Casper Steinfath experiences the magic of Chicama, Peru

During my travels around the world I have heard many stories about the famous point breaks in Peru. The stories told of perfect left hand waves that could run down the points for miles and miles. For years, I have dreamt of surfing these never ending waves and when I heard the ISA SUP World Championship was heading to Peru, I had the perfect excuse to check them out!

After a long and tough week of competing in Lima where I ended up becoming ISA SUP Race World Champion, I teamed up with a crew of happy Europeans that were just as surf-crazy as me. From Lima we drove North through the night and arrived in the small town of Chicama just as the sun was rising. What greeted us in the morning mist was perfectly lined up waves stacked all the way to the horizon. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked surreal and I thought I was still dreaming in the back of the van. We were all tired from the long drive but immediately unpacked our boards and started running up the point like surf-stoked groms 🙂

I have never surfed a wave like Chicama before. It was hollow and fast in some sections while open and playful in others, but it was always smooth and it never stopped peeling down the point. Being able to do over 25 full turns on a single wave was unreal and great for perfecting style. The waves were so long that paddling back out sometimes could take over 10 minutes. I really enjoyed the waves on my Hokua 8’3”. I guess I got a small taste of never ending perfection. I can’t wait to go back to the Chicama magic soon 🙂

–Casper Steinfath