Punta Roca, at six in the morning

There is a hierarchy in the water at Punta Roca and it is not a secret. It is set by who has been surfing here longest, and it is enforced quietly, and visitors who understand it have a much better week than visitors who do not.

Watch a set first

From the rocks, before you put a leash on. Where people are sitting, who goes, what happens on the inside section when the tide drops. Fifteen minutes on the rocks buys you an hour of not being in the wrong place.

The rules, such as they are

Do not paddle for the first wave you see. Do not sit on the peak on your first morning. If someone is deeper than you, they are going. Say good morning — in Spanish, badly, it does not matter.

Do this and within two days someone will call you into a wave. That is the whole system.

What the wave is

A long right over rock that runs 300 metres on a good south swell, fast through the middle section and hollow on the inside. It is the best wave in the country by some distance and it is not a wave to learn on. The surf guide has the honest assessment of which breaks suit which level.

Afterwards

The fish market at the end of the pier opens before the surf does. A whole fish, grilled, twelve dollars, eaten at a plastic table looking at the wave you just came in from. There is no better hour available in El Salvador and it costs less than a coffee at an airport.