Water Sports

Which surfboard the El Paredón shorebreak forgives:

not many, at first. The coast from Sipacate to Champerico is beach break over volcanic sand, heavy when a south swell arrives and closing out on the shore. A beginner belongs on a long soft top, which floats, paddles easily and does not hurt when it hits you; instructors on that coast say the commonest mistake is leaving it too soon. Next comes a funboard or mid-length with the volume to catch waves early. A hard shortboard only pays off once you can duck-dive through the shorebreak instead of being sent back up the beach. Boards are under surfing, with kites for the dry-season wind at Sipacate under kitesurfing.

Kayaks and paddle boards on Atitlán before the Xocomil:

the lake is glass at sunrise, and from around midday the Xocomil can raise waves that swamp a kayak or tip a paddler off a board. A sit-on-top kayak is the lake standard: it drains through its scupper holes, you can climb back on after a capsize, and it carries a dry bag over to Santa Cruz La Laguna. A sit-in kayak tracks straighter and keeps you drier, but it is harder to empty in chop and suits the sheltered water of Río Dulce better. Both are under kayaking. An inflatable stand up paddle board rolls into a bag that fits in a car boot or on a lake water taxi, which a rigid board never will, though it rides slower and bendier in wind. The lake is dived too, and at that altitude a dive computer must be set for it, which not every entry model allows. Masks, snorkels and fins are easy second-hand buys under diving and snorkeling; a used regulator should see a technician before it sees water.

Hiring a board by the week against owning one:

surfboard hire in the Pacific surf villages runs around Q150 a day or Q750 a week, and that is the figure to hold a used board’s asking price against. A regular who drives down most months is riding whatever the rack has left, and a second-hand funboard with sealed repairs soon costs less than the hire. Soft tops lose value fastest, because learner boards come back with torn deck skin and bent fins; a sound hard board holds its price until someone has to explain a crease.

Reading the dings on a second-hand surfboard:

sight along the stringer for a crease, the mark of a board that has buckled and will snap there next time. Press the deck where the feet go: soft, sunken patches mean the foam underneath has given up. Brown stains under the glass mark an old ding that let water in before it was sealed. Check the fin boxes for cracks and look for blisters on a deck left lying on hot black sand or in a parked car. On a plastic kayak, look for deep gouges along the keel, cracks round the scupper holes and seat fittings, and chalky plastic from years in the sun. On an inflatable board, run a hand along the rail seams, check the valve and the bonded handles, and pump it up together when you meet.

Litres, fin boxes and an early meeting on the sand:

give the length, width and thickness written on the board and its volume in litres, since buyers choose on volume against body weight. Say which fin system it takes and whether fins come with it, list every repair, and photograph the deck, the bottom, both rails, the nose and the tail. A paddle board is a hard sell without its pump and leash. Anyone coming down to El Paredón to collect a board will want to paddle it out at first light while the wind is still offshore, so offer to meet early with the board waxed and the leash on.