That's funny, they call Barra Da Tijuca the "Brazilian Miami." It's somewhat of a newer neighborhood in Rio. Very nice beaches. I highly recommend checking it out if you head to Rio. There is also some decent night life there. Only thing is the logistic. A taxi back to Copa or Ipanima is gonna be a little pricey, but still should be no more than $15.
There are beaches an hour away but probably not surfing beaches.
As an aside -- Porto Alegre (and greater Rio Grande do Sul) and Curitiba (and greater Parana) are probably where most of the hot chicks photographed in Floripa come from -- along with the girls from wealthy families flying in from Sao Paulo.
Here's one 1.5 - 2 hours from PA:
(This post was last modified: 03-21-2013 06:59 PM by temujin.)
03-21-2013 06:55 PM
The following 1 user Likes temujin's post:1 user Likes temujin's post thegmanifesto
(03-21-2013 01:13 PM)scotian Wrote: I know that Canada isn't a place that most guys would think had a good surf scene
Canada has been blowing up as a surf destination in the surf media for the last half decade, mostly thanks to Peter Devries and the Bruhweiliers with their constant shots of "Candonesia." The East Coast gets a lot of love as well - TSJ has run profiles by Yassine Ouhilal and Brian Nevins in the last couple years. The heart of the matter is that many folks just aren't going to travel to surf water in the 30s Fahrenheit when they can spend the same amount of time and money to get shacked silly somewhere tropical.
I'd still like to get up there. Some of those Nova Scotian points look incredible.
03-22-2013 01:17 AM
The following 1 user Likes lurker's post:1 user Likes lurker's post scotian
scotian
International Playboy
Posts: 5,952
Joined: Aug 2011
Reputation: 301
(03-21-2013 01:13 PM)scotian Wrote: I know that Canada isn't a place that most guys would think had a good surf scene
Canada has been blowing up as a surf destination in the surf media for the last half decade, mostly thanks to Peter Devries and the Bruhweiliers with their constant shots of "Candonesia." The East Coast gets a lot of love as well - TSJ has run profiles by Yassine Ouhilal and Brian Nevins in the last couple years. The heart of the matter is that many folks just aren't going to travel to surf water in the 30s Fahrenheit when they can spend the same amount of time and money to get shacked silly somewhere tropical.
I'd still like to get up there. Some of those Nova Scotian points look incredible.
That's the thing with travel in Canada, pretty much everything is very expensive and as you said, your money will go a lot further elsewhere and it will be a lot warmer. If you're on the East Coast USA, you can fly direct to Halifax from NYC or Boston fairly cheap and find some cheap places to stay on Air BnB or Couch surfing, Halifax is a bumping city in the summer and especially in September when the uni students come back.
God damned them all, I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold, we'd fire no guns-shed no tears, now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barrett's privateers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIwzRkjn86w
(03-21-2013 02:21 AM)ElJefe Wrote: Best time of year for floripa?
I'm not sure wave wise, but weather wise in the summer. From what I hear it gets pretty cold in the winter...
What do you guys think about this list, just in sheer terms of surfing? Like I said, I'm not an expert at surfing, but I definitely see places on this list that definitely didn't look comparable to other places I've been that aren't on the list. One comparison I can think of is Montanita being on the list and Trestles not being on the list. The break just wasn't that good when I was in Montanita. But I do realize that there are certain times and conditions that are better than others, but I expected to see some other places on the list.
I hear reports from friends the surf around Montanita can be very good with no crowds....especially if you are willing to travel outside of the main town. Spots like Rio Chico, Las Tunas they say.
Is montanita a spot you would get bored of after a few days or could you stay a few months there and be happy?
03-22-2013 10:58 AM
InternationPlayboy
International Playboy
Posts: 4,396
Joined: Nov 2008
Reputation: 36
(03-21-2013 02:21 AM)ElJefe Wrote: Best time of year for floripa?
I'm not sure wave wise, but weather wise in the summer. From what I hear it gets pretty cold in the winter...
What do you guys think about this list, just in sheer terms of surfing? Like I said, I'm not an expert at surfing, but I definitely see places on this list that definitely didn't look comparable to other places I've been that aren't on the list. One comparison I can think of is Montanita being on the list and Trestles not being on the list. The break just wasn't that good when I was in Montanita. But I do realize that there are certain times and conditions that are better than others, but I expected to see some other places on the list.
I hear reports from friends the surf around Montanita can be very good with no crowds....especially if you are willing to travel outside of the main town. Spots like Rio Chico, Las Tunas they say.
Is montanita a spot you would get bored of after a few days or could you stay a few months there and be happy?
To answer your question, Montanita isn't a place you would really get bored after a few days during the season. It's more like you would get partied out. The places is a non-stop party pretty much. It would be cool to spend a couple months there if you were in your 20's and had a place outside of town so you could sleep well every night. Here are a couple images to give you an idea. During the day it's pretty chill, everyone chills on the beach. During night, it's always packed like the night photo you see. It's a beautiful place none the less. All those little tents on the side of the avenue are ALL bars. I'd consider it a sort of hippie surf town. People are down to earth. And fortunately, you won't even meet many Ecuadorians there unless you venture out of town. It's mostly Argis Chileanos and a mix of people from all over the globe. But you will for sure meet more argis and chileanos than ecuadorians. It's a real cool vibe, but like I said it's also a none stop party, which you can avoid as long as you have a place outside of the chaos. But if you are looking to party and have a good time, you won't get bored here, and there is a constant influx of new people so you wouldn't run out of people to meet. The only reason you could get bored is because it is just so small. There are a bunch of neighboring towns you could check out as well though, with real cheap bus rides to get there. But overall I would say being bored in Montanita during the season would be the least of your worries. I will say, it doesn't have much to offer in the way of up scale venues, but if you are down to do the surf bum thing for a couple months, I highly recommend it. If you are 40 and looking for something upscale, it's not for you. My problem with the waves when I was there is they closed up really fast, it made it hard for me as a beginner, I was just riding the white water. But they were fairly decent in size.
(This post was last modified: 03-22-2013 03:41 PM by InternationPlayboy.)
03-22-2013 03:21 PM
The following 1 user Likes InternationPlayboy's post:1 user Likes InternationPlayboy's post gsinplaya
(03-21-2013 02:21 AM)ElJefe Wrote: Best time of year for floripa?
I'm not sure wave wise, but weather wise in the summer. From what I hear it gets pretty cold in the winter...
What do you guys think about this list, just in sheer terms of surfing? Like I said, I'm not an expert at surfing, but I definitely see places on this list that definitely didn't look comparable to other places I've been that aren't on the list. One comparison I can think of is Montanita being on the list and Trestles not being on the list. The break just wasn't that good when I was in Montanita. But I do realize that there are certain times and conditions that are better than others, but I expected to see some other places on the list.
I hear reports from friends the surf around Montanita can be very good with no crowds....especially if you are willing to travel outside of the main town. Spots like Rio Chico, Las Tunas they say.
Is montanita a spot you would get bored of after a few days or could you stay a few months there and be happy?
To answer your question, Montanita isn't a place you would really get bored after a few days during the season. It's more like you would get partied out. The places is a non-stop party pretty much. It would be cool to spend a couple months there if you were in your 20's and had a place outside of town so you could sleep well every night. Here are a couple images to give you an idea. During the day it's pretty chill, everyone chills on the beach. During night, it's always packed like the night photo you see. It's a beautiful place none the less. All those little tents on the side of the avenue are ALL bars. I'd consider it a sort of hippie surf town. People are down to earth. And fortunately, you won't even meet many Ecuadorians there unless you venture out of town. It's mostly Argis Chileanos and a mix of people from all over the globe. But you will for sure meet more argis and chileanos than ecuadorians. It's a real cool vibe, but like I said it's also a none stop party, which you can avoid as long as you have a place outside of the chaos. But if you are looking to party and have a good time, you won't get bored here, and there is a constant influx of new people so you wouldn't run out of people to meet. The only reason you could get bored is because it is just so small. There are a bunch of neighboring towns you could check out as well though, with real cheap bus rides to get there. But overall I would say being bored in Montanita during the season would be the least of your worries. I will say, it doesn't have much to offer in the way of up scale venues, but if you are down to do the surf bum thing for a couple months, I highly recommend it. If you are 40 and looking for something upscale, it's not for you. My problem with the waves when I was there is they closed up really fast, it made it hard for me as a beginner, I was just riding the white water. But they were fairly decent in size.
nice. do you think getting a fast, reliable internet connection would be a problem here? I figured the infrastructure would be a little lacking.
03-22-2013 03:45 PM
InternationPlayboy
International Playboy
Posts: 4,396
Joined: Nov 2008
Reputation: 36
(03-21-2013 02:21 AM)ElJefe Wrote: Best time of year for floripa?
I'm not sure wave wise, but weather wise in the summer. From what I hear it gets pretty cold in the winter...
What do you guys think about this list, just in sheer terms of surfing? Like I said, I'm not an expert at surfing, but I definitely see places on this list that definitely didn't look comparable to other places I've been that aren't on the list. One comparison I can think of is Montanita being on the list and Trestles not being on the list. The break just wasn't that good when I was in Montanita. But I do realize that there are certain times and conditions that are better than others, but I expected to see some other places on the list.
I hear reports from friends the surf around Montanita can be very good with no crowds....especially if you are willing to travel outside of the main town. Spots like Rio Chico, Las Tunas they say.
Is montanita a spot you would get bored of after a few days or could you stay a few months there and be happy?
To answer your question, Montanita isn't a place you would really get bored after a few days during the season. It's more like you would get partied out. The places is a non-stop party pretty much. It would be cool to spend a couple months there if you were in your 20's and had a place outside of town so you could sleep well every night. Here are a couple images to give you an idea. During the day it's pretty chill, everyone chills on the beach. During night, it's always packed like the night photo you see. It's a beautiful place none the less. All those little tents on the side of the avenue are ALL bars. I'd consider it a sort of hippie surf town. People are down to earth. And fortunately, you won't even meet many Ecuadorians there unless you venture out of town. It's mostly Argis Chileanos and a mix of people from all over the globe. But you will for sure meet more argis and chileanos than ecuadorians. It's a real cool vibe, but like I said it's also a none stop party, which you can avoid as long as you have a place outside of the chaos. But if you are looking to party and have a good time, you won't get bored here, and there is a constant influx of new people so you wouldn't run out of people to meet. The only reason you could get bored is because it is just so small. There are a bunch of neighboring towns you could check out as well though, with real cheap bus rides to get there. But overall I would say being bored in Montanita during the season would be the least of your worries. I will say, it doesn't have much to offer in the way of up scale venues, but if you are down to do the surf bum thing for a couple months, I highly recommend it. If you are 40 and looking for something upscale, it's not for you. My problem with the waves when I was there is they closed up really fast, it made it hard for me as a beginner, I was just riding the white water. But they were fairly decent in size.
nice. do you think getting a fast, reliable internet connection would be a problem here? I figured the infrastructure would be a little lacking.
Yeah, the infrastructure there is shit in a way. When I was there they had to dig up part of one of the streets because of pluming issues. When I got to my hostel the internet hadn't been working for a while. The owner said she was getting someone out to fix it the next day. I thought she was full of shit, but someone actually came. The internet wasn't bad, I was able to make calls on Skype and it worked fairly fast, so I can say I had no problems, but then again a skype call was the most I tried doing. Here's a picture of the street they had to rip up (Keep in mind town is basically 5 streets by 5 streets). It was worse before, I snapped this pic when they were finishing up. I hear this is a pretty common problem since there are so many people coming through. They had to close down all the hotels and bars on that street. Another plus though, montanita is super cheap. I wrote up a data sheet on the "Just landed in Ecuador" thread. A large beer is $1-1.5. A cocktail is $2.5-3 and they use the $USD.
(This post was last modified: 03-22-2013 03:53 PM by InternationPlayboy.)
03-22-2013 03:50 PM
The following 1 user Likes InternationPlayboy's post:1 user Likes InternationPlayboy's post gsinplaya
InternationPlayboy
International Playboy
Posts: 4,396
Joined: Nov 2008
Reputation: 36
I mean some of the breaks she mentions are just terrible ....bondi beach is one that stands out. No idea how you can put a spot like that in there and exclude the entire pacific coast of Mexico for example.
Best waves you'll find in the world in my opinion are in the Mentawais
(This post was last modified: 03-22-2013 04:30 PM by gsinplaya.)
With so many surf towns all around the world, one should be able to come up with a list of at least 5-10 towns that can fit his personal requirements.
I don't surf but have been to many of these surf towns. Mancora for one since you guys mentioned it. There are actually more popular surf spots just south of Mancora: Los Organos and Cabo Blanco/Punta Veleros.
I can bust out a mini sheet on Mancora if anyone's interested.
Another one that comes to mind is Bocas del Toro. I saw a point break that was barrelin when I was on a tour boat coming from Red Frog Beach. And the nightlife's decent around 4 nights a week. I was at AquaLounge on a wed night and people (mostly girls) were taking their clothes off, running around the club naked and jumping off a dive platform into the water. From what I heard this is a weekly thing.
One more is a place I haven't been to but was confided to me by a fellow traveler - El Tunco Beach in El Salvador. Supposedly it a party town every weekend, with people doing bonfires on the beach and the locals are really friendly and welcoming into their social circles.
(03-23-2013 04:10 PM)Fenix Wrote: With so many surf towns all around the world, one should be able to come up with a list of at least 5-10 towns that can fit his personal requirements.
I don't surf but have been to many of these surf towns. Mancora for one since you guys mentioned it. There are actually more popular surf spots just south of Mancora: Los Organos and Cabo Blanco/Punta Veleros.
I can bust out a mini sheet on Mancora if anyone's interested.
Another one that comes to mind is Bocas del Toro. I saw a point break that was barrelin when I was on a tour boat coming from Red Frog Beach. And the nightlife's decent around 4 nights a week. I was at AquaLounge on a wed night and people (mostly girls) were taking their clothes off, running around the club naked and jumping off a dive platform into the water. From what I heard this is a weekly thing.
One more is a place I haven't been to but was confided to me by a fellow traveler - El Tunco Beach in El Salvador. Supposedly it a party town every weekend, with people doing bonfires on the beach and the locals are really friendly and welcoming into their social circles.
I loved the setup at Bocas del Toro, Panama. If you go exploring in a boat there are so many good breaks to find. I wasn't impressed with the women and nightlife there though. Did you have a different experience?
I need to do El Salvador soon...I keep hearing about the waves there being world class with small crowds.
Love to hear some more about Mancora if you get a chance.
Mancora is better for partying than it is for surf. The town itself is one main drag with a couple of bars and restaurants flanked by quiet side streets. The surf does get good there - as evidenced by the clip - but it's an inconsistent NW swell-only spot that's dormant for months and insanely packed when it's on.
Lobitos, on the other hand, is an hour away by bus and pulls in the souths.
(03-25-2013 01:23 AM)lurker Wrote: Mancora is better for partying than it is for surf. The town itself is one main drag with a couple of bars and restaurants flanked by quiet side streets. The surf does get good there - as evidenced by the clip - but it's an inconsistent NW swell-only spot that's dormant for months and insanely packed when it's on.
Lobitos, on the other hand, is an hour away by bus and pulls in the souths.
(03-21-2013 03:20 AM)InternationPlayboy Wrote: I'm not sure wave wise, but weather wise in the summer. From what I hear it gets pretty cold in the winter...
What do you guys think about this list, just in sheer terms of surfing? Like I said, I'm not an expert at surfing, but I definitely see places on this list that definitely didn't look comparable to other places I've been that aren't on the list. One comparison I can think of is Montanita being on the list and Trestles not being on the list. The break just wasn't that good when I was in Montanita. But I do realize that there are certain times and conditions that are better than others, but I expected to see some other places on the list.
I hear reports from friends the surf around Montanita can be very good with no crowds....especially if you are willing to travel outside of the main town. Spots like Rio Chico, Las Tunas they say.
Is montanita a spot you would get bored of after a few days or could you stay a few months there and be happy?
To answer your question, Montanita isn't a place you would really get bored after a few days during the season. It's more like you would get partied out. The places is a non-stop party pretty much. It would be cool to spend a couple months there if you were in your 20's and had a place outside of town so you could sleep well every night. Here are a couple images to give you an idea. During the day it's pretty chill, everyone chills on the beach. During night, it's always packed like the night photo you see. It's a beautiful place none the less. All those little tents on the side of the avenue are ALL bars. I'd consider it a sort of hippie surf town. People are down to earth. And fortunately, you won't even meet many Ecuadorians there unless you venture out of town. It's mostly Argis Chileanos and a mix of people from all over the globe. But you will for sure meet more argis and chileanos than ecuadorians. It's a real cool vibe, but like I said it's also a none stop party, which you can avoid as long as you have a place outside of the chaos. But if you are looking to party and have a good time, you won't get bored here, and there is a constant influx of new people so you wouldn't run out of people to meet. The only reason you could get bored is because it is just so small. There are a bunch of neighboring towns you could check out as well though, with real cheap bus rides to get there. But overall I would say being bored in Montanita during the season would be the least of your worries. I will say, it doesn't have much to offer in the way of up scale venues, but if you are down to do the surf bum thing for a couple months, I highly recommend it. If you are 40 and looking for something upscale, it's not for you. My problem with the waves when I was there is they closed up really fast, it made it hard for me as a beginner, I was just riding the white water. But they were fairly decent in size.
nice. do you think getting a fast, reliable internet connection would be a problem here? I figured the infrastructure would be a little lacking.
Yeah, the infrastructure there is shit in a way. When I was there they had to dig up part of one of the streets because of pluming issues. When I got to my hostel the internet hadn't been working for a while. The owner said she was getting someone out to fix it the next day. I thought she was full of shit, but someone actually came. The internet wasn't bad, I was able to make calls on Skype and it worked fairly fast, so I can say I had no problems, but then again a skype call was the most I tried doing. Here's a picture of the street they had to rip up (Keep in mind town is basically 5 streets by 5 streets). It was worse before, I snapped this pic when they were finishing up. I hear this is a pretty common problem since there are so many people coming through. They had to close down all the hotels and bars on that street. Another plus though, montanita is super cheap. I wrote up a data sheet on the "Just landed in Ecuador" thread. A large beer is $1-1.5. A cocktail is $2.5-3 and they use the $USD.
ok im sold on Montanita...I spoke to a few Australian friends who said it was the "byron bay" of South America which is exactly what I'm looking for.
Do you know whether it is easy to find apartments/houses to rent for a few months which aren't too close to the noise?
I'm told there is surf all up and down the coastline .... ayampe about 30 minutes north is first on my list to check out. There are also meant to be a few offshore reefs out from ayampe (15 minutes by boat) which pick up alot of swell.
I'm expecting no crowds with good waves if i go exploring outside of Montanita.
Are the argies and chillean girls the best quality women in the town? Are they the ones worth focusing on?