Chicama, the longest left point in the world

Got some good waves during the week at Chicama on the north coast of Peru. The wave is well known as the longest left point in the world, and it lived up to its name. From the take off to the pier is about 2 miles but in reality you catch a good wave and ride it for about 500m or more. Some of the really good ones were breaking for more than that. The wave was quite differnet to what I expected. The paddle out is quite tricky with a nasty shore dump to get through and very strong currents. Once you get in the line up you have to constantly paddle to keep position, but its a losing battle if the swell is head high or bigger. There are a few barrels to be had from the deep take off spot but the wave is breaking very fast so not really very makeable. The more normal take off spot is just left of the rocks and from there you can get some really good long waves. If you mess up your wave then you are probably caught in the current so hope for a smaller one on the inside. The wave is really fun and you can do really nice snaps and cutbacks into cover ups. After a few waves down the point you just paddle for the shore and start walking again, with hopefully a big smile on your face. There are a few boats ferrying people from the fancy resort back to the take off spot, much to the annoyance of those of us walking and paddling. Even with the boats and 50 people surfing there are loads of good waves for everybody. We had head high waves for 2 days and overhead for one day. The photo here does not do the spot justice, as I was too busy surfing. After that surfed Puemape for a few days, about 3 to 4 foot. Swell has gone small here now but more waves on the way. After that its off to Cusco and Macchu Picchu.