Surf at Mancora and beaches nearby
General Information
General information
The north of Peru has extraordinary aquatic conditions, whether you're looking for perfect waves or reliable wind. Surfing in Mancora (photo) is like a religion that is practiced by everyone, from local kids to older people from Lima who live on these warm Peruvian shores.
As far as kitesurfing, the beaches of Mancora are practically virgin to the sport. The combination of perfect waves and strong winds makes this an ideal place for this new discipline. The "windy" seasons are from April to December, the most constant wind are on August, September and October.
At beaches like Lobitos the wind season is more intense, almost all year you can practice kitesurfing, except some days or weeks on January and February..
Waves and Swells.
Both summer swells (north and northwest, see photo) and winter swells (south and southwest) allow specific surf beaches break differently; so almost all year round there are waves at Mancora and nearby beaches. It is for this reason that is difficult to recommend which surfing season is the best time to surf during the year. Some beaches, like Lobitos, works best with south swells (S, better SW and SSW) from April to November and on the other hand, in summer (November to March) Los Organos and beaches such as Cabo Blanco are exceptional. Mancora receives both summer and winter swells (expect swells too little and south, like S and SSW), resulting in a long left wave (reef break), very consistent, with several sections during the wave. The tourism and quality / consistent of the wave have made Mancora a semi crowd wave on this days: there are usually an average of 25 people in the water, many apprentices, some more experimented surfers and a strong dose of local surfers.
The waves in the area never exceed 3 meters and in general the surfers come to this stretch of coastline looking for perfection more that big waves. Cabo Blanco (35 kms south of Mancora) is considered the most perfect wave all over Peru. The crowd and poor consistent of this beach (breaks no more than 8 times a year) make it sometimes tedious to surf, but being inside in a good barrel at Cabo Blanco is a dream come true: tubular and perfect from beginning to end. Mancora is usually between 1 and 2 mts. high. Waves as Panic Point and El Hueco (Lobitos) are the most aggressive and can reach up to 3 mts in size, perfect waves, long and tubular.
Ocean Temperature:
Due to its geographic location, the provinces of Piura and Tumbes receive excellent swells from the north (October-April), south (April- September), southeast and northeast. South of Cabo Blanco (see map) two currents crash, the Humboldt from the south and the Equatorial from the north, producing remarkable differences in water temperatures between beaches only a few kilometers apart. For example, you can surf in Mancora in board shorts and then surf the same morning in Lobitos (70 kms south) and the temperature drops to the point where a 3/2 full suit is required. |
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