Presents Surf City - El Salvador Travel

Talking about Punta Roca without talking about Bob Rotherham is like Don Quixote not having Sancho Panza. One of the most faithful, if not the most faithful, companions of the wave throughout its history is this North American who, travelling around America in a Combi, found the wave and the love of his life and stayed to live there.

Rotherham was at Petacalco, the classic, protected Mexican break he says he surfed in epic fashion in 1973, when he saw a jet ski pass by with a board on its roof; the first surfer they had seen since they began their trip.

The mysterious lone traveler stopped and introduced himself. It was the legendary Craig Peterson, one of the greatest surfing travelers in history. He was returning from Central America to the United States and one of his pieces of advice was: “You should go to the port of La Libertad.”

To leave the Petacalco pipes breaking perfectly, Peterson's tales of what is now called Punta Roca must have sounded convincing.

Rotherham and his friend then went there in their Combi and their expectations and the size of their stories were confirmed when they saw and surfed the wave. They slid in El Sunzal, but it was not the same; the queen was Punta Roca.

On that trip he met the woman who would become his wife and, when it came time to answer the reason for his change of home, he said that legend says that whoever drinks water from the Chilama River stays in the Chilama River, and he drank the water, bursting out laughing.

Bob went through the seventies where he said he saw all kinds of crazy things because many of the people who came were “pirates” and that is what he refers to when he was asked about the craziest things he saw there, instead of telling about a memorable swell or a tube from some pro.

He also went through the entire guerrilla movement, one of the most violent in Latin America, and then went through the professionalization of Latin surfing, with his son, Jimmy, being one of the most talented surfers there.

Bob gets emotional when talking about the Salvadoran people and the bad reputation that exists or once existed around the country and the insecurity; “the best people in the world, in this blessed country.

The above are just a few passages of what Bob experienced in a life related to one of the best waves in the world, in the video, there is more.