linter - Punta de Mita

[linter]

  la quinta del sol is a great place and perfectly situated to surf a spot called stinkys and just a short walk from the main break at mita proper.  it's great that you'll have a car, since if those spots are flat, you can drive less than 10 min to other spots that are sure to have something. 
   i think i'm going to puerto rico this winter instead of mita, so if you're looking to buy a board to take home w/ you -- like maybe a surfing sports hammer -- let me know, since i left mine there and am going to sell it if i can.
   good luck.  and your wife really ought to get a surf/sup lesson with oso negro if she can; he is absolutely the best and a great guy.  this year i think he's working out of la cabana restaurant which is located on the main drag.

[supstoked]

Surf just dropped to nothing here in Maui so I was cruising the Zone and found this.  Bajasurf pretty much nailed it with his description of the area on page 8.  I understand Linters frustration as last winter was the worst in the past eleven that I have spent down there.  I have both a car and a boat so I surf pretty much every day, but that does not mean it is good every day.  This year the crowd situation just exploded.  The big tour company, Vallarta Adventures got into the surf lesson business, bringing 12-15 beginners to La Lancha every day.  Additionally you have the surf schools from Sayulita bringing in people as it is just maxed out over there with crowds.  This has pushed the three prominent Mita school/boat trip guys to move out and over to Bahia and El Faro, which never really saw much school action before.  Anclote is a total zoo.  I rarely ever surf it anymore except maybe at dawn.

[PabstSUP]

Thanks Linter,

I'll definitely look up Oso Negro for a lesson for my wife.  She doesn't like listening to me give her pointers when we're out together ;-)  Thanks for the offer on the Hammer - right now I have my eye either on a Prowave or a Raw and with the cost of getting the board back via United it's not really an option...

Supstoked - Good to know about the crowds. Assumed it might be that way, especially over the holidays and I'll probably surf Anclote/Stinky's at dawn if it's any good. I'm also hoping that driving down to Burros or paddling up to El Faro may get us a little further away from the crowds.   

Zooport - I believe there is land access now to the left at Chacala via a 4WD - I saw a truck there last time we surfed but I can imagine it's a bumpy ride through the jungle to get there.  But it's true that the easiest way to access it is by boat.  I have paddled to the break from Marina Chacala - the gated development next to Chacala, which took about 20min each way - not too bad really unless you have Sea Urchin spines in your feet... :-/

[linter]

btw / yes, anclote can get crowded but i never had problems getting waves to myself there.  or with sharing waves with others when i had to.  vibe is pretty good (except for one surf instructress from saylita who insisted on pushing her students into every freaking wave that came along and then taking the leftovers herself).

one great thing is that when a real swell shows, the anclote area begins to break in lots of different places.  for instance, a very zippy left develops on the reef between the two rock jetties in front of margaritas restaurant, and lefts start to work to the right of la cabana restaurant as well.  lots of opportunities for waves.

when its small, things tighten up, of course.  but keep an eye out on stinkys.  during days when it was generally flat, stinkys would get small, interesting 2' waves right around mid tide, going both left and right.

have fun!

[supstoked]

I got a nice off-season session today on a solid New Zealand SW.  Anclote a little overhead with light offshores and six people out.