Paddle Surfing Baja: Scorpion Bay Report

Check out these photos of Scorpion Bay- are you kidding me??? The place was made for stand up boards. Many thanks to Tom English of www.alohawealth.com for the pictures.

Tom and his friends just returned from a trip down to San Juanico- from the looks of it they pretty much scored. I think this is another validation of my belief that a stand up board can save any surf trip.

The stand up board takes the wave anxiety away- even if it's flat, you know you've got something fun to do. And if there's even a ripple in the water- you're on it!

I contacted Tom to ask him about airline travel with stand up boards. I've been a fan of his homegrown travel and SUP videos- the guy's been all over the place and he's always got a big old SUB with him. I figured if anybody knew the true scoop on flying with big boards it'd be him.

I needed to know if I could fly Alaska airlines with a 10' board. The airline's guidelines state that boards are restricted to lengths no longer than 9'6". In August, I'm heading to a spot in mainland Mexico that looks perfect for a stand up board- it's a left point that runs for a few hundred yards- the kind of spot that's just begging to be stand up paddled. It's an absolute necessity that my stand up board gets loaded onto that flight.

I was stoked to hear that Tom flew Alaska airlines with two stand up boards and that both violated the length restriction. That's the kind of real information I can use- believe me, I'm sleeping better at night knowing my board's coming along.

Top Three Photos: Scorpion Bay and riders with the English party doing their respective things down in Baja.

Photo Four: A couple of my buddies were down there at the same time as Tom English- here's Stukey cruising a six-incher on a twelve footer. The stand up board can save any surf trip.

Photo Five: Just how long do you think this waves is. Right. Now double that and you're just about there.

More Zapper Data: I've received some inquiries regarding the Zapper's dimensions. I'll give you the numbers that I know: 10' x 29.5" x 4.25" sorry but I don't know the tail and nose numbers. What I do know is that it looks SICK!!

The latest BeachSurf photos right here!

Secrets for the taking

Pull out a map, find an isolated stretch of coast sandwiched between two access points and go find your own waves. Bingo- your own personal secret spot. I can virtually guarantee that if walking, or in our case, paddling into it is required, you won't see a soul. It's yours, take it. Have fun with it. Name it if you want. What's the big problem?

Photo: Kiwi taking a break- ten minutes from downtown SD- not big, but fun and definitely not crowded. My first photo with the new Oly 1030sw.

I've got mine. I'm going to name it too. It's called the Dinosaur. Kiwi and I just pioneered it (or maybe we didn't but I really don't care). It's a three mile paddle down a part of the coast that is essentially in my back yard. I've never surfed it, or for that matter, seen anybody surf it. Why? Because nobody wants it. It's too much work. Guess what? There are waves there. Really fun waves, better waves than you'd expect.

Am I letting the cat out of the bag? Should I be hit with a bolt of lightning for revealing some "secret" spot? I don't think so- here's why: THERE AREN'T ANY SECRET SPOTS. Especially if you live here in Southern California. It's all been done, logged, photographed, posted, published and downloaded. The great thing is that even with all that publicity- they're still not crowded- even here. People just don't want to do the work- even if they know exactly where the spot is and how to get to it.

So find a spot with some paddling miles between it and the nearest parking lot. There's still a ton out there. Make it your secret spot. Just be sure to give it a good name.