anything else. Then, we continued south.
After a solid day of driving and checking beaches with no waves, we eventually made it to a tiny fishing village. Finally, we found the ideal waves. We surfed until darkness settled in and we could no longer feel our toes in the cold, dark water. We then headed back to the van to cook up a much needed meal and brew.
The next morning we woke up with the sun, drove down the beach a ways to this one break where the good waves were. We were all too stoked to get in and didn’t eat breakfast; we put on our wetsuits and stayed out in the water until we were too tired to catch the next set. They were some of the best waves I had ever been on.
We headed north, back to the Golden State. – @samjmatthews
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