Arica, Chile
Peruvian and Chilean surfers have had El Gringo to themselves since the 70s (though back then the boards did not allow them to surf it), but in 2007 the Rip Curl Search came to town and the surfing world soon learned of the cold water power awaiting those willing to travel.
El Gringo is a powerful A-frame breaking over foreboding black rocks. Locals refer to it as the Chilean Pipeline. It breaks with the same intensity and life threatening power as its Hawaiian namesake, just without the crowds and in cold, cold water.
Like Pipe, the left is the main wave. It’s an almost vertical take-off, then a solid bottom turn to set up for a gaping, fast tube. Get this place wired and tube time is assured. The right off the same peak can handle more size but is not considered as good a wave.
Getting into the line-up at El Gringo can be sketchy. It involves standing on a rock in front of the breaking wave, waiting for the calm between explosions, then paddling like mad, duck diving over shallow reef. Alternately, there is the long way around, paddling out to the right and back towards the take-off.
For the not so brave El Gringo is still a spectacle worth visiting. It explodes practically on the shoreline of a tiny offshore island that is connected to the mainland by a spit. It is possible to drive out to in-front of the wave, stay warm and dry, and see some of the biggest, awe-inspiring tubes in Latin America.
El Gringo is in the town of Arica, in northern Chile, near the Peruvian border. It is a cold water surfing mecca and on land it has the distinction of a year round mildly warm climate. There are numerous beach breaks and reefs in the area and it is constantly battered by southerly swell.
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