"It's a big wave, a left turn, but DON'T surf there when it's low tide..."

Oh the bliss of surfing here in Chacala...

Well, to be more precise, Caleta, arguably the best surf spot in this region of Mexico is actually just a short trip north of Chacala bay, in which there is really almost no surf at all. 

Caleta is a point break, only accessible by boat, just 10 minutes away. 

Since the day we got here people have been mentioning this amazing surf spot and told us we should try to get there. But their prompting did not come without warning. 

"It's a big wave, a left turn. But DON'T surf there when it's low tide or when there's no swell. It's very dangerous because it's all rocks," they say, "and there are tons of sea urchins!"

They would take 10  seconds to tell me how amazing the surf is and follow it up with 5 minutes about the dangers. Theses conversations would typically end by saying, "It's no big deal, you can handle it. Just be careful and if you head for the shallow water just bail. Whatever you do, don't touch the ground, even if you have to jump in the water laying out flat..." 

So suffice it to say, I didn't want to surf at Caleta until I had sharpened my skills a little bit. When I got here, I didn't really even know how to turn with the wave. I just knew how to get up and go straight, a painful choice at Caleta. 

The other problem is the money$$$. 

To get a boat to take us out to the break, we were told would cost 500 Pesos, about $40 USD. Having quit our jobs to come live here in Chacala we knew we couldn't afford to go out there every day. Of course, if there were other surfers looking for a ride we could split the cost. But it wasn't an issue yet since we weren't ready anyway

So Jade and I continued surfing other spots, spending 2-4 hours driving each time we wanted to hit some waves, honing our skills and waiting till we felt ready. 

When the invitation came, I didn't feel confident enough. The Edmunds family just bought a panga (the boats all the fishermen use here) and invited us out to surf Caleta with them one morning. 

We woke up at 5:00 am, ate breakfast, and walked with our longboards down the dirt and cobblestone roads the lead to the marina. Halfway through the 10 minute walk my arms were pretty tired from holding my board over my head or on my hip. It's so awkward that I can't reach to put it under my arm!! 

We met Chuck, Ethan, and their friend Alyssa who had just gotten into town at the marina at six. We picked up a few more local surfers and headed out together, watching the gorgeous sunrise as we went.

I let it slip that I was nervous. I was told it is not nearly as scary as people made it seem. Ethan said they were going to bring his sister Sydney to Caleta to learn how to surf. They all told me you to be aware and careful. But the tide was up and there was a good swell so as long as I could turn with the wave I wouldn't be in any trouble at all. 

So... I just had to figure out how to turn. No sweat! ....I hope...

The sunrise was an amazing pallet of yellows and pinks and it did beautiful things in the reflection in the water. There was no civilization as far as I could see. We were alone out there enjoying mother nature's water park. It was really fun just being out there with Chuck, Ethan, and Alyssa.

Jade had the camera on his board and mine wasn't installed yet so prepare yourself because all of the upcoming photos are of him. :)

We started slow, just watching the waves. Ethan and his friends were catching everything and making it look easy.

Some of the waves were so big they would rain hard on top of us as we paddled past them and slid down the back side. Talk about intimidating!

I finally decided I needed to not think about it, clear my head, and go for it. No fear. 

It turns out that Jade and I paddled into the same wave. The photo below is an accidental double shot we found in one of the videos. That surfer on the wave behind and to the left of Jade is me! 

I was in a non-thinking mode so I didn't notice. I felt it out, stood up out of habit, and flew down the face of the wave, headed to my left without even trying. 

At times my feet felt unstable on the board but there wasn't time to let it scare me. I adjusted my balance and as I was heading left the wave seemed to slow down. It was the longest, biggest, most exhilarating ride of my life.  

When it was over and Jade was as far left as I was I realized he must have ridden it out there too. 

We caught a few more waves and it was just as smooth. When the really huge ones came through I paddled for my life to get behind it. But as it got later in the morning, they came less often and we were really enjoying ourselves. 

Of course Chuck thought it would be a good time to talk about sharks. He wants to have a Jaws marathon one night and then come out surfing before dawn the next morning. So he continued to tease us girls with shark statistics and gory details. 

I kept my "I'm not thinking about it" hat on.

Alyssa and I got talking a lot. She had just arrived and was staying at the Edmunds for a few weeks. 

The waves were slowing down so we were waiting it out, letting the boys surf the shallower waves, braving the rocks and urchins. 

Alyssa noticed a really big wave building on the horizon and we had been drifting a little too far in. I started paddling hard to get past it, while Alyssa turned around to paddle in to surf it. 

I was paddling as hard as I could and as the wave thinned out near the peak I knew it would break any second and that it would be very powerful. I was right on the lip of the wave and kept paddling as I pushed the tip of my board and my face through to the backside of the wave, I thought to myself that I had just BARELY made it. 

Then I realized that I was wrong. Somehow the wave had grabbed me and I had dropped into it despite my efforts. I was being tumbled in one of the strongest waves of my life. 

I tried to relax, hoping I would just get spit out. I tried to pull on my leash, hoping my board would help me surface. I tried to kick my way to the surface and I felt a flash of pain as I kicked the reef below me. 

Shoot! That's exactly what I wasn't supposed to do!

But at least I knew I had 5 or so feet of water to work with. The wave eventually passed me by and I came up for air. I'm really terrible at holding my breath so it felt like a lifetime that I was down there. It was probably only about 15 seconds. 

I sat up on my board and inspected my feet. Amazing! No blood. How did I get that lucky? There were two distinct slices on my second toe and my pinky toe that stopped and then continued down on the ball of my foot. But luckily not deep enough to cause real damage.

That was when I realized that Alyssa hadn't been quite that lucky. She surfaced and was floating on half of her surfboard. I looked over and saw another surfer grabbing the other half of her board that had made its way toward shore. Luckily she wasn't hurt. But we knew that meant we would head back soon. 

We piled back in Chuck's boat tired and grateful for our safety. AND completely ecstatic for our best day of surfing yet!