I just returned from a quick week jaunt down to Nicaragua. Prior to the trip I hadn’t surfed in what felt like two months amidst the worst winter of waves Florida has ever seen. Arriving to solid swell like this was a welcome relief!
Nicaragua is surprisingly still very undeveloped. In the Popoyo region, aside from the surf lodges, there is pretty much nothing. A house to buy gas from, a small market, and a bull fighting ring.
We met these groms one day driving down a pothole littered road as we were trying to find some mysto beachbreak. They jumped in our car, led us to the spot, carried our gear, and took photos with ashers camera while we surfed. They also surfed for the first time ever on one of ashers boards and were getting up first try. It was impressive. At the end of the day we hooked them up with a bunch of our stuff. The were frothing.
Another day we surfed the outer reef a solid 15 foot (I’m using face heights) with a few bigger ones. The wind was howling offshore and I rode a way too small 6’1″. The other guys were on 6’10″s. Ryan Briggs took the wave of the day, airdropped sideways, got sucked over the falls and dragged 100 yards underwater. It was the beating of his life. That wave is heavy. It’s as scary as any other wave in the world at that size. It’s shallow, far out, and rocks pop up everywhere.
Here’s Briggs checking the shots and me nursing a neck injury after getting completely owned by that wave. Good trip!
