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Nicaragua Surf Report for Thursday, May 18, 2023

5:03 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:03 PM

Hey all you surf report spectators! Josh back behind the lens and keyboard again. The photo session started off super slow this morning, but luckily for all of us here in Iguana, the surf turned on after about 20 minutes! Follow along for Thursday’s action.

5:04 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:04 PM
I’ll start today’s report off with a highlight reel of my friend from Brazil. Unfortunately I’ve forgotten his name, but he has been visiting Colorados (Hacienda Iguana) regularly for several years. I’ve been trading off tubes with him since I was 15 or 16 and enjoy the friendly competition in the water! Textbook form on this hollow river-mouth right!

5:05 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:05 PM
He definitely won the heat today. I was psyching so hard on this one from the beach! From start to finish it drained perfectly down the sandbar. The wind was also blowing the perfect direction which groomed the wave face nicely. Crispy Clean!

5:06 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:06 PM
After watching our Brazilian tube-hound pack some drainers, the surfers lurking at the beach club quickly waxed to capitalize on the window. Go get ‘em boys!

5:07 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:07 PM
Rain (I hope I’m spelling his name correctly) from California nabbed some keepers as well! He found a frothy but hollow set wave which gave him plenty of space to pull through. This photo makes the barrel look like it was a quick in-n-out for Rain, but it actually had another racey section which he weaved through. I actually gave up on him shooting the sequence, but he ended up squeezing through the end section even as it clamped shut around him.

5:08 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:08 PM
Even Panga Drops was big and clean enough for a couple of the right-handers to open up. A riderless beauty.

5:09 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:09 PM
Now back to our perfectly groomed river-mouth rights! There must’ve been more South in the swell today, as yesterday there wasn’t much happening at the river-mouth peak relative to the North peak. I bet these guys on the inside paddled out with some extra urgency after watching this one peel perfectly across directly in front of them.

5:10 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:10 PM
Oh man! Our crew out surfing for this window really scored! There had to have been about 15 to 20 of these right-hand runners that rolled through while I was shooting. Lucky fellas!

5:11 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:11 PM
One difference between the rights at the river-mouth peak versus the North peak is that the river-mouth rights tend to stay open for longer as they run down a longer strip of sand (I think). The Northern bar is shorter, but gets hit harder by the swells with more West which causes them to get square (very hollow). I think the river-mouth right is better suited to regular footers as they can pump for longer in tighter spaces, whereas the North peak is very steep and sucky which favors goofy footers being able to “knife” the drop with the pig-dog posture.

5:12 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:12 PM
Don’t worry goofy footers! Speaking of square tubes, a handful of mini-pipeline lefts snuck through toward the end of the photo session.

5:13 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:13 PM
Noooo amigo you missed it! Sometimes it’s hard to get over your toe-side rail immediately as you drop down the wave face. Unfortunately, this gem was one of a few that got away!

5:14 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:14 PM
Here’s another left that got away. Our rider here was probably assuming that the wave wouldn’t be hollow enough to barrel, so he pre-committed to dropping all the way down the face in preparation for a drawn-out bottom turn. In many cases his assumption would be correct, however there was still sufficient power left from yesterday's swell to open up the lefts.

5:15 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:15 PM
My neighbor Koji got stuck with dog duty this morning haha! Don’t look to your right buddy! Ignorance is (sometimes) bliss haha. Hopefully he got some nuggets later today around lunch time.

5:16 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:16 PM
Alright that’s all of today’s tube action, now let’s see some air-time and rooster tails! This guy nearly rode out of this air-reverse which is very impressive given how high he got. The crowd on the beach went wild when they saw him flash us with the Sharpeye logo! Sick one dude!

5:17 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:17 PM
Here is a grade-A “rooster tail”, referring to the fan of spray displaced by the surfer. The offshore breeze helps magnify the water displacement here which leads to some cool photos. This guy did the “dab” pose for us on this top turn!

5:18 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:18 PM
Another Brazilian (I think) shredder blasted a handful of waves to bits! Here he is torquing through a high-speedy backside turn.

5:19 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:19 PM
Teeing up, once again, vertically on a left. Don’t get confused dude on this inside... it’s not 12 o’clock yet!

5:20 PM
Josh S

Nicaragua Surf Report - Report Photo 05/18/2023 5:20 PM
Alrighty, friends and viewers from abroad that wraps up today’s action. The temperature today was super hot and the electricity was out this morning, so this chica was smart to hit the beach and find some respite from the heat via the offshore breeze. Today’s magic window will be hard to beat, and the forecast for tomorrow looks mellower. Stay tuned to see if lightning will strike twice for us!

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