Wind everyday from 11am till after 4.
Head high waves at the end of the week. 3.5 hour downwinders, super remote locations, zero crowds. money.
Awesome kiting, great food, great hotel, awesome people. Fun shit.
Highly recommended. Keep checking back here for pics and I will get a good write up going on how to get there and where to stay.
Travel on the cheap:
Fly into GYE (Equador) and take the 8 hr bus ride to Mancora. Take a taxi from GYE to CIFA international bus station and purchase a 1st class bus ticket to Mancora. Make sure you get your passport stamped at Custom in GYE, at the Equador immigration and the Peru immigration stops. When you get to Mancora take a mototaxi anywhere in Mancora. We ended up getting a private driver from GYE to Mancora because we read all the horror stories about the bus and the taxis. After seeing it all, I would take the bus for sure. Warning about this route: We almost got stranded in Peru as a Police strike in Equador closed the borders and highways. It was resolved before we left but could have been a costly change.
Travel on the easy: This is more expensive, but would be a more relaxing trip I think, and you don't have to cross a border.
Flight to Lima then fly with LAN to Piura (Pure-ah) then 2 hr taxi to mancora. This is a bit pricier as the flight to Lima was expensive. LAN flight $250USD, taxi to Mancora $100USD.
Money: Equador uses USD. Peru uses Nuevo Soles. $1USD = 2.8Soles. There are a few bank machines in Mancora, but if you get 100 soles make sure you get change from the national bank as it is very hard to buy stuff with bills bigger than 10Soles.
In Mancora: We stayed at Samana Chakra (http://www.samanachakra.com/). Ask for Johanna. It was about $100USD a night, but it was one of the most amazing places I have ever stayed. Right on the beach and the rooms were incredible. I have no other intel on other places, but the WaWa hotel in Mancora looked pretty nice. Samana Chakra is a bit out of town (7 min walk) but very quiet at night. In town, they party until 5 or 6 am some nights and it might be a bit louder.
- riding out front of hotel
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Kiteboarding:
Dead calm in the am until about 10:30am then you will be on a 12m until about 3pm then on a 9m until about 4.30. You can kite right out front of town and there is a nice left there to ride. Darice was also on her 6m in Cabo Blancio, so bring all your kites. Water temps in Mancora are warm. I wore boardies and a 2mm jacket and was perfect. It cools off if the clouds roll in, but nothing too bad. On the day trips I wish I had a 3/2 or even 4/3 full suit. The currents bring cold water with the wind. I had a 3mm shorty but wanted more to stay out longer. The wind on the day trips is also colder. Bring a hoodie for the ride home at night.
Day trips:
Organos - 1.5 hour downwinder from here.
Cabo Blancio - 30 mins out of town - 7m with a great left everyday from about noon to 4pm. 3.5 hour downwinder back to Mancora from here too.
- Cabo Blancio
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- Cabo Blancio lefts all day
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Tres Cruces - 1 hour out of town - 7m and great left
LoBitos - 1 1/2 hrs out of town - side off 7m wind with world class waves.
Best bet is Cabo Blancio as it is almost always windy there. Some of the taxis will actually take you to these places and wait for you to finish. We found Jose in town (his car has surf stickers on it). He took us to Cabo Blancio for $150soles and waited for us. We got him ceviche at Resto Cabo Blanco or go to the WaWa hotel and ask for Indigo or Poulo or Head to Peru Kitesurf find Rein - He also does day trips etc..
- Indigos car - loaded to the max
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(http://www.mancorakitesurf.com/instructor.php)
- Jose's taxi service
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We rented surfboards in town from Indigo for $10/day. If you break a surfboard (we broke two) or need parts (we needed three fins) go to Walters surf shop in town - he is great and cheap.
Eating. Make sure you try these places:
Tao
The restaurant with the mermaid in a cup on the sign
Chao Chao
The beef house
In town, food was no more than 40 to 50 soles each per night (~$20 usd) that was with multiple beers and the most amazing food yet. Also stay far away from the tap water and washed veggies. We had no issues, but were warned. Beer is about 5 soles for a quart so it is cheap
Nights were about perfect for jeans and long sleeves. I was in boardies and a hoodie and was perfect. Bring bug spray, if there is no breeze at night, the mosquitoes can get bad.
