Project VII

"The people from the clouds" or the Zapotec, the people once native to this area worshipped all forces of nature. They respected the power and the beauty of these waves. The Zapotec brought gifts and sacrifices to the waves of Zicatela and la Punta. Why was this land embraced so sacredly? Well, the more time you spend openheartedly feeling the nature of Puerto, the more you will see through the eyes of the Zapotec. Puerto Escondido is in its own world. As the Zapotec believed, the end product of such energy here, slows time down. So that's how the saying is said; "time stops in Puerto."

Waves:
La Punta is an epic left point break, fast and hollow often. On its best days, with the right tide, there's a full connection from the outer guano rock all the way to the lifeguard tower, which must be around 300 meters. The outer section boxes up, over sand but close to rocks. It opens up from there to a speedy walled section, as you reach the inside rock you again find a perfect hollow inside section.

Quality: world class to good, long and hollow on best days
Experience Required: experienced surfers for bigger days because of current and rocks, smaller days are great for any level
Frequency: when there is any south in the swell, hay olas

Wave
Type: left point-break
Power: hollow, fast,
Length Normal Day normal: (50 to 150m)
Length Good Day normal: (50 to 300m)
Bottom: Sandy with rock

Tide & Swell
Swell Size: starts working at 1.0m-1.5m / 3ft-5ft and holds up to 5m / 16ft and over
Direction: cleanest on direct south swells, but usually has waves with whatever is dished out
Tides: usually best when tide is sucking out, but can be good at any tide
Wind: Always offshore in the mornings, sometimes when the rain comes in the evening, offshore may come again

Access & Info
Distance: walking distance from Puerto
Crowd: Smaller days get crowded in evenings after school and weekends, bigger days the current tends to filter out the unworthy
Hazards: Rocks, stingrays and locals
Locals: Very local, bring respect and aloha spirit. Don't even think about dropping in on any local, even if they ask for it.

Tips
Cuidado: If you don't feel comfortable in the water, watch out for bigger days. This is riptide land, so just take it slow. Usually la Punta won't have riptides, but it's still good to know this. A riptide looks like a brown river going out to sea. If you get pulled out in one, let it take you out then just swim parallel to shore to get out of it.
Locals: bring respect and a smile
Stingrays: Not something to be scared of but accidents happen. On colder days stingrays hang out closer to shore. To avoid stepping on one make it a habit to shuffle your feet as you walk out to the line up.