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Oaxaca Dreams

by: Jeff Shapiro

By KAVU

June 7^th, 2022

Some of the best plans are the ones that happen "last minute".

Being super dedicated to working on my surfing over the last year (like, frothing.... all the time;-), I was sharing some stories and positive energy with my friend Jef Field. Jef is a lifelong surfer who I'd met when he came down to Colombia to work on his XC paragliding skills during a few of our Eagle Paragliding tours. While sharing the stoke on the phone, he told me that he was looking into a potential building project in the state of Oaxaca and that the waves were no less than epic. A quick scan at the swell report and.... it was on! He needed to get back down there and was up for trying to get some time in the water. And, I of course offered up my support of that plan and told him I'd be willing to come down to supervise;-)

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

He was gracious and I was grateful!

Luckily for me, Jef has some amazingly kind and generous friends who had offered up an opportunity to rent their space during our short trip. It was an absolutely beautiful condo and for a guy who never minds sleeping on the beach, I felt like I was on a dream trip, for sure! Respect and gratitude for the privilege to stay there is an understatement.

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

We flew into the town of Huatulco, in the free and sovereign State of Oaxaca. The town has a central square that was bustling well into each night. Like many town centers in Mexico, it was full of color, sound and great people. We enjoyed walking around and chatting with locals during the cool(er) part of each day. It was close to 100 F while we were there and at times, it was hard to escape the sun. Having good sun protection for our skin, and our eyes was key, but the ocean was like bathwater and getting to surf in board shorts and a rash guard felt a far cry from the 5/4 hooded wetsuit, booties and gloves I have to wear at home on the Oregon coast! Blissing out!!

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

We went to the well known and glorious right point breaks at Barra de la Cruz, and San Deigo's and the water was filled with good vibes and enough perfectly peeling waves for everyone. The swell, while we were there, was about as big as that place can handle but.... still fun and on one day during the middle of the trip, we had one of the top 3 best days of surfing in my life. Truly epic.

After that particular day, we went to a local restaurant to unwind and refuel. While eating and enjoying a frozen Margarita, we heard a couple on the beach start to yell. I looked off the upper deck where we were seated to see what the commotion was about and saw a man, floating face down in the shore break. It looked like a woman and another younger guy were trying to get him to shore but kept losing him in the surf. People were standing on the beach watching but not helping. Jef and I ran down the stairs, out the back gate and while running down the sand, I handed Jef my wallet and phone (he had shoes on) and jumped in. The guy was lathered in sun screen and was quite slippery (no wonder they kept losing him in the swell) but, I managed to flip him over and saw that he was not breathing, very gray in color and eyes-wide-open. Honestly, I thought he was dead and gone.

With the help of another local guy who was skim boarding close by, we got him out of the water and onto the beach while Jef pounded on his back. To my surprise, the man began gagging, coughing and vomiting huge amounts of sea water, foam and some blood. We laid him on his side to protect his airway and wrapped him in towels to help with shock. Jef is a physician and was doing his best to get the guy to continue coughing up as much of the ocean as he could since, his lungs had some obvious trauma. The local EMT's were called and while waiting, his color slowly came back and he even managed a "thumbs-up" and a Graçias which made me think that it was likely he would fully recover. When the EMT's arrived, we walked back up the beach with a few smiles and fist bumps from locals, back up the stairs, through the gate and up to the deck level to our still-hot dinners. Taking a deep breath, it was a good reminder that lives can change quickly and to be grateful for here and now. We both ordered another Margarita;-)

Oaxaca Dreams

In what felt like a "way-too-short" amount of time passed, I said goodby to Jef and boarded my flight back to the States. Continuing my process as a surfer and experiencing life "eyes-wide-open" was my goal. I always try to leave expectation behind but, if there were any on this trip, they were exceeded. Huge thanks to Jef for a rad trip! I learned a lot, as always!

Oaxaca Dreams

Oaxaca Dreams

Footnotes

Jeff Shapiro is KAVU's team fun-haver captain and does his best to live in the present, spread good vibes and continue learning #localworldwide

FootNotes

Jeff Shapiro is KAVU's team fun-haver captain and does his best to live in the present, spread good vibes and continue learning #localworldwide

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