Punta Mita - Late July

Apr 17, 2013
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Heading down to this area in late July and curious to know what experiences folks might have had at some of the local breaks (El Faro, Bahia). Surfline does have a cam set up down the beach at Punta Burros (https://www.surfline.com/surf-report/punta-burros/584204204e65fad6a77091f3) which at a minimum gives you a guage of what's happening in the water.

Happy to hear any advice including good locals that might be useful to hook up with while down there.

-Thanks, Todd
 

obslop

Rabbitt Bartholomew status
Feb 4, 2002
8,044
1,512
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san diego, CA
years ago i walked into Punta Burros. was during the summer; small but fun. definitely saw potential if you had some swell running.

i remember though that a lot of that coast is blocked by a large, coastal housing development so access is not the easiest if you're not staying on the beach.
 
May 4, 2017
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San Diego
It's pretty hit or miss in that area in the summer. I've been on two summer trips (both in July) a couple years back. Once we staying in the fishing village of Punta De Mita and the second time we stayed inside the fancy gated and heavily guarded peninsula of Punta Mita where all the fancy resorts are located.

El Faro and Bahia are surprisingly shadowed by an offshore island from the brunt of many south swells unless the angle is just right. And oddly enough, the swell can wrap well into the bay and hit places like La Lancha more than I expected too.

The first year I was there, I scored. The surf news was buzzing about gnarly south swell that was creating 25ft barrels in Porto Escondido. That ended up translating to 4-6 ft surf at La Lancha and was pretty darn fun. The second year, when I was staying within walking distance of El Faro and Bahia, there was a regional surf forecast from the South for 4-6ft waves, but because of the heavy shadowing, you would have been hard pressed to call it 2-3ft at El Faro and Bahia.

From what I understand, both those breaks do better with north swells in the winter. The lack of crowds was nice. Most mornings I was the only person out due to the heavy fortifications keeping people out of the resort grounds. But the rocks at El Faro were sketchy. Definitely wear reef socks or something. I sliced my foot really bad and probably should have gotten stitches for it but chose not to since I was in Mexico. There are a few very sharp, isolated rocks that stick up far enough to cut your foot if you happen to be treading water at that spot, but not high enough to actually see them.

There are a couple of surf shops in the town of Punta De Mita and they are very friendly. Go chat with them and they can hook you up with board rentals, local break information, and boat trips.
 

Waterlogged05

Michael Peterson status
May 14, 2005
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I found la Bahia really fun when other spots were not working, took a boat over there since the resort area is all built up.
It was probably chest to head while it was waist ish at the other nearby.