Pacasmayo.

Pacasmayo sits on Peru’s north coast in La Libertad, ~108 km north of Trujillo and ~580 km north of Lima. The headline is El Faro, “The Lighthouse”, a left-hand point break that peels for ~2.5 km from the rocks at the top of the bay back to the old pier in town. On a solid south-west swell, single rides have been timed at four minutes. The takeoff is hollow over a sunken wreck and mellows into walls, crumbling lips, and pockets the further you ride. It’s one of the longest left-hand point breaks on earth.

April through October is when it fires. Southern Ocean lows track east under New Zealand and send south through south-west swell that wraps the point. Reference firing size sits around 3.5 m with mid- to long-period energy; the wave catches everything and holds bigger than neighbouring Chicama. The prevailing south wind blows side-offshore down the point, so the wave grooms itself most days.

Water sits at 18 to 21 °C year-round, cold for a tropical latitude because the Humboldt Current runs north along the coast. A 2 mm springsuit covers most of the year, a 3/2 on the coldest mornings. The biggest hazard is the paddle. From the pier back to the takeoff is the better part of a kilometre, so most surfers hop a moto-taxi up the road and walk down the rocks instead. Crowds are usually manageable because the wave has so many sections to spread the lineup. The pier-side beach is where the rental crew puts beginners. If you can’t paddle the full point, take a half-ride and roll the next one.