Hey folks! Because we got so much positive feedback from our blogging from our South Africa trip we are super inspired to get back to it. We hope you are excited too.
We just returned from another amazing stay in Mexico. Last year we did a big impact in San Agustin but this year we wanted to do something bigger, with more kids. This year we chose the bustling town of Puerto Escondido, home of the world famous Mexican Pipeline and the most famous Mexican surfer on the planet, Coco Nogales. Coco is a larger than life kind of guy, humble, has an enormous heart and a amazing childhood story who makes him the man he is today. Check out the Surfer Magazine article here.
As we were in South Africa I realized I hadn’t organized anyone to accompany me on the trip. We always have a minimum of two people on the trip to help transport the boards, film and help out where needed during our events. I started brainstorming and thought of Nicholas Mohnacky, founder of Surfr App, an app designed to log your surf sessions and highlight areas of social need. I asked him to accompany me and he quickly responded with a yes!
The beginning of our trip got started off on the wrong foot, so to speak. Since South Africa I had been planning around leaving for Mexico on Thursday the 7th. I had everything wired for the trip…get cash Wednesday, pack up the boards Wednesday and finish up last minute details Wednesday. When I woke up Wednesday morning at 6:15am I saw texts and calls from Nick. When I saw all of the pings my heart sunk. Before I called him I checked my ticket and quickly realized that I had the day wrong. I had missed the flight. I was devastated. This had never happened before and a sure sign that I have been juggling too many things. Nick made his way to Mexico without me while I changed tickets and car rental info so that he would be settled when he landed. I bought a new ticket to Mexico for the next day and went on with my day accordingly doing all the planning I had intended to do:)
The next morning I woke up to a text from Nicholas stating that he had misplaced the rental car key. Based on the previous days events, this was par for the course:) I was certain the key would turn up. More on that later.
After three plane rides and a shuttle later I had arrived in balmy, Puerto Escondido. I got my room for the night settled and threw the boardbags in the room and went out to the beach to see what the waves were doing and just like Puerto Escondido, it was doing it’s thing…it was pumping. Nick and I caught up, grabbed a bite to eat and contemplated the key situation hoping it would magically appear. After dinner I was exhausted from traveling and called it a day.
The next morn we woke up and grabbed a coffee and sat on the beach watching perfect cylinders roll through with riders tucked inside jumbo tubes.
Last year when we were here it was pretty small so it was unreal seeing a tiny glimpse of what Puerto can do. After we finished the coffee we decided to get a locksmith (or some dude with a slim jim) and handle the car. We were hoping that the keys would be found in the car once we got in. We weren’t that lucky. The care project went on hold for a bit.
We ended up running into Coco and he drove us to his house where we would stay for the rest of the trip. We drove around running errands and finishing up the last minute details of the event. While we waited at the banner shop for the guy to finish we talked about the schedule for the event. First up was to have the AHAVA Project (the meaning of AHAVA is love and water) introduction at the Olas Altas Hotel at 5pm that night.
Finally it was time to meet the kids. We showed up and most of them were already there, eagerly awaiting kicking off the AHAVA Project. 
The event was started off by showing a little edit about Coco Nogales’ story. Coco had not yet arrived at this point. We showed a couple more short films of Coco surfing death defying waves. Just watching the films and the waves he would catch made my heart literally race. 
At last, Coco made his grand appearance and the kids were pumped to see this big-wave charger in their presence. Coco introduced himself and talked about the purpose of the event and how it will all shake out. We had 28 kids show up from various areas close to Puerto Escondido. Some from the point, some from Carizallilo and some from as far away as San Agustin, the place we impacted last year. Coco invited each kid to come up to the front of the room and tell everyone who they are, what age they are and where they are from. It was so cool to hear some of them be so loud and confident and then some kids who would barely look up and you could barely hear. After all the intro’s we all broke up and agreed to meet at the point at 7am the following day.
The next morning came super fast. Again, the kids were there and stoked when we arrived. We all walked over to the event area together and quickly got started.
Coco had them all huddle up in a big arc so that they could all see and be seen. He talked mostly about what it takes in life to have what you want. For most of these kids it is to become a surf professional so all his talks were geared towards that and the discipline it takes to have that happen. The kids were intently listening.
As I was standing watching I noticed two men walking up. Instantly I recognized one of them to be Bob Hurley, founder of the surfing lifestyle brand, Hurley. This was a very cool moment for many reasons but really neat because I had just watched a little edit on Surfline about Bob’s story and how his life unfolded. Check it out here( make sure to click the bottom called The Ripple Effect). It was also cool for him to be showing up at our event to get a glimpse of the good work we are doing. After I had seen the film about him I thought to myself what an amazing guy and amazing story! Bob and Coco have been friends for many years and Hurley has been one of Coco’s sponsors since the beginning. After all my excitement it was time for the kids to take a little break.
After the break Coco talked about physical fitness and the demands the waves can have on your body. For Coco it is imperative to be physically fit when tackling the monster waves he does. For him, training is constant and critical. He showed the kids some of the exercises that are optimal for surfing. They started out stretching and warming up the body before they went for a long run.
After the exercising the kids were sent out for a surf session with Coco to show off their skills. Some of them were very good surfers. Some had less experience. While all the surfing was going on all the boards had been driven to the beach. We secretly went while they were in the water so they wouldn’t see us bring the boards over. We wanted it to be a surprise that they would be receiving boards. After we got the boards brought over I paddled out to tell Coco we were all set. He motioned everyone in so we paddled in.
We had the kids form a line to help facilitate an easy process to get each kid their board, wax, hat and traction pad. I would watch as each kid was told to come up front, this big smile would appear on their faces. It was hard for them to hide the excitement of getting a new board. 
And what could be better than getting a new board? Surfing it! Coco took all the kids out again on their new boards. Some of them stayed on the inside while some of them paddled to the outside to catch the bombs. I was out in the water with them while they were shredding their new sticks. It was so cool! There was crazy energy in the water. When you are surrounded by kids who are pursuing the sport you love so much-there is no better moment because you know exactly what is possible if they stay off the streets and drugs and make surfing a priority. It will be endless gifts for them if they follow their surfing dreams.
We finished the day off by doing interviews with all the kids and then Coco and a few of the dads said a few words about how important this day was and how important surfing is. Boom! Just like that it was a wrap. All the kids filtered out and we took off to clean up before a big lunch. We also picked up a fresh, hot off the print, new key for our car since the rental company claimed they didn’t have a spare. Yep, we had to have a new key $printed$. At least the key drama was over. The rest of the day was spent over at La Punta surfing with Bob, Bob’s brother Bill, Coco and Nick. As I was sitting inside waiting for a wave I saw Nick go for a bigger one on the outside and have a nasty wipeout. I knew there were rocks over there but I didn’t think he was that close. I saw him paddling over and when he came close enough I could see a little blood on his face. Nothing major. He said he was gonna go in and assess the damage. I kept surfing. I thought for sure he would return and join me for more waves but he never did. When I walked up to the car I saw he had taken more of a nasty wipeout than I had thought. There was a big thrashing on his chest…didn’t look too good.
The rest of the trip went by fast. We spent it surfing, filming, eating and relaxing with Coco and his crew.
Our last lunch in Puerto was accompanied by none other that Bob Hurley and his brother Bill. It was an epic end to an epic trip. Thank you Mexico and Coco Nogales for always taking great care of us. And like every trip it was full of adventure, obstacles and pure stoke!
Next stop-Nicaragua!
After that we headed back to the cabana to get some sleep. While we were winding down we noticed some scorpions in our room. This didn’t sit well. And with the fact that our fan wasn’t working properly we decided to sleep in the car. Yeah, yeah I know that seems crazy but with being in the middle of nowhere we decided getting stung by scorpions would not pan out too well. It was a long, hot night.
While we were there we learned that this place used to be a super hot spot. They actually had a Rip Curl event here in 2006 and didn’t name the location, instead said “somewhere in Mexico”. Between some hurricanes and the people diverting the river so they could put a restaurant on the beach, the sand shifted and it hasn’t been barreling in years. It was still certainly good enough for all of us to have a field day on the right hand point.
We love that they have chosen surfing and they are good surfers. They absolutely rip, even the tiny tots. I guess when you have perfect waves in your backyard it is fairly easy to be a solid surfer.
They were riding massive guns and a few were towing in. It was heavy. You could literally feel the waves through your body when they detonated on the shore. Just watching it do its thing made my heart race. It was a sight to see. Soon enough we rushed back to the airport to make our flight and were home with loved ones with new tales to tell.
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