The Ranch is a left point and more of a shortboarder wave, but when it is smaller, it is good for longboarders as well. When I say smaller I mean head-high to shoulder-high. The takeoff is a clean drop, but you have to try to stay high if you want to surf the entire wave. “Look up performance wave in the dictionary and you will see a picture of "The Ranch.” This is a fun wave comparable to Trestles. Often times it will peel forever and on south swells with plenty of speed it is a long ride. The Ranch also has a right than can get good with the right swell direction. The left likes a south to southwest swell and the right likes a west to north swell. The Ranch is a great place to spend the day surfing, I mean morning, because if you have ever surfed Mex, you know the wind gets on it by late morning.

We loved this spot and had some solid head-high days. All good things have to come to an end and when the surfed dropped we moved to another spot called Saldita to finish up our trip. Playa La Saladita is located some 5 kilometers off highway 200 at the small town of Los Llanos, close to 40 kilometers north of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo.

Saldita is a classic left that gives you a ride up to 300 yards. It was obvious that this once secret spot had more gringo longboarders than a summer day at Tourmo. A surfer community is quickly forming along the shoreline, extending north from the surf break, with a number of private houses and villas being built along the beach. This place is so good and perfect for longboarding that people like Corky Carroll have set up house there.

We got some super fun waves and had no problems getting our share. There seemed to be a lot of weekend warrior-types who were willing to give me the waves of my choice. We met some cool locals but they said it was really small. The locals said that when Saladita is head-high or more, that all the gringos have excuses like they hurt their shoulder or they have a ding or ….blah blah, the.excuses go on. We thought this was funny because I have heard the same thing in the parking lot at Tourmo on big days.

Our trip was amazing. We got good surf, the water was super warm, the air was 89, and the beer was cold. This is a spot that is relatively uncrowded and has some consistent surf and the people are friendly. I’m definiltey planning a return trip and maybe I will stay for a loooong time.

Below are a few more pics of our trip. Enjoy.

All photos in this section courtesy of Celia Treamer.