Matapalo & Pavones Surfing

Matapalo

Located across the bay from Pavones, the Matapalo area catches the same swells, but is much less surfed and provides excellent waves for a variety of skill levels.

The first beach is called “Pan Dulce” which means sweet bread in spanish, and is perfect for beginners! On a normal swell, the inside break there is a small nice wave to learn how to surf. On the outside break you can perfectly find the point break and with big swell you can surf it all the way to the shore. Almost one and a half minute surfing the same wave!

The next beach to the southwest is called “Backwash”. This beach offers a nice sand break at low tide with a fast and steep wave. On normal conditions it is very safe but on big swells it gets up to 10 feet and should not be surfed by those with limited experience.

The beach that is the furthest west is named “Matapalo”. It offers exciting and very challenging surf for the most experienced surfers. This break holds the largest swells in the area but also more rocks. Under normal conditions waves are up to 25 feet and it is safe to surf, but watch out for those rocks!

Pavones

This world class break is located directly across the bay form Matapalo. The wave at Pavones is everything you've heard, 2/3 of a mile rides - crazy crowds. It starts at a point, then crosses a river mouth, then hits another left point, and then goes into a 500 yard bay. When it's big, you need to be careful that you don't end up at the sharp rocks at the far end of the bay. It works best with a South swell, so usually between April and October it can be breaking for a week at a time.