Tomatina Thoughts Thursday Surf & Culture Report

Lost Boys & Co...
 

So we’ll give you some things to remember when you decide to participate in La Tomatina.

#1. Wear good fitting lace up shoes.  NO FLIPFLOPS!  We watched single flips (or flops) floating down the river of tomato purée.  Also it’s cobblestone streets and they get incredibly slippery and uneven.  We wore shoes that apparently were made with zero natural materials.  They stayed white, but the laces are now pink…

#2. Depending on your hair or lack of it, you might want to wear a cap or even a like a bathing cap.  Yes it looks silly but you can avoid spending an hour trying to remove seeds and peels (#1 It took LoLa 3 showers)….

#3. Take off all the jewelry you don’t want to lose.  Things get slippery out there and people are grabbing and trying to stay vertical, a lot don’t (#2).  Waterproof watches are good, but it took us 20 minutes to dig all the goo and peel out of the band…

Meanwhile, we were in contact with our reporter and confidant, Jetski and he told us that it’s going to be a hot one in Hermosa.  We see that the high tide was at 10:07am +4.4’ and the low tide follows at 3:25pm +1.6’.  11 miles visibility under hazy skies and winds are light out of the southeast.  We have a SSW swell out of 194deg at 3.6’ and it’s 2’ to 3’ and follow Doc as he. Looks for those elusive corners.

#4.  Goggles, glasses or no eye protection?  Goggles get covered in goo and can fog up.  Lots of different approaches from diving masks to swimmers goggles to sun glasses.  Sancho tried shades and they got knocked off and he swears he saw someone pull them out, try them on and then realize they were perscription.  We tried no eye wear and it was fine, but our eyes burned from the acid and we’’re still plucking red glop from the corner of our eyes…

#5.  Don’t decide to go and imagine you’re going to get in.  You have to have tickets, a wristband and a locker to stash your change of clothes.  Bunol fills up quick, so you need to make reservations in advance or in towns close by. We stayed in Chiva and rode the train in.  You have to get those tickets in advance as well…

#6. It’s a party.  If you aren’t in the mood don’t go.  There’s drinking (stay hydrated #3), eating, dancing, music, and throwing tomatoes at each other.  There’s is no periphery to watch from.  You’re in it or not.  It’s a riot  and unbelievably crazy but an experience unlike any other.  We say go… 

🍅

"When the surf breaks, we'll fix it"
The Professor!!