THE CROWDS

Lobitos almost sounds to good to be true right? Well that is because it is. There is one major catch here and that catch is the crowds. The Lobitos region is well known the world over and while having its own very strong and highly competitive local crowd it also tends to attract hordes of wave hungry Brasilians and an assortment of random gringos thrown into the mix. In most Latin countries you can usually enter the water at first light to beat the crowds but this is not the case for Lobitos.

When the crowd is up water etiquette can completely go out of the window in the lineups of this dusty little ghost town. At times it can prove difficult to snavel waves off the hungry horde and unfortunately painfully blatant snaking can be all to common place here. I attribute the etiquette to the relatively young surfer culture combined with the large crowds and the fact that there was only one wave with good banks while I was in town. Heck, if my local wave was constantly overrun by frothing foreign surfers then I would probably behave the same way.

While the locals remain highly competitive in the water outside of the water is a completely different story altogether as you will quickly find the Peruvian people to be among some of the most welcoming you will encounter during your time in Latin America. Despite the crowds if you are smart, surf outside peak times (think siesta time here), patient and respectful you should still luck into your share of Peruvian gold.

However, if the crowds do become too much for you don’t stress as there are still plenty of other surfing options as good if not potentially better than Lobitos to both the North and South along the Peru’s wave rich coastline. [Continued below]