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Punta Roca and the Salvadoran Pacific: A Surfer's Guide to La Libertad
The right-hand cobblestone point break that's drawn the WSL Championship Tour year after year — and how to plan a surf trip around the La Libertad coast, from Punta Roca itself to the softer alternatives at El Sunzal and El Tunco.
By ZealZag TeamPunta Roca Pauses: Quarterfinals Set as El Salvador Pro Takes a Lay Day
A lay day called Thursday at Punta Roca puts the Surf City El Salvador Pro on hold with the quarterfinal draw fully set — Medina through after beating Robinson, Ferreira advancing injured, and the women's bracket producing four loaded matchups before Friday's 6:30 a.m. CST competition call.
By ZealZag TeamPunta Roca: How El Salvador's Right-Hand Point Actually Works
Punta Roca in La Libertad is the WSL Championship Tour's most technically distinct right-hand point — a cobblestone-bottom break with three distinct sections, a swell window aligned to the Southern Pacific, and a performance ceiling that shows itself only when the conditions match. A guide for surfers who travel to compete.
By ZealZag TeamMignot Beats the World Champion on the Best Swell of the Week
On Day 4 of the El Salvador Pro, French-Mexican rookie Marco Mignot produced another Punta Roca buzzer-beater — this time over reigning world champion Yago Dora — as the swell climbed toward its biggest pulse of the event window. Day 5 brings the quarterfinals with the forecast in the eight-to-ten-foot range.
By ZealZag TeamHossegor and the Landes Coast: Europe's Beach Break Capital for Traveling Surfers
The Landes coast runs 130 kilometres of near-uninterrupted beach break from the Gironde estuary south to the Basque border. Hossegor sits at its centre, above a submarine canyon that focuses Atlantic swell into waves of unusual power for a sand-bottom break. The WSL Championship Tour comes here every autumn for a reason.
By ZealZag Team
Race the Route: Surfing Punta Roca — El Salvador's World-Class Right
Punta Roca in La Libertad, El Salvador is a cobblestone right-hand point break of world-class quality — now hosting the WSL Championship Tour. Our complete guide covers wave anatomy, best conditions, getting there, surf etiquette, and local culture.
By ZealZag Team
WSL Surf City El Salvador Pro 2026: Day 3 at Punta Roca — Hanneman's Masterclass and Lelior's Upset
Day 3 at the WSL Surf City El Salvador Pro delivers: Eli Hanneman posts a 16.16 two-wave total, rookie Anat Lelior upsets 8x World Champion Stephanie Gilmore, and Ramzi Boukhiam announces his candidacy at perfect Punta Roca.
By ZealZag TeamPunta Roca Holds as El Salvador Pro Day 2 Bracket Takes Shape
The swell held at six feet and the El Salvador Pro bracket is forming: Hanneman's 16.16 leads the conversation, Ferreira fights to defend his title lead, and Girmay eyes a deep run as Round 2 completes at Punta Roca.
By ZealZag TeamLa Libertad Surf Zone: Basing, Eating, and Exploring El Salvador's CT Coast
Punta Roca gets the CT headlines, but La Libertad's surf zone runs thirty kilometres and three distinct village scenes. A practical guide to building a week around the waves — El Tunco for infrastructure, El Zonte for community, La Punta for access — with flat-day options that will surprise you.
By ZealZag TeamLelior Topples Gilmore as Punta Roca Delivers Its Best Opening Day Since 2022
Israeli rookie Anat Lelior eliminated eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in El Salvador's most significant women's result in years, while Eli Hanneman posted the day's best heat score on his Championship Tour debut. Day 1 at Punta Roca rewarded everyone who had been waiting for a proper swell.
By ZealZag TeamHow to Build a Surf Trip Quiver: Board Selection for the Traveling Surfer
The boards you bring on a surf trip determine what you can actually do in the water. Pack the wrong quiver — too specialist, too few, too heavy for the airline — and you spend a week watching sets on boards that don't fit the surf. Here is how to spec a travel quiver from first principles.
By ZealZag Team
The Central American Surf Circuit: From El Salvador to Pavones
El Salvador is the CT's Central American stop, but the surf circuit runs south through Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica — a Pacific coast route that covers black sand beach breaks, isolated right-hand points, and one of the longest left-hand waves on earth.
By ZealZag Team
Competition Opens at Punta Roca on the Best Swell El Salvador Has Seen
The WSL contest director called competition at dawn on June 5, and Punta Roca delivered: six-to-eight-foot faces, clean lines, the best opening conditions in the event's history. Italo Ferreira arrives at CT Stop 5 wearing the yellow jersey and a target.
By ZealZag TeamPunta Roca El Salvador: Surf Guide to the CT's Premier Right-Hand Point
A half-mile right-hand point break 5km east of La Libertad, Punta Roca delivers barrelling sections across cobblestone from The Graveyard to La Paz — here is everything you need to surf Central America's world-class wave.
By ZealZag Team
Perfect Swell Loading at Punta Roca: El Salvador Pro Opens June 5
Italo Ferreira arrives in La Libertad wearing the yellow jersey with Brazilians holding the top four CT spots. The swell forecast is the best Punta Roca has seen since the event debuted — waves won't drop below six feet all week.
By ZealZag TeamSurf Punta Roca: El Salvador's World-Class Right-Hand Point
Punta Roca is the J-Bay of Central America — a cobblestone freight train that delivers 300-meter rights on a good swell. Everything you need to surf El Salvador's crown jewel: wave conditions, best season, travel logistics, and local tips.
By ZealZag TeamWSL El Salvador Pro 2026: Ferreira Leads into Punta Roca Showdown
Italo Ferreira carries the WSL Championship Tour yellow leader jersey into Punta Roca as the Surf City El Salvador Pro opens with clean 4–6 foot rights peeling the full length of the cobblestone point.
By ZealZag TeamHossegor: Europe's Most Consequential Beach Break
The beach breaks at La Gravière shaped professional surfing for three decades. What remains after the WSL contest moved on is one of the Atlantic coast's most powerful stretches of surf — accessible, practical, and honest about the skill level it requires.
By ZealZag Team
Shipwreck Bay and the Far North: The Northland Surf Extension After Raglan
Four and a half hours north of Raglan, Shipwreck Bay at Ahipara wraps southwest groundswells into a left-hand point that delivers three-minute rides when it fires. The practical guide to extending your WSL trip into New Zealand's Far North.
By ZealZag TeamManu Bay's Morning: Finals Day at the Inaugural Raglan CT Event
The first Championship Tour title at Raglan is decided today — Carissa Moore faces Sawyer Lindblad in the women's final, while Yago Dora, Italo Ferreira, Griffin Colapinto, and Morgan Cibilic contest the men's semis at 7:35 AM NZST on the last day of the event window.
By ZealZag TeamManu Bay, Raglan: The Left That the Championship Tour Just Discovered
Manu Bay came to international attention in 1966. The World Surf League Championship Tour took until 2026 to schedule an event there. A practical guide to surfing the left-hand point break at the centre of this month's CT action — and the rest of what Raglan offers.
By ZealZag TeamColapinto Ends Toledo's Charge; Four World Champions Exit Raglan as Finals Approach
Griffin Colapinto ended Filipe Toledo's run at Manu Bay with a 17.10 quarterfinal total, and the women's draw produced an all-American semifinal line-up as Carissa Moore, Bettylou Sakura Johnson, Sawyer Lindblad and Alyssa Spencer advanced past four world champions.
By ZealZag Team
Coromandel Peninsula: New Zealand's Standby-Day Surf Detour
When Raglan goes flat, the Coromandel Peninsula offers Pacific-coast surf, walking tracks, and a different North Island geography — three hours east of Manu Bay and worth the drive.
By ZealZag TeamStandby Tour Day: Raglan Waits as the Pacific Goes Flat
Day eight of the Corona Cero New Zealand Pro at Raglan saw no surf and no competition — but the standby tour day has its own rhythm, and it's a story worth telling.
By ZealZag Team