Surfing Pasamayo.

Pasamayo is a fabled tale of quiet perfection. The reason is because the coast road or Pan America Norte between Anchon and the village of Pasamayo (not where the wave is) just before Chancay, is only open to buses and trucks as it is considered too dangerous, it doesn´t stop anyone overtaking on blind corners whilst throwing plastic out of the window though. They wouldn´t even let the team surf bus through with Terry´s international press pass! Boo!

If you are on the Anchon side of the Peaje and don´t have a vehicle I would suggest just hitching a ride from the Peaje (poll booth), we took a taxi to Pasamayo where we found the Hari Krishna retreat (not what I was expecting).

Now just because your on the cliff road, through the peaje and can get off, it doesn´t mean your going to find it. Though you should be okay. The wave is may be 3 to 5 miles south of Pasamayo village and breaks in the middle of a bay. We began by walking along the beach. This is a long hard way and you are forced back up to the road anyway. The plus side was a kind fisherman told us the wrong places to surf but did show us an amazing cave and painting. He also seemed completely unphased by his empty bag for fish. The minuses are its harder to walk up that dune than Arcachon in France. The sand is very deep and the its near vertical. The road is not a pleasant stroll but doable. However you get there, take water, hat, food etc in backpack, there are no services of any description it´s a desert and the dune is steep.


The waves are a series of reef/beach breaks that are in the middle of a bay. There a couple of empty shacks at the bottom. Run down the dune in 30 seconds spend 40 minutes of hell getting back up. I guess it doesn´t need much swell, we went when Lima was flat and it was slim pickings, but there were only two other guys there, we all got along famously which was rare in Peru. To get back we managed to flag down a bus for two soles he even stashed the boards underneath...happy days.


Its a day trip, not half a day, it´s a mission. To be honest living in Lima, I would only do it on a Sunday when the traffic is lighter. We went back to the village of Pasamayo had some beer and dead meat on a skewer and just felt good about our trip. I´ll be going on a Sunday again when there´s a swell. It´s hard to know how you´d stay nearby unless you hooked up with Hari Krishna´s who seemd to have nice accomodation and food on offer, but the haircuts and face paint worried me a little.
Many Thanks to terry and Natalia for a great day out and one I shan´t forget. Great company, great times.