Cabo Blanco, Peru
Encyclopedia
Cabo Blanco is a fishing village in northwestern Peru
, 3 km northwest from El Alto, Talara
, Piura
. It was famous in the past among big-game fishermen and today is a noted surf break. The village takes its name from the light coloured nearby mountains.
In the 1950s and 1960s, fishermen traveled to Cabo Blanco to hunt big marlin
. Ernest Hemingway
caught a 700 pound marlin while filming the motion picture based on his novel , The Old Man and the Sea
. In 1953, Alfred Glassell Jr. caught the IGFA all tackle world record black marlin, weighing 1560 pounds.
In 1979, Peruvian surfer Gordo Barreda
discovered the wave when he visited the village to check the surf in the area. The wave is a hollow powerful left and is reckoned the "Peruvian Pipeline", referring of course to the Banzai Pipeline
in Hawaii
. Swell from Hawaii does in fact go on to reach Peru; in the 1990s the best way to get a surf forecast was to phone Hawaii and whatever swell they had would arrive about 5 days later.
The wave breaks over sand and rock, with the sand building up through summer and being washed away progressively by winter swells. The wave inspires a kind of fanaticism among surfers. Although there are only about 20 locals, crowds of surfers are drawn to the wave from Lima
(700 kilometres south), and from around the world. With modern swell forecasts and the internet, it's easy to know when swell is on the way, and the surfers once there all pack into a single tight takeoff zone, despite other waves elsewhere in the area.
A concrete pier was built for local fishermen a few years ago, replacing a wooden one which was between Cabo and Panic Point and was destroyed by the sea. The proposal had been to build it right through the takeoff zone of the Cabo wave, ruining the wave, but also being a difficult place to build. Sanity prevailed, and the pier was built about 150 metres north, but it still chops off the tail end of the ride.
Cabo Blanco was used as the location of the film "Undertow" ("Contracorriente")
, directed by Javier Fuentes-León. The movie was released in 2010.
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, 3 km northwest from El Alto, Talara
Talara Province
Talara is a province in the Piura Region, Peru. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Paita Province on the south, the Sullana Province on the east and the Tumbes Region's Contralmirante Villar Province on the north. Its capital is the major port city of Talara...
, Piura
Piura Region
Piura is a coastal region in northwestern Peru. The region's capital is Piura and its largest port cities, Paita and Talara, are also among the most important in Peru...
. It was famous in the past among big-game fishermen and today is a noted surf break. The village takes its name from the light coloured nearby mountains.
In the 1950s and 1960s, fishermen traveled to Cabo Blanco to hunt big marlin
Marlin
Marlin, family Istiophoridae, are fish with an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long rigid dorsal fin, which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to derive from its resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike...
. Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
caught a 700 pound marlin while filming the motion picture based on his novel , The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who...
. In 1953, Alfred Glassell Jr. caught the IGFA all tackle world record black marlin, weighing 1560 pounds.
In 1979, Peruvian surfer Gordo Barreda
Sergio Barreda
Sergio Barreda , known as Gordo Barreda, was a Peruvian surfer and surfboard shaper. He was a 4-time Peruvian national champion and competed internationally one of the most important was the Duke in Hawaii, and was one of Peru's first shapers...
discovered the wave when he visited the village to check the surf in the area. The wave is a hollow powerful left and is reckoned the "Peruvian Pipeline", referring of course to the Banzai Pipeline
Banzai Pipeline
The Banzai Pipeline, or simply "Pipeline" or "Pipe," is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a reef...
in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Swell from Hawaii does in fact go on to reach Peru; in the 1990s the best way to get a surf forecast was to phone Hawaii and whatever swell they had would arrive about 5 days later.
The wave breaks over sand and rock, with the sand building up through summer and being washed away progressively by winter swells. The wave inspires a kind of fanaticism among surfers. Although there are only about 20 locals, crowds of surfers are drawn to the wave from Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
(700 kilometres south), and from around the world. With modern swell forecasts and the internet, it's easy to know when swell is on the way, and the surfers once there all pack into a single tight takeoff zone, despite other waves elsewhere in the area.
A concrete pier was built for local fishermen a few years ago, replacing a wooden one which was between Cabo and Panic Point and was destroyed by the sea. The proposal had been to build it right through the takeoff zone of the Cabo wave, ruining the wave, but also being a difficult place to build. Sanity prevailed, and the pier was built about 150 metres north, but it still chops off the tail end of the ride.
Cabo Blanco was used as the location of the film "Undertow" ("Contracorriente")
Undertow (2009 film)
Undertow is a 2009 Peruvian drama film directed by Javier Fuentes-León. The film won the prestigious World Cinema Audience Award in the Dramatic category at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival...
, directed by Javier Fuentes-León. The movie was released in 2010.