Surf: From Puerto San Jose to Monterrico lies the longest stretch of coastal road in Guatemala, allowing multiple beaches to be checked out without really leaving the highway. 5km (3mi) after Puerto San Jose is Balneario Likin, one of the country’s only high-end coastal resorts. The surf also ranks among the best in the country, with hollow rivermouth and jetty peaks at La Barra, rideable till slightly overhead. Needs low incoming tide or slack high to avoid the killer rip. Often long and predictable, the righthander is a great ride with hollow pockets interspersed by slashable shoulders. The left off the peak sucks hard and leads straight onto the rocky tip of the jetty, often closing-out. The sandbars shift around affecting shape and quality and the river flow causes hectic rips on dropping tides, but low incoming or even dead high on big swells is the time to surf. There is a surf camp nearby and some local surfers come down from Puerto San Jose, but generally crowds are not a problem. Environment: One of the few waves where beginners will struggle with the sucky take-off and current, but there are easier beachbreaks nearby.