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Bristol
This is where civilization ends and the North Shore wilderness begins.
O.k., I´m exaggerating. Corralejo is not that civilized and the North Shore is not that savage anymore. At least the infamous track gets kept in a condition suitable for normal cars since quite a few years. Gone are the days when a visit to the North Shore spots was an expedition, that took a lot of time and often ended in soft sand.
Corralejo based surfers often only had Bristol as option, especially when they tended to get lost too long in Corralejo night life. Bristol is situated just at the western end of town and therefor easy accessible even for nighthawks. They just had to do a little walk to claim having ridden some North Shore waves.
What hasn´t changed is the fact, that Bristol still deserves being called a North Shore break. The entrance is savage and the exit even worse. Sharp lava reef and rocks litter the place and wait to cut your feet and ding your board. The reef sits quite a bit outside and produces short rights and long lefts that can reach impressive size in bigger swells. Waves here definitely do have North Shore power. Getting caught inside and swept to shore can be very painful.
Surfing:
North swells in combination with south winds work best. Long paddle out, in big winter swells fitness and a decent size of Cojones helps a lot.
Windsurfing:
North swells and winds from the west is what you look for. The channel to the east stays open even in big swells, which helps a lot. Still very tricky to get out with an extremely narrow launching spot and a nasty rock just a few meters leeward of the only route out in an area that is plagued with very gusty and often too light winds. No question that this setup makes the exit to shore an extra tricky task.
From the channel you can pick your waves and start a really long down the line ride. Just make sure not to start the ride too deep because this is very likely to end with getting washed up on the sharp rocks. Not nice. The spot is for experienced wave sailors only!
Kiteboarding:
Perfect conditions when you are outside. Difficult to launch the kite within all the sharp rocks and stones. Hard find the entrance. No mistakes tolerated. A nightmare getting back to shore.
Check the gallery for more impressions.
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