The Power and the Place

The Power and the Place Fifty years after the discovery of Playa Zicatela, Puerto Escondido has established itself as the epicenter of Mexican surfing.

Translated Puerto Escondido means “Hidden Port,” and until this wave was revealed in the ’60s it was indeed an obscure backwater. Today it’s the hub of Mexican surfing and the country’s most famous wave.

Even the Mexican Pipeline needs a Gerry Lopez. Diego Silva strikes a timeless pose as he slides into the best home has to offer.

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Contents 5 Introduction Puerto Today

By Edwin Morales

21

6 GALLERY: Locals Only The faces of Playa Zicatela

21

28 Mexico Memoirs

Puerto Escondido back then

By Tim Bernardy

Jon Steele

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For info, visit onepercentfortheplanet.org

Puerto Today

In the ’30s, Puerto Escondido was nothing

more than an obscure shipping port with no permanent settlement. The bay was intermittently used to export coffee but otherwise it was a small and simple place left off most maps. It wasn’t until the ’60s, when the “Mexican Pipeline” was discovered by some crazy gringos that things changed. It must have taken guts to work their way through what was then the “wild west.” But getting to Playa Zicatela would prove to be reward enough. There, in the middle of coastal Mexico, they’d found a perfect wave, warm water, and a complete swell magnet.

Fifty years has changed the place. Given how many images of the famous beachbreak have been printed in surf magazines, today Zicatela brings people from around the world to ride waves. But contrary to what you have seen, it’s not just a refuge for hell-men bent on waiting for the biggest swell of the season. There’s a place for surfers of all ability levels, which is a large reason for its evolution as the hub of Mexican surfing. It’s not just a big-wave outpost in the middle of nowhere. Today surfing is the main economic engine in town and surf lessons are the top-booked activity.

Puerto has grown from a population of 400 to well over 40,000. The first generation of surfers were truly locals, and in a lot of cases whole families have gotten into the act.

Guys like Chuy and Fidencio Silva; the brothers Juan, Lupe, Mike, Roger, and Oscar Ramirez; as well as brothers Angel, David, Roberto, and Rene Salinas; and Jose, Checo, and Cele Rito were all key players in laying the foundation. They were

our pioneers. While today’s crew—guys like Oscar Moncada, Jose and Checo Ramirez, and Coco Nogales—are still the dominant Mexican locals, there’s always been an international flavor in the water. Some people come for a week and end up staying, others just come down to chase swells. There are coffee shops and yoga studios, bars and cantinas and surf shops. There’s also a new generation of kids coming up who thrive in the less intimidating winter conditions. They are starting to find their way around the lineup and soon you’ll be seeing photos of them from the biggest swells of the year.

Another component that’s been key in the growth of the sport here is the group of lifeguards who keep us all safe. They’ve saved so many lives it’s impossible to imagine this place without their watchful eyes. Captain Godo Vasquez, Celestino Rodriguez, and their team have been guarding the waters of Playa Zicatela for the last 15 years.

Through devastating hurricanes and huge surf what they do is by far one of the hardest jobs in town.

In general life here still feels easy. For those who call Puerto home it can feel like we have it all. We are close to the ocean, our main provider. Fresh veggies, fruit, and fish are cheap and nourishing. We surf in the morning and work the rest of the day, either shooting photos, giving surf lessons, or working in shops, bars, or restaurants. Then it’s back to the beach at sunset just to have one more session before dinner and a good night’s rest. It may not be the sleepy village it once was, but Puerto remains laid back—it’s a surf town, after all.

— Edwin Morales

locals

In the 1960s, Highway 200 was built, connecting Oaxacan coastal towns to Acapulco. Almost immediately, surfers were able to access previously unreachable stretches of sand. That said, in the ’70s there were only about 400 full-time residents in Puerto. Times have changed and today the local herd of chargers are as talented—and numerous—as any the world over.

EDWIN MORALES

only

HINKLE

Resident charger Oscar Moncada started surfing Puerto when he was seven years old under the tutelage of the Ramirez brothers. “Many people here don’t have a sponsor, which is really hard for them. They’re doing surf lessons, and also trying to work somewhere else, but there’s not that much good money around.”

One of the old guard, Checo Ramirez has been holding it down at Puerto for nearly 30 years. A jack-of-all-trades, he has worked as as a paid professional surfer, a paddleboard champ, a surf instructor, a gardener, tour guide, and too many other odd jobs to list. Alongside his brothers, Checo has helped to build the surf community to what it is today.

morales

STEELE

The passion of Puerto. On an international level Coco Nogales is the area’s most recognizable surfer, but no matter where in the world he turns up, he represents his home country with style and courage.

morales

Angelo Lozano is the archetype of the local pro. Able to eke out a living on his sponsor’s dime, he has enjoyed moderate competitive success, is a seasoned traveler, and capable of picking a set wave out of the pack at Pipeline. But there ain’t no place like home.

morales

There’s no substitute for local knowledge.

Coco Nogales has it in spades and knows when to cash in on a good hand.

Sadly, like its Hawaiian namesake, the Mexican Pipeline can be lethal. NorCal filmer Noel Robinson (nom de plume—Son B. Shinin) lost his life on a big day in 2010.

morales

One of those classic characters you only find in gritty surf towns, underground fixture Alex de la Torre, known simply as “Tarzan,� prefers single-fins, ecologically sound transportation and the company of a faithful perrito.

STEELE

Photographer Edwin Morales shooting from elevation.

STEELE

When not hustling curios to tourists, Jose Ramirez is all too happy to close shop and pack tubes.

Morales

To the west of Zicatela, past the rocks of El Moro, lies Playa Marinero. Much more user friendly, the next generation of kids cut their teeth in the gentle shorebreak there before starting to climb the ranks at Puerto proper.

Morales

When originally discovered by Europeans the area was dubbed Bahia de la Escondida. Legend has it the pirate Andrés Drake, brother of Sir Francis Drake, anchored his ship and hid out in the bay when the area was completely uninhabited.

Weeks prior Drake and crew had kidnapped a young Mixtec woman from the village of Santa María Huatulco and took her prisoner. While in the bay, the woman managed to escape overboard, swim to shore and hide in the jungle. The pirates referred to the woman as “La Escondida” (the hidden one) and she was never found.

steele

The plunking rhythm of a Spanish guitar and the lingering effects of mescal aren’t clichés—they’re touchstones of Mexico Lindo.

MORALES

MORALES

There’s good reason that the resident ding repairmen of Playa Zicatela are so famous for their abilities to put broken boards back together—the break might have the highest surfboard body count in the world.

MORALES

MORALES

STEELE

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