Puerto Sandino, as good as it gets
I have been trying to write a story about this little piece of paradise for two hours… it’s not easy! Everything I start to write sounds clichéd and predictable. It’s hard to share the feelings of traveling to a dream place, a cliché in itself – or to concentrate when you have perfect left handers pealing in front of you.
Anyway, here are some bits and pieces that might be interesting to some of you – and check out the short film below to get a better understanding:
Imagine being 25 years old, going on a surf trip with your best friend, arriving at one of the best waves in Nicaragua, and staying at a surf camp overlooking that wave… then decide to buy the place 8 days later! That’s what two super-friendly Brazilians mates Leandro and Raphael did 2 months ago, and I’ve been lucky enough to be living this dream with them for the past 2 weeks! Check out the Miramar surf camp website to get a better picture (a bit of advertising for my buddies).
Despite having little swell in the first week, we managed to surf a small and perfect point break and make the most of the all-day offshore winds. I also spent one long 15-hour night on a fishing boat with the local fishermen… (see video here). The second week was very different. October is unusual in Nicaragua, it’s basically the only month of the year where winds can turn on-shore, and they did at times. But when the swell came more options opened up, especially the barreling wave called Punta Miramar out the front of our place. The film shows you how entertaining this wave can be.
Anyway, I am still struggling to write and seven Aussies just arrived so it might be time to try and get the creative juices flowing with a beer or two…
Just spent 2 wicked weeks in Puerto Sandino (Nicaragua), here is the article & video on Drift Surfing.
1Great photos Ben!
2Very nice , lovely place amazing waves!!!
3did they buy pablo's place? good to see that guy leave. that prick did all he could to keep the local kids out of the water. and I mean snatsched boards, threats and intimidation of 13 year olds. all in order to keep this a gringo's surfing paradise. My boss in the end decided to buy the surfboards (a gift from one of his old surf guides) back of these kids in order to save his business from this malignant piece of sh*t. these kids have nothing. there is no local scene. they couldn't even surf the much coveted proper waves yet. and still they were bullied back into watching the gringo's and having nothing to hope for. miramar is dead poor. not cute picturesque poor with smiling chiildren, but glue sniffing, cheap alcohol desperation kind of poor. the only wealth is a short fishing season and waves. the latter being solely sold by gringo's to rich gringo's without giving anything back to the local community. a fucked up part of the surf industry I wish I hadn't been part of. I hope these guys do the right thing…
4dat het blijkbaar naar Sandino is genoemd is dan helemaal cynisch.
5puerto sandino is actually a couple of miles up the road and used to be called puerto somoza and was one of the big west coast harbours in nicaragua. now it's a bit of a backwater town without any attractions except for that one sandbar and the lady that makes good chocobananas. sandino dominates town, a much revered character in this part of the country.
6