All photos: Zanocchi. Presents Surf City El Salvador 

For many years, La Bocana was forbidden territory for foreign surfers, and although it is no longer so, no one doubts that it is the wave that locals in El Salvador look after the most.

It is a warm water Lowers Trestles, with strong and consistent lefts and rights breaking all day long without stopping.

It hosted the final stage of last year's ALAS and will be held from December 10 to 13, 2020.

In the following paragraphs, photos and videos, Salvadoran surfer of the moment, Bryan Pérez and legendary local veteran, Sergeant Francis “Chute” Hasbun give several details of the wave, its history and share some tips and technicalities of one of the most fun waves in the world.

Overview:

Lefts and rights on a rocky bottom created in a triangular shape by the thrust of an estuary that flows into the sea in front of the middle of the wave.

It breaks better with one and up to three meters, the bigger it gets.

Localism and a bit of history:

According to Chute Hasbun, there are legends that in the eighties foreigners were taken out of the water at gunpoint and for many years a sign on a wall read in English: “Only locals”.

For Bryan, who did not live through that era, it is still a commandment to respect the local wave riders because they are known to defend their spot tooth and nail.

It is the best left in El Salvador, and it is one of very few

At La Bocana, one of the few lefts in El Salvador breaks. Bryan says that there is one in El Zonte and there are others in some beach breaks and that of the few that there are, it is the best.

Chute says the same, noting that there is no other with that strength and range along the country's more than 300 kilometres of coastline.

They stand out in the wave

Porfirio Miranda, a local wave expert, was Bryan Pérez's choice, along with the Arenivar brothers, Jorge Rivas and three local juniors who will be the talk of the championship.

Chute, for his part, chose his old-school references, Charrito Alcalá, who surfed switch like no one else, “he was the king of this beach,” he says. He also mentioned one of Charrito’s friends, Roberto Gallardo.

To enter and exit

You can enter and exit from any part of the beach, but it is easy to see that hitting the rocks will be more common if you do not go through the channel. To the right of the estuary, facing the sea, there is a channel that allows you to go around the breakers looking to the left and position yourself on the peak.

Dangers of the wave

Bryan mentioned that the dangers of the wave are the rocks and not respecting the locals.