Chile Windsurfing

[Ryan]

Last minute trip to Chile. A quick post in case any of you are looking for somewhere to go this winter. Chile is highly recommended.

Matanzas Beach on our first day sailing was fantastic, 3 foot to head high waves, could easily make six or seven turns. About 10 sailors were out.

Matanzas #photo

P1050107.JPG (603.98 KiB) Viewed 24903 times

Jen

Jen #photo

P1050077.JPG (757.36 KiB) Viewed 24903 times

Yesterday we tried Topocalma, this spot is fantastic, clean easy to catch peeling waves, offshore wind. Three other sailors joined us, as well as five surfers.

Ryan #photo

P1050249.JPG (629.58 KiB) Viewed 24903 times

Working on timing #photo

P1050326.JPG (527 KiB) Viewed 24903 times

Jen #photo

P1050230.JPG (682.4 KiB) Viewed 24903 times

Driving home after a great session. We rented the 4x4 so we could get to the Topocalma sailing spot. Definitely worth it.

Driving home #Photo

P1050345.JPG (757.09 KiB) Viewed 24903 times

[Alton]

Good call and beautiful waves.

[Michael]

Looks amazing! Thanks for posting, definitely on my list.

edit:

[gabrielb]

Chile must the the only remaining country in South America where you can sit down and relax at the beach.
Venezuela is very unsafe (most beautiful beaches up north, ridden with crime) , Colombia in the middle, Brazil too many weird insects with unknown diseases, but big on windsurfing. Peru's water, contamination at Lima's surfing spots. Argentina you must watch your gear or it will just vanish.
Ecuador is very cheap and safe (americans retire there), Chile is all coastline, not much crime.

You chose the right country to windsurf, medical system works too (just in case)

[Alton]

Chile must the the only remaining country in South America where you can sit down and relax at the beach.
Venezuela is very unsafe ...

Hope Mars remains safe. Never know when it becomes too touristy ...

[AdrienGrelon]

Those conditions look rad!! Enjoy.

[Ryan]

Thanks for the comments. Rural Chile is so relaxed and people are so friendly and helpful. For example we got a flat tire and the spare on our rental was flat too. The people who owned the Cabana's we were staying in drove us 30 km to and from a place to get the wheels fixed, and before that a bunch of the parks service staff spent an hour trying to pump the flat wheel. Even the dogs are friendly, six dogs decided to join us for a six km walk along the beach and through town.

Jen yesterday

Jen #photo

P1050359.JPG (699.27 KiB) Viewed 24800 times

Friendly dogs

#photo

Dogs.jpg (4.69 MiB) Viewed 24800 times

The Topocalma spot is at the far end of the bay in the picture below, the wind blows over the headland to the left of the high point. It's offshore.

Topocalma #photo

P1050347.JPG (698.68 KiB) Viewed 24800 times

Unfortunately we didn't get swell like that in Michael's video. Only around 3-6 foot according to magic seaweed which was correct since we got the occasional set of above head high coming through. In small conditions Topocalma is the spot, since Matanzas seems to need closer to six foot to work. If it's windy then Papuya for jumping. Another spot to go to is La Roca Quadrada if it's busy. If you want to get to Topocalma then a 4x4 is very helpful otherwise it's a 3km walk along soft sand to the launch spot.

One of the locals.

#photo

P1050397.JPG (754.22 KiB) Viewed 24800 times

[Faceplant]

Looks pretty sweet! Nice clean waves. Off shore is kind of sketchy but probably best for the DTL sailing I would imagine?

[C36]

...In small conditions Topocalma is the spot, since Matanzas seems to need closer to six foot to work. If it's windy then Papuya for jumping. Another spot to go to is La Roca Quadrada if it's busy. If you want to get to Topocalma then a 4x4 is very helpful otherwise it's a 3km walk along soft sand to the launch spot.

What an AWESOME adventure! Nice clean, playful-sized waves! Thanks for sharing!

Looking forward to seeing/hearing more as your adventure unfolds!

Whenever time permits, please share a more info on the trip.

Spots

• Must feel like South Africa - sailing the 'wrong way' (port wave riding)? Do you notice much of difference (port vs starboard)?
• Looks like Topocalma is about an hour and a half away south of Matanzas, correct?
• Looks like Roca Cuadrada is also in Matanzas, is it along the same beach or is La Roca Quadrada a different location?
• Can't seem to find Papuya?

Details

• It looks like you took your gear with you. What airline did you use?
• Where are you staying? Are you able to sail from the Cabana's where you are staying?
• If not, are there places where you can stay that are walking distance to the launch?
• If you were to go again, where would you stay?
• Did you have/need a rental car the whole time and upgraded to 4X4 for Topocalma?
• Approximate total cost?

Safe travels!

[Michael]

Unfortunately we didn't get swell like that in Michael's video.

Still looks amazing!! I think I would be more comfortable in conditions like you had. I'm sold... I think this might be the place I go to next fall. I was planning on a 2 week trip to San Carlos again but this place looks amazing. I was going to ask many of the same questions that Dave did but he beat me to it. How much longer are you staying?
Keep those photos coming!!