Surfing El Anclote

The wave peels right from the western end of the village beach over rock and dead coral with some sand, and it stays mellow: usually chest to head high at most, slow enough for a first green wave and long enough to walk the board. It needs a big south to south-west swell to break properly, so spring and summer, roughly April to September, are the best months, and large winter north swells occasionally wrap in too.

A north to north-north-west wind is offshore. Mid tide is the safe choice, because at low tide the rock bottom gets shallow and there is little sand to cushion a fall. Crowds stay moderate, partly because sets are scarce, but surf schools use it when it is working. Boats are part of the scene, with pangas coming and going from the beach, so keep clear of their route. Since the waves rarely get big, a longboard or a mid-length makes the most of it.

The beach faces roughly south, so the rights travel east along the village front, towards the morning sun. Shoot early from the sand east of the peak and riders come towards you in clean front light; a 100–400 mm lens (full-frame equivalent) covers the take-off and the long inside walls.

From late morning the sun sits over the bay and the water turns silvery and backlit, and late afternoon gives silhouettes against the western sky beyond the point. Pangas on the sand or in the bay make an easy foreground that places the photo here. Shooting from the water is straightforward on a normal day because the wave is gentle, but watch for boat traffic and the shallow rock at low tide.

Punta de Mita village is 45 minutes to an hour by road from Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR), along Highway 200 and the coast road through La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Beach access is at the western end of Avenida El Anclote, where the road meets the sea; park nearby and the water is a couple of minutes' walk. Restaurants and bars line the beachfront, surf schools and rentals operate in the village, and pangas to the outer breaks leave from here.