Is a port and small coastal town in northwestern Peru, located in the La Libertad Region, north of the city of Trujillo. The town and beach are also called Puerto Malabrigo.
Chicama is famous for its surf break, which has been widely touted to be the longest rideable wave (excluding tidal bores) in the world (about 2.2km, and up to 4 minutes), although a Peruvian Surf Guide published in the early 2000s states that another nearby wave at "Pacasmayo" actually produces even longer rides (around 2.5km, and over 4 minutes). The distance from 'the point' to 'the pier' at Chicama is about 2.2km, which locals confirm has been ridden on a single wave, although the whole cape upon which the waves break, to their most westernmost end, is 4km long.
Locals have called the waves at Chicama, from the top of the Cape to the pier, "Malpaso", "Keys", "The Point", and "El Hombre". "The Point" is considered the best part of the wave and is the most famous, which will break for around 1km up to about 6 feet in size (Hawaiian scale), but to ride longer than this all the way to the pier (about 2.2km) on a single wave needs a swell >6 feet, which is quite rare. The bigger the waves, generally the better the wave and the main point will hold at least 10 feet Hawaiian scale (i.e. about 20 feet faces). The wave tends to speed up and slow down alternately, and it is rare to ride a single wave along the length of the point for this reason. There is also a middle section along the point which is rocky, generally hollower, but also fast and difficult to make after about 1000m, but locals claim to have achieved a single ride all the way to the pier, for a distance of about 2.2km, in 10 foot swells. Even this distance is not as long as the length of the pointbreak at Pacasmayo, which is at least 2.5km long, and which has also been claimed by locals to have been ridden all the way along on a single wave, on very large swells.
The water is cool (17-22o C), like much of Peru, due to cold currents from the south. Climate is warm and springlike (15-28o C), however wind chill is a factor, created by the venturi effects from the headland. A 2-3 mm wetsuit is recommended as well as booties for walking up the beach.
An interesting footnote is that in addition to local fishermen on "Caballitos de Totora", other surfers may have ridden the surf at Chicama long before. Casa Grande, Peru’s largest sugar plantation is located in the Chicama River Valley.
