Puerto Rico Surf History

Cindie Rice Collection

I've recently come across a great Facebook group, Aviones Boys, that has an amazing collection of photographs of Rincon and Puerto Rico from the sixties to the present. The page is dedicated to Puerto Rican surfing and seems to grow with added posts daily.  Of particular interest to me are the pictures of Rincon in the 1970s, pictures showing, palm lined beaches with very few structures, even the hills above the beaches are incredibly bare of development.  The surf pilgrims in the pictures are staying in ramshackle places and beachfront shacks, climbing the trees for coconuts and catching their own fish and lobsters.  We still do this here in Rincon, but mostly for fun, not for sustenance, the paved roads and well stocked colmados make life a bit easier, but when I hear people complain about the long drive from San Juan or poor cell phone coverage, it really makes me realize how spoiled we are here now.
The 1968 World Surfing Championships held in Rincon was the door that opened to bring the first wave of surfers to the island, but Puerto Rico already had a growing surf culture.  Jorge Machuca is the man most consider to be the first great Puerto Rican surfer and his legend started as a 14 year old boy in those 1968 World Championships in Rincon. He was featured in all the advertisements and articles leading up to the contest and did not disappoint, amazing the crowd and his fellow competitors with moves they had never seen,  floating on waves before anyone knew or even thought of doing it.  Jorge went on to be sponsored by Hobie and surfed around the world, but also influenced a new generation of Puerto Rico surfers including Edwin Santos and Carlos Cabrero.
Around the island, the surf culture has grown and the Aviones Boys group has great pics from Aviones to Jobos to Gas Chamber and Tres Palmas.   Photos showing Maria of Marias beach, cockfighters in Rincon, old pictures of the Rincon town plaza, the nuclear reactor being built, Surfer's Beach in Aguadilla with a sign stating that surfing was "only allowed under the auspices of the Surfer's Club Association by order of the base commander".  Looking at the size and shapes of the surfboards, the shorts and bikinis the people wore, it was a different world.
Nostalgia is often used as an argument against progress and I can see why as I look into the lives of the people who came to Puerto Rico in these days and found a place that was in a time warp when compared to the 1970s US.  The beaches were undiscovered and underused, the locals were kind and eager for contact with others, surfing had already happened in the states but here it was still a novelty, there were only a couple surf shops on the entire island.
Some may see a negative impact on Rincon from these tourists to what Rincon is today, but I believe it's been positive.  I would say most of the Puerto Ricans in Rincon have come to respect the old timer gringos who have been here awhile and made it their home.  The ones who have come and gone have brought their love of Rincon back to the states.  An unchanged Rincon is impossible, but a true appreciation of the beaches and water that are the lifeblood of this town is what these old timers brought and that has remained here and grown.  To the ones who stayed, Cindie Rice of Calypso, Dennis Rich at the Pool Bar and others who have the memories to look back upon, thanks for sharing.

Season's Around the Corner....

I've been away from Blogspot for awhile, working on other projects, so here's a few updates...
The hurricane season has been very kind to PR, so far, Earl brought a lot of wind and our power was out for about 24 hours, but for the most part Rincon didn't suffer much damage.  I know a few people had their power out for quite awhile 4, 5 days in some cases and that is a concern as the storm wasn't a direct hit, what's gonna happen when we get one that hits us head on?  There were lots of palms down on Corcega Beach and lots more erosion on all the beaches, but that's what storms do.

Igor went north of the island, but brought some fantastic surf to Rincon and all of the west coast beaches.  I hadn't seen Tres Palmas break like everyone says it can, but Igor brought it out.  See the picture above.  Not a surfer, I was able to get some nice photographs though.  Hopefully this is just the start of a big surf season.

People are starting to trickle back into town, the "snowbirds" who move between the states and here, you can see it on the roads and restaurants and bars.  I know the economy is everyone's minds these days and things are no different here in Rincon.  I have seen some new construction, most notably a townhome project near the marina and what looks like an apartment building down the street from our house.  Like most vacation destinations, Rincon is struggling to draw the amount of tourists it had a few years ago and businesses who thought those times would last forever will fall by the wayside.

When we came here last year I was surprised at how many businesses were for rent in the plaza.  This past year we lost 2 more, West Coast Surf Shop and Ice Chill n Grill.  Superfoods, an organic market and deli a few miles away in the Pueblo may be closing or up for sale and The Spot, a restaurant in the marina has closed with a new owner hopefully taking over. 

On a good note, there is a new Thai restaurant opening in Puntas called Ode to the Elephants and Club Nautico, in the marina has been remodeled and has much improved food done by the people who own the Shipwreck. Surfrider has moved their offices above and Rincon Sailing has set up shop there as well. The Black Eagle Marina will benefit from these moves, in fact already has as Surfrider has focused on cleaning it up and planting new trees. (see video here)  But I would really like to see our town Plaza revived.  The renovations completed a few years ago are being wasted by a lack of use, especially during the evenings.  More restaurants, art galleries, live music and events in the plaza will help change the perception of the downtown area of Rincon, but we need business owners willing to set up shop and we need a government that will work to bring them here.

The Rip Curl Pro Search Surfing contest is coming to either Isabela or Aguadilla at the end of October and will bring great recognition to the west coast of Puerto Rico.  Rincon may have been able to draw on its own history, beaches and surf in the past, but to survive as a tourist destination this town need to ride on someone else's coattails for awhile, be it Aguadilla or Isabela and while we're at it, let's pair up and promote all 3 towns as a destination for surfers, beach goers and people seeking a Caribbean experience without a passport.  The Porta del Sol, is how the folks at the Puerto Rican Tourism Company is marketing this area of the island and that's great, but their marketing dollars are spread between the other areas of the island as well, I suggest a tourism organization centered on these towns that have similar offerings and cater to similar travelers.  Maybe a good idea, but like most things nothing that will get done unless someone leads the charge....