Surf Trip to Chicama, Peru

After our visit to São Paulo, Brazil, we headed to Peru to surf in Chicama. First, we spent a few days in Lima (which I wrote about in my last post: The Time We Got Stuck in Peru). Then we took a short ~1 hour flight to the tiny airport of Trujilo, followed by a ~30 minute taxi ride to Huanchaco.

We had a night to explore the little beach town and ended up eating yummy Thai food on a secluded rooftop.

In the morning, it was too foggy to surf (at least for us in a brand new place), so I went for a run and saw more of the village. Huanchaco is right on the beach. There was an outdoor gym:

And I saw many of these traditional reed boats that the fishermen still use today. Apparently these might have been some of the first vessels ever used for riding waves:

Later that morning, it was time for our ~40 minute taxi to Chicama. We stayed at the Chicama Boutique Hotel. I don’t think I’m revealing any surf spot secrets—Chicama is very well-known and the closest spots to surf were pretty crowded!

There are definitely cheaper options for places to stay, but the boutique hotel is right on the break and helps with arranging board rentals and boat trips. Plus, this was my first multi-day vacation of the year, and I was ready to relax in luxury!

The hotel was worth the splurge:

And the waves were 1,000% worth the expense for the boards and boat trips. Chicama’s wave is one of the longest in the world, so most people hire zodiac boats to pick them up and bring them out to the break. They picked us up and dropped us off so quickly that there was hardly any time to catch my breath and rest after each wave. Onto the next one!

I had a couple full 60-second rides—the longest of my life! It was a majorly welcome change from winter surfing in New Jersey.

It was like surfing on another planet. Take a look at this beauty:

We usually ate dinner at the hotel, because the drone photographers would show the video footage from earlier in the day. But we were happily surprised to find some other great food in the small town (like Burgers & Brownies, which is pretty self explanatory as to why we liked it!)

Unfortunately, we might have been too adventurous with eating out, because we ended up getting sick after a couple of days. I think the culprit was a ceviche lunch with some passionfruit juice that might have been made with water. We ended up with whatever the Peruvian version of Montezuma’s Revenge is.

My decadent breakfast turned into this:

Luckily, the worst part of the sickness only lasted for about 24 hours. And I had some extra time to explore the colorful town of Puerto Malabrigo while walking to the pharmacy.

Overall, the trip was completely worth it for the quality of waves in a beautiful setting. Some people dream for all of their lives of going to a place like Chicama. Even though I am still pretty new to surfing, I feel extremely grateful for the experience!

**It’s a privilege getting to surf in other countries. I make sure I’m covered with affordable and reliable travel medical insurance in case anything goes wrong. I choose SafetyWing because their Nomad Insurance policy covers activities, including surfing, in 185+ countries. To sign up, visit this link.

The Time We Got Stuck in Peru

Back in February, I lost my keys in the snow. One morning, it started snowing in New Jersey, so I walked Bailey up to the beach. We frolicked around the sand dunes, walked to the bay, and then went back to the house. Throughout the day, it snowed and sleeted about 12 inches, covering the roads in layers of wet snow and crunchy ice. Later that day, I reached into my coat pocket for my car keys, but they weren’t there.

I looked in all my pockets, my purse, the garage, the laundry basket, but they were nowhere to be found. At that point, I was pretty sure they’d fallen out of my pocket into the snow, and since a foot of snow and ice had dumped on top, there was no way to check. On top of that, I wasn’t exactly sure where they’d fallen out. I only knew they had to be somewhere in the .1 mile stretch between the bay and the ocean. I walked back and forth down the lane in the spitting snow, half-heartedly hoping to find them. I kept looking around the house, knowing full well they probably weren’t anywhere in there. My neighbor even kindly helped me shovel and check the driveway around my car. But still, no luck.

Oh, I should probably mention that I don’t have a spare key. My car never came with one. Of course, when I told my family members and neighbors that the keys were lost, they asked if I had a spare. Nope. Just the one, buried in the snow.

Over the next few days, the temperatures stayed below freezing. Our street turned to a thick sheet of ice. I slipped, skated, and crunched back and forth, searching for the keys. I started to give up the little bit of hope I had of finding them before spring, so I made some calls to explore my options. AAA wouldn’t come because of the wintry weather. The local locksmith couldn’t make a copy of the master key without reprogramming the system in the car. I finally called Toyota and learned it would be around $800-900 to reset the car and get a new master key. Yikes (my car is a 2016 Corolla)! My job is fully remote, and I didn’t feel compelled to drive around town on the ice rink, so I decided to wait and hope for a thaw.

The thaw never came, but my trip to South America was quickly approaching. I (maybe irresponsibly) decided to abandon the keys and the car for almost a month. I got a ride off the island and eventually to the airport, leaving all my troubles behind.

I already wrote about our stay in São Paulo in my last post so in this post, I’ll only talk about where we went after that… Peru!

Landing in Lima

We flew from São Paolo into Lima for a quick stop. I had visited the city about 10 years ago, and I was excited to return. It’s such a pretty city with amazing food and relaxing coastal paths.

We stayed in the Barranco neighborhood, with cliffs overlooking the ocean and a walkway for easy access down to the beach.

We ate at La Bodega Verde cafe multiple times for perfect patio seating and healthy breakfasts.

We went on an awesome food tour, where we learned about the history of the city and tasted local delicacies: tamales, pork sandwiches, yellow potatoes, tropical fruits, donuts, and the best, ceviche! Our arrival coincided with National Pisco Sour Day, so we celebrated that, too.

Apart from all the eating, we toured the city:

And took a day trip to the Palomino Islands to swim with sea lions:

I really recommend the visit to the Palomino Islands. The water is very cold due to the Humboldt current, but it was worth it to be so close to the sea lions. These particular sea lions are friendly and playful, so they come right up to you. You also get to see lots of little Humboldt penguins.

After our two lovely days in Lima (including watching the Super Bowl and seeing the Bad Bunny halftime show with lots of fans!), we flew to Trujillo and traveled on to Chicama. I will write about that part in my next post, because it was a separate surf trip, so stay tuned for that. The Lima airport has gotten an upgrade since the last time I was there:

Back to Lima

We spent four days in Huanchaco and Chicama, and then returned to Lima. It was Valentine’s Day, and we had the not-so-original idea to visit Love Park with just about every other person in the city! It was felt special though, with live music and dancing.

This time we stayed in the Miraflores neighborhood, which feels a little more central, but is also a high tourist area like Barranco. We stayed in a nice guesthouse that was off the beaten path and had a quiet patio for breakfast:

While we were staying at that guest house, I received some amazing news… my neighbor had found my car keys in the sand dunes during her beach walk! It felt like a miracle. That was a big weight lifted off my shoulders for when I returned home.

Punta Hermosa

Our next stop was a beach town about an hour south of Lima called Punta Hermosa. We spent the week working, surfing, and checking out the town. The weather was a little foggy, but it usually cleared up later in the day.

I almost don’t want to tell anyone where we stayed because I want to keep it a secret all to ourselves, but I will share because the hosts were so kind and helpful: Chino Surf House. It was simple, peaceful, and very close to the beach. I hope to return someday!

We got to hang out with Lua, the best house dog:

Back to Lima

After our week in Punta Hermosa, it was time to head back to Lima. This is when the trip started to get interesting (wink, wink). We were at a cooking class on Sunday, my “last day”, when I got a text from United that my flight had been canceled. I set my stress aside just long enough to make this delicious ceviche:

Later I found out that, due to all the snow back in New Jersey, I wouldn’t be able to leave until Friday. To be honest, I wasn’t heartbroken. That just meant more sunsets and more ceviche! Lima is pretty inexpensive when it comes to accommodation (we also had travel insurance to help with some of the costs), and I didn’t have anything important to hurry back for.

San Bartolo

The next day, Bryan’s flight also ended up getting canceled and rescheduled, so we added another stop to our itinerary. We opted to check out San Bartolo, another beach town that is just a little past Punta Hermosa. We weren’t as lucky with surfing as we were in Punta Hermosa. We didn’t bring our own boards to Peru, and we couldn’t find anywhere close enough to rent them (we didn’t have a rental car).

We stayed at Kauhuhu Casa Hotel, which was really nice, and we dined out at lots of outdoor restaurants all over town. Overall, the town was much quieter than Punta Hermosa with not as much going on at night, but I’m glad we stayed there for the experience.

Back to Lima (last stop!)

Would you believe we went back to Lima one more time? It really is a very easy and livable city. I was sad to leave and return back to winter, but I knew it wouldn’t be too long until the next adventure.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Know that the moral of this story is to leave all your troubles behind and get to South America… everything else will work itself out as you go! And yes, we did eventually make it home and my car keys still worked—even the buttons.

**It’s a privilege getting to surf in other countries. I make sure I’m covered with affordable and reliable travel medical insurance in case anything goes wrong. I choose SafetyWing because their Nomad Insurance policy covers activities, including surfing, in 185+ countries. To sign up, visit this link.

New Zealand Road Trip: Raglan

Before setting off on this trip, we agreed that it wasn’t a surf trip but more of an adventure trip with some surfing along the way. However, we did bring our boards around the world, so we were hoping for some surf. After we made our way around Northland (the northern region of New Zealand’s north island), we headed down to Raglan on the coast.

There weren’t many (or any?) free camping areas in Raglan, so we paid to stay in this big field with bathrooms and showers. It was windy, cold, and rainy the night we arrived, but the next day turned out nice.

The drive out and down a winding hill to the ocean was beautiful. And there were certainly waves that day.

I didn’t take any photos of the actual surf spot, but it was a point break with a long paddle that tested the limits of my comfort zone. I decided to paddle out to see if I felt like being brave enough to go for any waves.

It turns out, I was not brave enough since with point breaks you usually have to start at the most powerful peak of the wave, which is usually also crowded with the best surfers. I lingered on the side hoping for the leftovers if someone fell off early or missed a wave. But, I was a little too timid, so I watched from the sidelines. Then the waves started getting bigger, so it was time to head back in. Bryan and I tried to paddle in, but we were fighting hard against the channel. The only way to get in was to catch a wave, so I caught a huge one and rode it on my belly all the way in.

Whew! I’ll need to work on my point break courage, but there was a debatably well-earned van shower and brunch at Orca Eatery. I also tried NZ’s delicious Hokey Pokey ice cream for the first time. That’s a new favorite.

**It’s always a privilege getting to surf in other countries. I make sure I’m always covered with affordable and reliable travel medical insurance in case anything goes wrong. I choose SafetyWing because their Nomad Insurance policy covers activities, including surfing, in 185+ countries. To sign up, visit this link.

New Zealand Road Trip: Spirits Bay

Our next stop was my favorite camping spot of the trip. We left Whangarei and drove almost all the way to the northern tip of the north island, Spirits Bay.

It was so picturesque, with horses roaming on the hillside and a short walk to the ocean. We parked our camper van in a field and walked to the beach just in time for sunset.

I wish we had unpacked our boards a little sooner, because the waves were perfect that evening. But they were still wrapped in cardboard and plastic wrap to protect them through the flights. We waited to surf the next morning when it was windier and the waves weren’t as good.

But we still paddled out and had some fun. Then we made a nice breakfast with perfect weather and a perfect view, so I really can’t complain.

I would 100% recommend staying longer than just one night in this magical place. But we only had a couple weeks with so much to see and do, so we headed off that afternoon for our next stop.

Spirits Bay, I hope I get to see you again someday!

Work Trip & Wave Pool in Melbourne

Earlier this year, I started a new job. When I was applying, I knew there was a strong chance of some international travel, so when they asked me to go manage an event in Melbourne, Australia, I was excited to say yes! It would be my first visit back to Australia since I did a working holiday visa back in 2019-2020.

I decided to make a whole workaction out of it. I would fly to Melbourne to work the conference, visit my friend Mike in Sydney, and then meet Bryan in New Zealand for actual vacation. I carefully selected my flights and packed my bags.

Of course, the morning I was set to fly out, I woke up to a text message that my flights were rerouted, adding an extra stop and landing me in Melbourne only a few hours before the event. I frantically rescheduled everything and, luckily, found a better flight out. I was on my way!

After many long hours of flying, with a brief stop in San Francisco to stretch my legs, I landed in Melbourne. Our hotel was in the Central Business District to stay in walking distance to the event, so I took the airport SkyBus to the CBD. My first priority was coffee, Australia’s specialty. I needed a flat white, and Come Back to Earth Coffee did the trick. Apparently my second priority was a donut, but I didn’t know it until I walked past the window of FOC Melbourne and felt the call to step inside. It was yummy!

After that breakfast, my third priority was a quick workout in the hotel gym. Then it was time for a bit of work. My boss and I met up with our Australian partners at the Melbourne Convention Center to check out the venue. All was in order and looking good, so we’d have the afternoon free to roam… and it was Sunday for goodness’ sake!

The weather was perfect and the walk to the convention center was right along the river:

I was hoping to have the afternoon off, because I had big plans in mind. I’d been dreaming of booking a surf session at the fancy wave pool, URBNSURF. I’d never tried a wave pool before, so I didn’t know what to expect. Since I didn’t really know what I was doing and I’m not the world’s greatest surfer, I booked a lesson so that I would get a board and wetsuit included and hopefully wouldn’t get in anyone’s way. But first, food! I grabbed a quick snack from Onigiri To Go on Degraves Street, a street with a lot of cute little restaurants and shops, then I took an Uber back out towards the airport to URBNSURF.

The wave pool was magical. The check in process was seamless, and the staff were all very friendly to help me get set up with equipment and check in for the lesson. And as much as I enjoy the natural appeal of changing into my wetsuit in surf spot parking lots, it was pretty nice to have a changing room with showers for before and after. There were also lockers and water coolers nearby.

The wave pool produces waves at different levels and styles according to a schedule that varies throughout the day. I signed up for the easiest waves (cruiser) and the next level up from beginner lesson (beginner progressive). It ended up being a little below my level, but I caught tons of great waves and had a blast. The coach was really helpful, and it was probably better for my jet lag to lean toward an easier session. The sun was shining the whole time! I didn’t need booties and some people weren’t even wearing wetsuits.

I headed back to the hotel and got some tasty indian takeout for dinner (Me & Yogi Indian Kitchen). I didn’t take a picture, but here’s some street art near our hotel:

After that, it was full-on work mode, with conference events from sun up to sun down for the next two days, followed by work dinners at night. We did have a nice Thai meal at BangPop and enjoyed the evening walks back to the hotel along the river.

Once the work was done, my next stop would be Sydney…

Recap: Portugal, Spain, France Surf & Road Trip

We’re back in New Jersey now, so I have more time to recap our whole trip. We spent six weeks in July and August 2025 traversing the coast of Portugal, parts of Spain, and a quick dip into France. This was technically a “surf trip” in that we brought surfboards, but we weren’t expecting much for waves in Europe in the summer. We were pleasantly surprised! Most of the spots we found had at least a little bit of surf. Sometimes the wind was strong, but we made it work and were pretty happy with what we got.

We divided the trip into two parts, because our credit card rental car insurance has a max of 31 days, so we knew we would need to come back to Lisbon mid trip. That worked out well, and I would highly recommend either of these road trip routes. I think you would need a full month to do the first part. We spent 2-3 nights in each place, and we definitely could have spent longer, but I don’t think we could’ve done it in any less time and still enjoyed ourselves the same. We’ve determined that three nights is the ideal minimum stay to truly enjoy a place when you’re road tripping around. The second part of the trip on the southern coast of Portugal could probably be done in any amount of time. It’s a beautiful place, but I’m not sure if we would go back again in August, if given the choice, because of the crowds.

Here’s a list of the places we stopped and stayed:

Part One:

• Ericeira

• Peniche/Baleal

• Nazaré & Praia de Mira

• Porto

• Salinas

• San Sebastian & Zarautz

• Bordeaux & Saint-Émilion

• Capbreton

• Salamanca

• Cascais

Part Two:

• Aljezur

• Sagres

• Burgau & Praia da Luz

• Alvor

• Vila Nova de Milfontes

• Lisbon

And a map of the whole route:

Some other details: We flew in and out of Lisbon airport on American Airlines, and we luckily didn’t have any trouble with the boards in a 7’6” board bag that actually measured a bit too long for their baggage limits. We worked remotely the entire time, and the only place we ran into any issues with wifi was in Alvor, which is pretty deep into the Algarve region.

Overall, it was a lot of driving and moving around, but I’m so glad we did it the way we did. We really got to see some amazing places, and it was a perfect mix of surf, nature, and culture. It was a really nice trip and one that will provide great memories for many years to come!

Thanks for following along on the journey.

Namaste,

Cori

**It’s always a privilege getting to surf in other countries. I make sure I’m always covered with affordable and reliable travel medical insurance in case anything goes wrong. I choose SafetyWing because their Nomad Insurance policy covers activities, including surfing, in 185+ countries. To sign up, visit this link.

Chasing Waves in Capbreton

The only thing better than France in a city, like Paris or Bordeaux, is France with a beach! Our next stop on this Portugal, Spain, and France road trip was Capbreton. It ended up being a favorite for both of us.

We stayed for three nights and surfed at Santocha bay. The surf was very crowded, but one day was clean and fun, and I managed to catch a perfect wave between the crowds.

The break was really neat because there are leftover WWII bunkers on the beach. On the last day, my leash broke while paddling out, so I got the feeling of arriving on shore like I was going to war.

Capbreton was probably the best place to break a leash, because there are a ton of surf shops near Hossegor, including the coolest one I’ve ever seen, with its own coffee and barber shop and a revolving display of boards:

The town was also really lovely. Our guesthouse (a slightly grown up hostel with private rooms and friendly owners) backed up to the main street with a summer night market. We walked along the river into town for dinners and to the beach.

We found a healthy vegan restaurant (Monkey Mood) and a yummy fish fry (SO’FISH).

On our last night, we ate a massive bowl of mussels at a beachfront restaurant (Nina Cafe) and I forgot to take a photo, but the view was impeccable:

We got our fix of American-style breakfast tacos & burritos at the Pacific Coast Cafe in Hossegor, and on our last day I got another taste of my favorite pastry. I think I might try my hand at making them when I get home.

As we were heading out, I popped my head into the cutest bookstore and cafe in town.

We were sad to leave France, but our time in Capbreton was both memorable and delicious!

**It’s always a privilege getting to surf in other countries. I make sure I’m always covered with affordable and reliable travel medical insurance in case anything goes wrong. I choose SafetyWing because their Nomad Insurance policy covers activities, including surfing, in 185+ countries. To sign up, visit this link.

Portugal Road Trip: Peniche

On our last night in Ericeira, we overlapped with their Portuguese Surf Film Festival. It was a really nice event, with a blue carpet, artwork from local artists, and some free food and drinks. We enjoyed the first film, about a surf trip from France to Senegal. The second one was a miss for us, but the event overall was great to see. It seemed like everyone in the town came out to participate.

Our next stop was another surfing hotspot, about an hour north, near the Peniche Peninsula. We decided to stay in the nearby Baleal area for quieter crowds, though of course everywhere was still busy as can be expected in Europe in August.

We found another lovely guest house (with a private bath and balcony this time!) and spent the weekend looking for waves, watching sunsets, and eating fresh pasteis de nata pastries every morning.

I surprised myself by catching some good waves at Supertubos, which is a pretty quick and steep wave. Lucky for me it was very small when we were there.

We were also celebrating the third anniversary of our first date! We enjoyed a bottle of wine out on the beach at sunset while we waited for our table. Then we had a delicious meal of steak and fish in a small Portuguese restaurant (Taberna do Ganhao). It was the perfect place for a special occasion!

There were even more spots to explore! With the wind and conditions, we hardly scratched the surface. But Portugal continued to deliver fun waves, amazing meals, and beautiful views.

**It’s always a privilege getting to surf in other countries. I make sure I’m always covered with affordable and reliable travel medical insurance in case anything goes wrong. I choose SafetyWing because their Nomad Insurance policy covers activities, including surfing, in 185+ countries. To sign up, visit this link.

A Month in Avellanas, Costa Rica

Hi there! Nice to see you here in 2025. I haven’t written much lately, but I still like to use this blog to document my travels, so it’s time to catch up…

We spent the months of July and August in Avellanas, Costa Rica. It’s a tiny town with dirt roads where the main thing to do is surf! It was the rainy season, so the first two weeks of July were a bit wet. It actually didn’t rain so much later in the month and in August. We were able to explore quite a bit. 

We rented an Airbnb with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a little space to work:

We enjoyed the ~2-minute walk to the beach every morning to catch some waves. We surfed just about every day of the month. I finally started to actually get the hang of it.

After surfing, we’d come back to the Airbnb to eat breakfast and work remotely. At night, there were a few restaurants in Avellanas to try. We ate a lot of wood-fired pizza at Il Rustico and típicos, the traditional Costa Rican meal – your choice of meat, rice and beans, salad, and sweet plantains – just about everywhere. Our big ventures out were to nearby Tamarindo, which is a bit more of a bustling town.

It was a peaceful month. I loved see new parts of nature—bright blue and green butterflies and colorful crabs.

Bailey was more into the monkeys.

Since it was the rainy season, there weren’t too many sunsets, but the ones we saw were pretty magnificent. Especially this one on a walk through the mangroves:

Overall, it was a beautiful, quiet month. Nice to take it slow and appreciate the connection to nature. I can see why so many people have fallen in love with Costa Rica!

Braving the Sea

I have to admit, of all the activities on the trip, surfing was the one I was looking forward to the least. Growing up, I always wanted to be a surfer chick, back when I was shopping at Pacific Sunwear and wearing puka shell necklaces. Then I got older and actually tried a lesson. Turns out, surfing was way harder than it looked on TV! It wasn’t as easy as snowboarding, which I’d picked up in about a day or two. Surfing hurt. The first lesson I took was on a real fiberglass board, so I ended up with a lot of scratches and bumps from getting tumbled around underwater. Oh well, I’d just have to choose another life path besides surfing.

Another issue: when I was younger, I liked swimming in the ocean. I’d body surf and boogie board without any concerns for safety, but somewhere along the way, I lost that fearlessness and began to prefer staying closer the shore. Sometimes I’ll swim out farther, but I’m usually very cautious to go underneath the waves and, when it’s time to come in, I’ll swim or walk quickly to shore without letting any of them interfere.

I left for El Salvador feeling excited about the yoga and the waterfall jumping but pretty half-hearted about the prospect of catching waves. I thought might be able to stand up once or twice, but I probably wasn’t going to enjoy it. I was teaching on the retreat, though, so of course I would still join in and set a good example.

Two days later, we were lined up on the beach getting our first lesson from Marcelo, the founder of Puro Surf and the head instructor of their Academy Program. He led us in a breathing and stretching warmup that felt a lot like yoga. He broke down each of the steps in a simple way that we could repeat every time.

Something about his instruction must have stuck with us, because we all stood up in the water on the first day, and the next, and the next. The ocean was crazy warm, and the waves were small but powerful—perfectly manageable for beginners, which the majority of us were. By day three, I was really getting the hang of it. I noticed that when I was out in the water, I didn’t think about anything else besides reading the wave, feeling it push me, and following the steps to get up onto the board. My mind felt completely clear for the first time in a while. Surfing was a lot like yoga.

If the weather was sketchy or the waves too big, we would have our instruction in the hotel gym, just to make sure we were prepared for what we would see on the beach. One day, we even learned how to turn by riding skateboards outside the gym. I certainly never expected that at 31 years old I’d be rolling around a skatepark in El Salvador, but I guess there’s a time and a place for everything.

By the end of the trip, I had fallen in love with surfing. I wasn’t getting tumbled as often as the first two days, but I liked Marcelo’s main message. We were all going to get tumbled by the ocean at some point, so we had two choices. Choice number one: freak out! Choice number two: relax, stay calm, enjoy a little massage, and keep surfing. You can guess which option we all chose.