Customer Reviews

Wave-finder - Central America

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After visiting El Salvador to surf in 2005, I was pleased to discover this recent (2006) guide to surfing in Central America. I wanted to check out some info on some of the great waves I surfed, formerly based on the advice of friends and the net. This little travel-friendly book is a good all-round guide to surfing in Central America (Guatamalea, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua), with major breaks, accommodation, best seasons, detailed monthly swell information, surf camps and guides, transport issues, safety issues, tides, winds, prices, basic maps, medical issues, political history, etc-basically the lot. It's up-to-date (2006) and has many useful tips.

One issue in surfing in Central America is paramount-safety, it isn't the safest place to spend a surf holiday, so you need some basic travel advice (eg leave that expensive watch at home, have back-up financial sources, don't travel alone at night etc). Surfing can sometimes take you to wild, remote places out of touch with even local security. If you are going to Central America to surf, this all-round guide is probably the most informative guide you can get, for both security, and for finding the best waves. Other useful sources are checking out the net, and asking locals when you get there (keeping an eye on who to ask).

As the editors mention, the technical information given per wave or surf region in this book is high, (one of the best aspects being detailed seasonal swell information), but they have not placed too much emphasis on sheer numbers of waves-they have left a little for you to discover on your own. This is mostly because they don't want to be responsible for crowding out the local surf spots, unless they are already well-known. Asking locals about some of the better spots NOT in this book is probably a good compromise (I would have liked to see what a recent New Zealand surf guide has done-they just say "'Spot X' 10/10 very near here -ask a local". That way, whether it is worth your while trying to find it is hinted at by the 10/10 mark-who wants to spend valuable time finding an ordinary wave?). But it also about general tourism development in a socially sensitive region of the world. 'Secret' surf spots in Central America can be a very touchy issue-surf tourism is booming in Central America, because from a world standpoint the waves are suprisingly good and consistent, (and surf tourism world-wide is also generally booming). Its not just about crowding of line-ups, parts of Central America are recovering from civil wars, poverty can be acute, pollution can be notorious, there is a lack of general tourism infrastructure in places (eg no ATMs, and no money changers), local social disputes are common, and some sensitivity and caution with regards to any tourism development is necessary, especially from an over-influx of heady and naive tourists. Some of the best waves are STILL relatively dangerous places to stay, but with a bit of common sense and planning, you SHOULD be fine. Check out the net for recent info and tips as well.

As for the waves, there are lots of world-class set-ups, some of the best aspects being the consistency, in season. You can find waves all on your own if you are lucky and adventourous, and even well-known spots still have their empty days, as I discovered. Seeing solid 12 feet+ faces perfectly roll-down supposedly more 'average' point breaks for 300m, with no wind and no-one out except me all day, was pretty memorable.

I have fond memories of surfing El Salvador, but there are many other places in Central America just opening up now-with really good, new waves still being discovered-especially in Panama and Nicaragua. If you want to go, this book is an excellent up-to-date companion. And one more thing, there is bugger all surf equipment in most places in Central America, be sure to bring your own- and spares.

I was surprised that the book is so tiny. It surely did not have the quantity of pages advertised in the information about the book (about half of what it says). You are probably better off with the old Surf Report series than with this guide. Yet, it is a lot smaller and lighter to carry around. It did get to my house in record time.

The book is a decent overview of the breaks with it's main utility being that it's tiny and you can bring it anywhere. However, it provides limited info and at times incorrect. There are only a couple of maps (probably one of the most useful aspects of a surfguide) and those provided at not detailed whatsoever. Example of simply incorrect information is that the guide lists almost all the breaks in the Popollo region of Nicaragua (the most commonly surfed breaks outside of San Juan Del Sur) as best in Winter time (North Hemisphere Winter). This designation is simply baffling. The breaks all face Southwest (like every break in Nicaragua) and take primarily Southern swell (southern Hemisphere swell).

Directions to breaks are rarely provided and when done so, very sparse directions. The book really doesn't provide anything but limited general info. Unfortunately, there are not many better sources; but you can gather most of the info on-line.

seems to give a good yet breif description of a lot of breaks through out central america also has some helpful travel hints an breif history of every country.
also is a conveniant pocket sized book perfect for travelling

I've always really liked the Wave-Finder series (I own the Australia, Indo, Mexico and USA editions). They've been really useful on all my surftrips with their nice diagrams of swell directions, tides, etc... for each spot. Very detailed information. That is why I was so disappointed with the Wave-Finder Central America. It is certainly not on the same level as the other books. It's very thin on the surf spots, and most of the spots lack the detailed diagrams that make this series so useful. They should revise this edition and make it on the same high-quality level as the others.