“I don’t know if I’m capable of writing a story, it would probably be a bunch of rambling…”
Justin Perry was more concerned about writing his own story than he was about being under-gunned at 13 foot Puerto Escondido.
Justin recently traveled down south to his “second home” about 20 minutes away from Mexican Pipeline. He got off the plane, into his boardshorts and was immediately thrown into double overhead Puerto Escondido.
“The day I got there, I woke up and Puerto was a little bigger than I expected,” said Perry. “I was looking at it from the beach and it really didn’t look that big. It looked like 8-10 foot, nice and offshore, I’d been surfing 4 foot Jersey for the past 2 months, so I was out there.”
Justin paddled out on his 5’11” and I imagine his thought process went something like… “Oh fuck…”
“I got out there and it was 12-14 foot and I was heavily under-gunned,” stated Perry. “So, I just waited, took a couple waves and got beat up a bit back to the shore.”
I’ve never been, but I imagine a Puerto cleanup will beat you a little more than “a bit.” Whatever the case, for the next two weeks Justin scored.
The beginning of his trip offered double overhead waves with easing swell and another big bump at the end of his stay.
“I was able to surf Puerto everywhere from 6 foot to 15 foot, perfect tubes. Just getting beat up every day,” Justin recounted. “It’s all sand, basically concrete and whenever the wave breaks you feel the thud on the beach… Pretty heavy.”
Perry threaded beach break barrel perfection and described himself as constantly injured throughout the trip…
“I took off on a left… I was coming up off the bottom turn and the lip caught me right in the flats. It pushed my head right into my knee and I bit my tongue so hard I thought it came off. I asked some guy on the beach and he was like ‘nah your tongue’s still there.’”
Plunging ledges was a non-issue for Perry. So, as you could assume he was happily able and willing to enjoy the surrounding area with all that Mexico can offer.
“The food is incredible, just fresh food, fresh fruit,” said Perry. “It’s such an enjoyable place between all the food and friendly people, you get comfortable really quick.”
In addition, Justin was lucky enough to be set up in his own place with enough cash to live exactly how he wanted. “Everything is as cheap as it could possibly be… it’s disgusting. You find yourself bargaining over 10-15 pesos and when you get home you realize your arguing with someone over 10-15 cents,” said Perry.
From my spot on my couch in southern NJ, everything he said sounded like a boast or brag, even though Justin isn’t like that. Needless to say, I would be ready to snag a plane ticket after my conversation with Justin. However, Perry reminded me that aside from the good times, it still is not America…
“[There is still a] sketch factor of it, Mexico always got a little bit of an eerie vibe,” stated Perry. “You’re walking down a dark alleyway, you always feel someone’s watching you, gotta be on your toes. Literally like the wild west, so driving long distances at night is definitely a no-go.”
So, you shouldn’t be surprise. Just as he described it before… “Pretty heavy.” Check out Justin’s pictures below and be sure to listen to our conversation for a total rundown on Justin’s trip to Puerto.
Listen to my entire conversation with Justin below…
