Class, humility and courage, three words that define one of the best free surfers in Argentina and Latin America. Juanchi Arca has a great nose for finding the right ones, the balls to take charge and the talent to complete them.

In Mar del Plata you always see it in the best of each swell and in places of importance, such as Puerto and Arica, it is normal to see how the bomb of the day is lowered.

In the following paragraphs Juanchi himself reviews the waves of his life.

Puerto Escondido in 2012: “One of those waves that make your journey”

This is one of those that I always remember, I really like the drop, the shape of the wave and the siphon was epic, I remember the feeling of that moment and it was one of the first waves that left its mark on me, Puerto is a unique place.

When Lucho showed me the shot between the palm trees from the roof of the Maresias, I was fascinated by how the power of that wave and the siphon can be seen; it is one of those waves that make you travel.

La Parena in 2016: “Suddenly the sea began to align and it kept throwing perfect waves”

From another angle:

It's the beach in front of where I live and when things are right, some really fun waves come out. This was at the beginning of winter when the cold had already come in full force. I remember that it had been blowing from the south for almost a whole week and that day the storm was still there but the wind stopped completely.

When I went to see the sea it didn't look very good, quite rough still and I didn't see any that convinced me much. When I got home the power had gone out because of the storm and since I couldn't work I went into the water. At first I couldn't find anything, but suddenly the sea started to align itself and kept throwing out perfect waves.

I got some really good ones but this was the one I liked the most, I think I shot 4 sections and each time it got sandier.

Arica in 2017: When “things are serious and fear is more than present”

 

El Gringo or Flopos is a wave that I visit a lot and those who know it know that on those days when most of the lefts close it is because things are serious and fear is more than present.

This was one of those days, the left was a tight spot but between sets some gave you some space. I found this wave and was able to get down it and escape before it closed.

To this day I remember the pay and drag that came after the rest of the series, it is one of the few places where, regardless of whether you do the wave well, you almost certainly pay and end up between the rocks.

El Buey in 2017: “There is another wave very close to El Gringo that is also very scary”

Close to El Gringo is another wave that is also very scary. This swell was the biggest I have ever surfed on that wave. The sets took a long time and that made you very disoriented at the point. Before I could catch this wave I had ridden a few but the big sets always caught me off guard.

It was already midday, the sun had come out and I finally got a set that I knew was the last one before the wind came in. I didn't manage to get settled properly, I was coming in but I saw that it left me a space to turn around and be able to get in.

Puerto Escondido 2018: “The biggest tube I got into in Puerto”

One from the last trip to Puerto. I hadn't been there for five seasons and I couldn't wait to go back and wait for one of those swells that make you nervous from the moment you start seeing them on the maps.

I ran some swells with a lot of current and the crowd was more intense than I remembered, but it is a beach that always gives you a good one if you are attentive and willing. This was the last swell I stayed to run and it looked like it was the biggest one up to that point.

I had planned to go in during the day but that morning it was already super solid. I went in looking for a right that looked like it was rolling by itself towards the Far Bar, everyone was looking for lefts that day. I barely got in and I didn't even have time to sit down when a set was marked and the first one was one of those rights, I paddled it with everything because I knew that there were few that went in like that, the offshore was very strong and almost didn't let me get down, it was a very long bottom and I got the first line as high as I could but the tube was unreachable, it was still a good trip and the biggest tube I got in Puerto.