On Mexico’s Coast, a Surfer’s Secret
 Julia Chaplin - NYTimes
| | Surfers wathing the waves in Troncones. (Christian Aslund/Lonely Planet) |
As any surfer knows, there’s nothing worse than trekking to some Endless Summer beach town, driving down a bumpy road and then paddling out at daybreak only to find 30 pumped surfers clawing and fighting for the same wave. This won’t happen in Troncones, a small fishing village about 20 miles north of Zihuatanejo on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. For now, at least, it’s still an undeveloped surfer’s paradise.
Hammocks and shady palms adorn most yards, chickens wander the dirt roads, and the night life is pretty much limited to two local hangouts: the Inn at Manzanillo Bay and El Burro Borracho. That may explain the recent sightings of such chilled-out surfers as Stacy Peralta, director of “Dogtown and Z-Boys,” and the fashion designer Maia Norman, who owns a winter home nearby with her partner, the artist Damien Hirst.
There’s a bounty of breaks to choose from, so there are rarely more than a few surfers in a lineup. “Other spots like Puerto Escondido have major local attitude,” said Randall Brook, the manager at the Inn at Manzanillo Bay, which claims the town’s only surf shop. “But here no one is taking ownership of the wave, and people are actually nice.”
The surf might have something to do with that. Breaks in Troncones tend to be on the mellower side and more suited to long boarders, although swells can build to 15-foot kahunas during the peak surf season from May to November. |
Vallarta Weddings
Travel & Outdoors | December 2006 
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