I took this series of photos last Tuesday, during the first real storm swell of the summer season. A small hurricane was churning up the coast sending pulses our way. Most spots in the north bay were rainy, windy and roiled, but flat. To get to the goods, we moved further inside the bay to Olas Altas, a spot directly at the mouth of the Rio Caule, in the heart of Vallarta, at the deepest point in the bay. Tzahui Poo and I headed out for an early morning session, after checking a few other spots farther north, we rolled in to Olas Altas to find head to overhead sets of some heavy, semi-groomed storm surf. The water was so ugly from the river run-off and smelled so bad – like sewer and rotting carcasses with undertones of industrial insecticide – that I played coy and manned up the camera.
