🏄‍♀️ Don't you go burning them eyes! 👀

👋 Happy… sorry, we don’t have time for this. So. Much. To. Cover. This. Week. And only one mini-surfodrama.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Don’t you go burning them eyes! 👀

• Puerto Escondido, but for beginners? 💀

• Alpacas on the beach 🦙

• Latest from Girls Who Can’t Surf Good 💬

• Surf news roundup 📰

• This week’s surf shoppe gem 💎

• Ready to party at your first surf contest? 🪩

^{MINI SURFODRAMA}

👀 Don’t you go burning them eyes! 👀

We’ve talked at length about “surfer’s eye”, this totally un-cute, occasionally freaky growth that can develop on your eyeball from too much sun, wind, and saltwater exposure.

And I’m sure everyone—myself included—was like: nah, not happening to me, not surfing enough. Nothing is going to grow on my eye, no siree.

But burned eyes? This can happen to anyone.

It came up in the group this week—someone’s kid surfed in Costa Rica and ended up with properly burned eyes. Think snow blindness, but make it surf.

So, what can you actually do about it (besides learning the hard way)?

🧢 Wear a surf hat
The least sexy, most effective option. Multiple people said it’s a game changer. Blocks a surprising amount of UV, and not just from above, but reflected off the water too.

🕶️ Surf sunglasses / goggles
Not cute, but extremely functional. Bonus: you’ll see waves coming earlier than everyone else, which honestly might be worth the trade-off. Brands like Sea Specs and Surf Shades came up, plus the good old “cheap pair + strap so you don’t cry when they disappear.”

🌅 Surf early or late
Dawn patrol and sunset sessions aren’t just for vibes, they massively reduce UV exposure. Midday (10–3) is when your eyes get absolutely blasted.

💧 Eye drops after surfing
Preservative-free lubricating drops came up a lot. Helps with dryness, irritation, and that gritty “my eyeballs hate me” feeling after a session.

👀 Contacts (with UV protection)
Apparently a thing. Not a silver bullet, but can add a bit of protection—especially for contact lens wearers already dealing with saltwater chaos.

Stay safe out there!

👉 More on surfer’s eye if you have a stomach for it

^{SURF THRU HISTORY | WAVE OF THE WEEK}

💀 Puerto Escondido, but for beginners?

Savage. Gnarliest sand-bottom wave. Mexican Pipeline. That's Puerto Escondido, according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing.

And yet, we keep hearing: "I took my first surf class in Puerto Escondido" and "I spent the best 6 months living in Puerto improving my surfing".

So which one is it?!

But hold on, let's start at the very beginning, because it's important.

🤩 The dream of Puerto Escondido
"Some people love it. Some people get pounded, turn around, head for home and never come back," according to local hero surfer Coco Nogales.

And no freaking wonder.

The surf is big. It rarely drops below 4ft, May to October. You can expect the waves to be 6-8ft, sometimes 15ft. There are riptides, and currents, and exploding tubes, and closeouts, and it's hot hot hot, in and out of the water.

Okay, the wind is offshore until midday, but did we mention the pros and experienced crowds even on the smallest days?

American surfers came upon Puerto Escondido in 1959, but it wasn't "discovered" (meaning the surf press didn't publish any pics) until 1974. By the time the Puerto Escondido International Airport opened in 1986, it was all over, man.

The secret was out, the crowds were in. Then came the surf contests, and the movies: Ticket to Ride (1986) and Siestas and Olas (1997). In 2011, Puerto Escondido made it on Surfer Magazine's list of 100 best waves, at #40.

🙋 Can a beginner surf there?
Universally, neither Puerto Escondido nor any breaks in its vicinity are considered beginner breaks. Intermediate at minimum.

Not that it ever stopped anyone. Because, as we've learned from this week's surfodrama, not all beginners are created equal.

First, when people say "Puerto Escondido," they often mean two completely different things.

Either: Playa Zicatela, the famous heavy beach break with massive barrels, or the broader Puerto area, which includes smaller, more approachable beaches nearby.

To make things more confusing, we have both Playa Zicatela (Mexican Pipeline) and La Punta (Zicatela), which sits at the southern end of Zicatela.

The latter can be deceiving. Softer than main Zicatela and heavy on surf schools, so surely that's the place to be? Ha. The mix of more advanced surfers and heavy surf school crowds can make for a more stressful surf than necessary.

Better still, our group recommends Playa Carrizalillo. A protected cove, smaller waves, and plenty of surf schools. But it's a punchy little shorebreak, and there are these stairs… Everyone's mentioning the stairs.

Translation: Puerto Escondido is a serious surf town, with a "let's get surfing better" vibe, but it's still not "easy" in the way somewhere like Waikiki or parts of Sayulita can be.

😬 Why should I bother then?
Everyone loves it. And it changes people's lives, we're told.

Despite Puerto having a reputation for heavy waves (and crowds), beginners are describing it almost like a surf bootcamp.

Most find it incredibly motivating. Perhaps it has something to do with the perfect storm of warm water, surf-centric and aspirational culture, and super-easy access to surf schools and surf coaches.

If you go, do let us know if you come back obsessed with Puerto Escondido.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🦙 Alpacas on the beach

We’ve seen photos of horses on the beach, pigs swimming, and even a cow.

But have you ever seen any alpacas enjoying the surf?!

Our own Tina Heaney captured this scene on her local beach: Long Sands Beach, Maine.

It was one of those rare mornings when Tina wasn't actually surfing. Because, and I quote: "it was disorganized."

Thank you for sharing, Tina!

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🏖️ Where do beginner longboarders surf in Huntington Beach? Community top picks: Bolsa Chica (Tower 18, surf school crowd), Wahine Kai meetup at Towers 22-24, Seal Beach Jetties (close by, super chill vibe).

🌴 Looking for a Bali (or nearby) surf camp for two friends with mixed beginner levels: one wants all-inclusive vibe, the other prefers flexibility. Community top picks: LMBK in Lombok, Pelan Pelan Bali, WaveHouse Bali, Lombok Surf Camp (social but not party).

🌺 Planning Oahu in October, beginner-intermediate. Community top picks: Hook Up Surfing (Ivan & Jen), Moku Surf for affordable rentals in Waikiki, Quality Surf for week-long rentals with board swaps, White Plains for less crowded sessions, North Shore Surf Girls.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter & support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Steamer Lane & sea lion fights. Teenage and adaptive surf champions. Steph is GOAT. Dogs are surfing.

🦭 Surfer chased out of water by sea lion in New Zealand
A surfer in New Zealand was forced out of the lineup after being aggressively pursued by a territorial sea lion.

🥊 Lineup tensions go full fight club at Steamer Lane
A Santa Cruz surf session turned into a full-on shoreline brawl after a dispute over lineup etiquette reportedly involving cliff-jumping into the break.

🏄‍♀️ Hawaiʻi crowns first-ever high school surfing state champions
Hawaiʻi has officially held its first statewide high school surfing championships, with nearly 180 student surfers competing across Maui.

💛 Adaptive surfing championships underway in Waikiki
More than 90 athletes from around the world are competing this week at the Hawaiʻi Adaptive Surfing Championships in Waikiki.

👑 Steph Gilmore wins gold coast pro in comeback season
Stephanie Gilmore claimed her 34th WSL event win at Snapper Rocks, proving very quickly that writing her off was premature.

🐶 Dog surfing tour draws crowds in Pismo Beach
The World Dog Surfing Championship Exhibition Tour brought crowds, surf dogs, and mild confusion to Pismo Beach.

🏄‍♂️ Longest-running longboard contest returns to Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz Longboard Union Invitational returns to Steamer Lane later this month with nearly 200 surfers expected to compete.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND}

🩴 Foldable flip flops under $10

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the Wee Surf Shoppe, where we feature fun, useful, cheap, widely reviewed, and highly rated surf and surf-adjacent stuffs.

(Okay, sometimes we sneak in something outrageous and obscenely expensive, but only in Surf Indulgences.)

This week's find pulls triple duty: beach, travel, and your suitcase.

You know how the sand gets too hot to walk across from the parking lot, but you don't want to sacrifice your good flip flops in case you leave them behind?

Or how you're fully packed and just remembered you don't necessarily want to go barefoot in your hotel room or surf camp showers?

Introducing: foldable, lightweight, no-slip flip flops 🩴

I came across these earlier this week, ordered them in pink, and I'm now getting them in a couple more colors. Because honestly, you can't beat $7.59 (or $8.40 if you're as big-footed as me).

👉 Check them out

^{JUST IN ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

🪩 Ready to party at your first surf contest?

We said: party. Because the cheering, the post-heat hangs, the "did you SEE that?!", the women who came second buying drinks for the women who came first—that is totally a party.

And paddling out as part of an all-women lineup is pretty great and a party in itself.

If you're contest-curious, mark your calendar:

🏄‍♀️ Sea Her Surf Women's Surf Contest. Cocoa Beach, FL. August 29, 2026. Open to all levels. Built around sisterhood, sportsmanship, and the idea that every surfer has a place in the lineup.

If you're contest-curious but contest-terrified (this is normal), three coaching spots from the directory to help you get ready:

🌴 ISA Level 2 Female Surf Coach. Rincón, Puerto Rico. ISA-certified, Red Cross lifeguard, longboard and shortboard. A feminine-led approach focused on flow, timing, and confidence. Limited weekly slots.

🌊 Women's Surf Collective. Santa Cruz, CA. Private coaching, custom surfboards, and retreats for women in Santa Cruz and internationally.

❄️ Cold Water Sirens. Nordjylland, Denmark. Feminist surf coaching and ocean-based therapy, for people whose access to surf culture isn't always easy: gender, age, mental health, or mobility.

👉 More events and coaches in the directory

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—because of course
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊