Dominican Republic

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La Republica Dominicana
by aurasurf.com

Shades of the quiksilver crossing, deep torqouise.
Tony accomplishing his mission.

Broke Back Beach-

The story of two family guys who leave their wives and children behind in the quest for romantic sunsets, beautiful beaches and big barrels.

I bought a Surf Report for the Dominican Republic back in 1994. I never went till now. 12 years later and were finally on our way. In researching this trip I was struck by the confusing information and the lack of quality photographic documentation of this Caribbean country. After days and days of Internet surfing I would describe my perception of surf travel to the DR as "blurry". Unlike well documented surf spots like those of the Dominican's neighbor Puerto Rico, many of the spots on the island of Hispaniola remain undetected. So it was with a little bit of apprehension we started planning. Over Cuban sandwiches at the deli down the street from Sand Key we discussed our mission statement. We were tired of going on surf trips and after surfing waist high waves saying; "Well, you can see the potential". Throw potential out the window, we wanna score. Were don't have a lot of money and we don't get a lot of time off so we need to maximize our surf traveling experience. Last year in Puerto Rico, huge unruly surf and chaotic winds made our 'atomico tour' less than successful. This year, after 12 months of looking at surf mags we had one ultimate goal in mind with this surf mission: Score good waves. The price tag, the level of difficulty, the timing and schedule would all be secondary to the score. We wanted offshores and swell, we wanted Indo. We only get one or two international trips a year so lets do it right. We put a little pressure on ourselves to get good waves. Our primary focus would be watching the models and waiting for the trades to go S or SE when a trough comes off the continent and digs into the Caribbean. If we could time this with the arrival of a good swell we would score. After 3 weeks of waiting our resolve weakened. We had our lives and people waiting on us and we had our friends Jacob and Rachel from the Compound already booked and waiting for word. With some help from Rick Davis at the Ruskin Florida NWS office we found some good long-range models. We pulled the trigger on Feb 2nd as our departure, basing a trip that would cost hundreds of dollars on a couple long-range models. Forecasting weather 10 days out is sketchy. But we felt confident in the patterns and with a strong Low forecast to be S of Hatteras on 2/4 we went ahead and booked the trip. So were in the airport with our other friends Steven and Amanda who were headed to Guatemala when the whole subject of "Broke Back Beach" comes up. We've never even seen that movie! We were laughing so hard. Tony and I have never been on a trip just the two of us. There has always been a third so with noone else available "Broke Back" was a hilarious theme for the entire trip Micah: "I'll pay for this round of beers". Tony: "That is so Broke Back." Tony: "Can you hold the door open for me while I get the board bag into the room?" Micah: "What's sup "Broke Back"? And so it went.

Like a freaking swimming pool.

Reality of the Dominican: We got to the N coast of DR on Thursday late. It was a little too windy and late for a surf so we checked out the town of Cabarete. Reminded me of Jaco with tons of Euros and trash on the beach. 'When in Rome, do as the Romans' does not apply here. The Dominicans are so accustomed to tourists, it's almost impossible to not look like a tourist. You never see Dominican men or women in shorts, maybe when they are bañando at the beach. Whereas as a 250lb tourist from Montreal or Amsterdam you can spot a mile away with his goofy hat, pink tank top and man purse strapped around his pasty white or lobsterfied skin. There are tourists everywhere. Whereas Dominican society is rather conservative, the ladies dress is not. As is the custom in much of Latin America the women are dressed to be seen. Lots of people talk about the poverty of the DR and it is there. Corrugated tin shacks, peddlers, prostitutes are visible in some parts. But Dominicans in general seem happy with life and clued into what a beautiful, natural place they live in.

Puedes oir la bachata?

Bachata is the local music and you hear it everywhere. People hang outside on the corners and by the roads listening to bachata, talking and knocking back Presidentes while taking in the cool trade winds. We could stand to do more of that. They also seem to like Americans, or if not they seem to at least tolerate us. Euros love the DR. Our guide said "demasiado", which in Spanish means too much. There are men in banana hammocks evrywhere. They are so overwhelmed with Euros that sometime their patience gets tapped out. How many times a day can you have an ugly person from Switzerland command you to get them something in the funniest accent and without thinking of giving you a tip demand that you get it for them? Anybody would get tired of that.

Euro beach day.

The waves: We did not rent a car, we did not know where the spots are. Fortunately Tony with his charming demeanor (Broke Back) made friends with some other surfers at the camp. Jim and Jason were longboarders from New Hampshire. These 2 other surfers had already been there a week. They had a rental car and they were dialed into all the spots. They made our trip. They came over Friday night and offered to take us out East the following morning at 5:30 am. We drove a rough road thru tons of little pueblitos(small towns) in the morning darkness before finally arriving at a picturesque bay at 7 am.

Pristine Caribe.

The surf was breaking almost a quarter mile offshore but looked sizable and it was peeling both ways. We paddled out and had a great 3hr session before the wind clocked a little and we got tired out. We checked another spot near by and it was perfectly glassy. Whereas spot 1 was big and carvy spot 2 was total fun zone. A hot dog wave-

Micah in the fun zone.

When we got to the beach we were hungry so these vendors grab us a table and chairs and sit us down under the almendra trees. This beach is absolutely paradisiacal.

Hablando claro y disfrutando la compania.

In fact I recognize the beach as the same spot the Quicksilver Indies Trader stopped at two years prior with Kelly Slater and Jason Shibata. The colorful little shacks on the beach give it away and the waves are fun enough for even the most jaded pro.

Otra Vez.

We surf all day and at 5pm we decide to race back to another spot before it gets dark. We get there an hour before sunset and its this peeling waist to chest high perfect left in the middle of a beautiful bay. By the time we get out of the water its dark and one of the best surfing days of our lives is coming to an end. 3 spots, three distinct world class waves and three sessions all in one day. Thanks Jim and Jason! (Broke Back).

Hay que bonita!

Jason and Rachel after being w/o boards for 2 days are needing to catch some good surf, they also have a rental so they come the next morning and pick us up and were headed out east again. The surf is slightly smaller but still plenty fun.

Jacob Sheilds.

The next day is our final day, we have no more friends to pick us up so we end up riding what we call "the kook bus" with all the other newbies from Holland and Switzerland out to the local spot. The local spot is a disaster. Waves are waist to chest, inconsistent and with 30 surfers from all over the world surfing their reef booties across the mushy faces our last day is not looking that good. Fortunately, with the DR good waves are always just around the corner and we walk up the beach a quarter mile and find a reeling left point break that is Tony's dream wave. Jacob shows up and we have a fun last session.

The sickest left, se llama 'destroyer'.

The kook bus went back to the camp w/o me so I take some long, last moments to sit on the beach and meditate before catching a ride back to town. The Caribbean is so awesome! What a gift our creator has given us. You can have your snow boarding vacays in Aspen. I will keep going back to the Caribe for as long as I live on this planet because it is such a special place. As for Broke Back, Tony and I got along fine all buy ourselves and we really didn't have any weird situations. Well there was one: After watching the Super Bowl at a local bar we caught a motoconcho back to the camp. There I was on a little Honda motorcycle with my arms wrapped around some Dominican kid's waist and Tony riding right behind me on the same seat. "Broke Back" We're such homophobes! Too weird.