Blow. Neckties. Violence. Narcos. Human trafficking. Pablo Escobar. These are what come to mind for the typical person when they think of Colombia. In the 1980s and 90s, Colombia was the murder capital of the world. The economy was in shambles, it was a violent and dangerous place to live. The country had been in civil war for decades and as that was ending, the drug cartels rose to power and held every person in the country hostage for years. FARC and paramilitary groups then inflicting violence and terror all over the country for another decade or so after the cartels were brought down. Luckily, those are images of the past. The locals could only describe life in Colombia in the 80s and 90s as “a nightmare.” You’re not supposed to surf there. When everyone told me I shouldn’t go surf there, it made me even more passionate about giving all of my critics the finger and defying convention. Everyone asked me why I was going to bring my family for a week and a half and surf in a country that “could be dangerous.” We have school shootings almost weekly here in the United States. Some lunatic shot up a concert and killed 58 people for absolutely no reason last year. Every country has random acts of violence that no one can expect or anticipate. While I traveled to an amazing country full of warm people, good food and empty lineups, my critics were putting on their wetsuits and jockeying for position with 50 guys at their home break. Going to Colombia, in my opinion, has little risk and offers a huge reward. Yes, it was unbelievably dangerous in 1996. That was when I was in middle school, Bill Clinton was re-elected president, and l wore pants that were 4 sizes too big with a chain wallet and bleached my spiked hair while wearing black fly sunglasses. A lot has changed since then, not only in men’s fashion, but in drug trafficking and security in South and Central American political situations..
Luckily, those days of violence and terrorism are long gone. A new country has emerged, and its citizens are able to discover and enjoy the country they have loved but never really able been to explore until the last 10-15 years. Exploration of a coastline almost always results in finding untapped surf potential. Colombia has a huge coastline on both the Pacific and Caribbean side. We went to the Caribbean on a family vacation and drove up and down the coast. There were waves every day, with all days being head high except for once, which was about waist high. The water is not caribbeqan blue, but more reminiscent of chocolate milk. Apparently, it becomes blue when the windws die down, but then there are no waves. The conditions varied from clean to victory at sea. There are barrels. It is the caribbean, so its all wind swell, unless it is hurricane season. We spent 11 days in different towns, from Cartagena to Mendihuaca, exploring the jungle, natural pools, rivers, culture and beaches. Up near Tayrona Park, where the best waves on the Caribbean side are found, it was too dangerous to even consider surfing only 15 years ago. Surfing is a fairly new hobby in the part of the country, and there are very few people who do it. I connected with two of the country’s best surfers beforehand, who I actually ran into in the water, and we talked for a few hours about surfing in Colombia.
They lamented that surfing is about 15 years behind here than the rest of the world, and while they’re not sure exactly why, they blame it on Colombia’s checkered past. He told me that Venezuela, which has literally traded situations with Colombia since the 1990s, has a more vibrant surf scene, despite the fact that the waves are no better there. They both told me that in the entire country, that there are probably no more than 100-125 surfers, which means that you will never surf with more than 10 guys. I usually surfed alone or with about 3-4. The Pacific side has better waves, but us apparently very inaccessible. The surf spots are all off the coast with a dense jungle right in between Medellin and Cali, which if you remmeber your history, or watcehd Narcos, were the murder capitals of the world 20 years ago. I am definitely going to that coast soon though. It is too evasive and alluring to a traveller and explorer. The caribbean side is much more accessible, but is mainly wind swell and has a very brief period that it breaks (Nov-Feb and hurricanes). Despite the challenges, if you plan a trip to the caribbean side between those months, you will not only escape the cold water of the US, but you will also have a very high probability of scoring surf. Flying to Colombia is insanely cheap. Staying there is insanely cheap. Eating there is insanely cheap. It is an all around affordable trip. We ate street food all day and sipped on limonadas de coco in between surf sessions. I knew Colombia would be a safe and fun trip and I am stoked I went. Instead of going to some posh, over priced resort that is overrun by tourists, we went a little off the beaten path to a country that a lot of people have misconceptions about and the end result was that we scored!
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