29th July - 1st August
I had mixed emotions about this place and was curious to see what it was really like. I had heard a lot about it from other travellers and read in guide books that this Caribbean island was a crazy, drug fuelled party with some of the heaviest waves on the planet comparable to the North Shore in Hawaii... an exciting & intimidating prospect at the same time. It would also be my first experience of the Caribbean and I was looking forward to crystal clear water, coral reefs and some laid back reggea vibes!
July is considered to be a weird mini season on the Caribbean coast and the waves had been pumping all through the month. Unfortunately when I arrived the swell was fading and I didn't see it at its best. There were still waves to be had but a lot of the reefs were simply too small and shallow to surf, 3ft barrelling waves jacked up from nowhere to land in half a foot of water on the razor sharp reef... not even tempting!
I had found a hostel a few miles out of town that was located on a cliff just a few meters above the ocean next to Playa Bluff. Tesoro Escondido was an idylic collection of concrete and timber buildings nestled into the side of a low lying cliff with cool jungle plants and palms sprouting all around. Brightly coloured hammocks hung between every pillar with large balconies and walkways providing excellent views over the crashing waves below. Monique the Swiss owner and creator of Tesoro Escondido had built the place from scratch sometime in the late 90's. One day she explained how she had cut, by hand, all of the glass bottles that formed big sections of the concrete walls creating a really cool coloured lighting effect on the inside of the rooms. At $35 a night this place was triple my budget but for what you got it was well worth it!
A really nice Aussie couple, Alisha and Nick were volanteering at the hostel for a month and everyday served up a tasty selection of meals to revitalise the hungry surfer.
Everyday I would get up at 6am, waddle off to one of the nearby breaks, catch a few waves and head back for some lunch and a swing in my hammock. On the first day I walked down to a reef called Playa Paunch, clambered tentatively across the reef and joined a group of 5 guys who were tearing up a solid 4ft left. After a bit of jostling I picked off a really steep left and nailed the drop which although it didn't run for long served to settle my nerves! The waves on this type of reef are quite different to anything I was used to at home, the Caribbean swells have a shorter period, 8 - 9 seconds and were quite mixed in their direction due to the frequent storms... the result was a horizon scattered with peaks and waves that would shift over a 100m wide section of reef making it very hard to predict where the wave was going to break and whether it would close out or not. When they did come through they would stand up super quickly and you needed to take them really late to get on it. It took some figuring out but once you got one they were awesome! Loads of power and nice glassy walls to put in some turns. With a bigger swell the reefs produce gaping barrels, unfortunately for me I only saw two legitimate barrels and I was nowhere near them :(
After the waves started to fade I got out across the reef... despite looking like a kook my reef boots definitely saved me from cutting my feet to shreds.
That day I needed to go to town for cash and supplies... the walk took 2hrs from Playa Paunch and was the only downside of staying at Tesoro. The taxi back cost me $20!! It was painful to have to pay soo much for a four mile trip but the road was a state and only passable by 4x4... I really wanted my bike!
Both evenings at Tesoro were really cool, dinner was served at 7pm, just after it got dark and most people sat around the big table next to the bar and chatted for a couple of hours... after I would go to my hammock and read with some good tunes which was bliss. The first evening the stars were out and lying in my hammock I could gaze into the night sky and watch the distant lightening. After a couple of hours a huge storm rolled in and from the comfort of my hammock I chilled while the chaos played out.
The next morning @ 6:30am Frank (a slightly loco dutch guy) and I went to surf Playa Bluff in the pouring rain. This 4km long, sandy beach is one of the breaks that made Bocas a famous surf destination, without fail every wave that rolled in pitched into a solid, hollow tube, dredging up the sand and shooting foam spears into the air. Notorious for breaking boards this wave was for experts only!
The swell was still junky from the overnight storm and it was hard to find a bank with a surfable wave and whilst it was only small, when the sets barrelled through they were overhead and thick lipped. After an hour of walking we just decided to give it a go... Frank had spent 6 weeks here and having snapped 5 boards he knew it well so I figured I would follow him in. We jumped in a rip and were out back in just a few paddles... I really didn't get on well with it, there was no real shoulder and the bottoms just dropped away making the take off super critical. After 15mins and a few small ones a set came right to me so I turned and committed to a heavy looking right... as the water disappeared from under me I popped and stuck my hand in the face to help me balance, for maybe a whole second I was on my feet and feeling good and then.... BOOM! Sand, sky, Sand, sky, foam... a bit more sand and then finally a big lung full of air! Kooked it!!
After paddling back out I felt a crack in my rail and decided I would rather live with the shame of walking away and keep my board in one piece. Had it been working well I may have come to a different conclusion. Of all the beaches I've surfed in the whole world (clearly not enough!) this is the only place that offers guaranteed barrels. I sat and watched Frank pull into a few closeout barrels and left him to it. He came back later missing 3" from the nose of his board!
After two nights at Tesoro I was hitting a blue patch, it had rained for all but 8hrs in the last two days which even in the Caribbean can get you down and in addittion the swell was fading, I was miles away from the fun of the town and I missed my bike (And my Bennun of course)!
I would have happily stayed at Tesoro but couldn't afford to so decided to move to Bocas town. I checked into hostel Heike which was one of the bigger backpacker joints in the middle of town, the staff were friendly and I met some Germans who invited me to join them for food and a drink. After 2hrs they were still waiting for a friend so I went out solo and found a real nice indian restaurant and ate an amazing fish curry! Knackered and not feeling sociable I went to bed and decided to leave the island in the morning and make for the border. Maybe Costa Rica would lift my spirits?!
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