Investigating the Secretive QS 10,000 At Puerto Escondido And/Or Salina Cruz

What if we told you that a QS 10,000 event might be held at one of the world’s premier beach breaks in 2019?

Or, alternatively, at one of the best pointbreaks.

Perhaps even a combination of the two?

As seen on the 2019 Qualifying Series event schedule, there will be a Mexican QS 10,000 event directly following the Vans US Open, which ends on August 4.

The event is officially listed as “tentative”, which is somewhat troubling until you look left and realize that the same is true about the US Open.

And there’s no way the US Open is not going to run.

When looking at the above image, you’ll notice that the location is listed as TBA Mexico, meaning that they’re not yet ready to reveal where the event will take place. This got our gears turning.

Mexico is one of the most wave-rich countries in the world. From Northern Baja all the way down to its southern isthmus, America’s neighbor to the south is open to swells from every corner of the Pacific and has plenty of world-class setups to align them.

Puerto Escondido is a historically salient option; the deep-canyoned beach break brings surfers from all around the world to its adorable port town. Puerto holds XXL swells and is offshore every morning, allowing for four hours of draining tubes before the sea breeze kicks in. This would not be ideal for running a QS 10,000 event (which requires multiple eight-hour days of competition), however Puerto has an ace up its sleeve, with a playful left point (La Punta) positioned just a short drive away for when the wind goes west.  

The next, most obvious option would be to hold the event at one of the infamous right-hand points in Oaxaca’s east. Surely you remember the Rip Curl Search event at Barra de la Cruz in 2006 – it was, according to many CT surfers, the single best surf event of all time, as a massive Pacific storm sent a week of overhead swells to the draining sand point.

“Better than Kirra,” was the claim from several competitors, including certain Coolangatta locals.

While Barra’s bank has been weakened by a local river diversion, there remain 20+ quality points between there and Salina Cruz. While we won’t point them out on a map, let’s just say the WSL has plenty of options to score pumping all-day conditions, assuming the ocean cooperates.

Lastly, and somewhat less appealing, would be an event held at Cabo San Lucas or Acapulco, both of which have good waves but nowhere near the quality of Puerto or the points. From a commercial standpoint, holding the event in a more developed area would make sense for the WSL, making both Cabo and Acapulco legitimate options.

With all these thoughts running through our head, we pressed the WSL for further info on the “tentative” Mexico event. After receiving no response, we reached out to a few notable Mexican surfers who might have some insight on the matter.

We were told the following by one Puerto local: “Yes, it was listed on the 2019 calendar but we’re still not sure if it’s definitely going to be an event. They listed it as Oaxaca, but I got some info that they might run it in Salina Cruz since it’s a world class wave or in Puerto Escondido. I really hope it comes through so we can have more exposure in the surf world!” 

We then contacted Gustavo Duccini, WSL Events Manager in Mexico and one of the persons responsible for bringing this event to life.

Gustavo said that he couldn’t talk with us yet, but that there will be a press conference on February 27th outlining all the important details.

Until then, we’ll be left to wonder if Jack Robbo, Barron Mamiya, and Eithan Osborne will be pulling into 10-foot pits or ripping the shit of dreamy sand points in early August.

Either way, it will be a wonderful antidote to the US Open.