World Cup spot PacasmayoPopular surf hotel levelled by bulldozers

Stephan Gölnitz

 · 23.01.2025

The Hotel El Faro was the victim of bulldozers (symbolic image)
Photo: Stephan Gölnitz
The hotel is history, but the wonderful viewpoint may soon be open to the public.
In Pacasmayo last week, it wasn't the legendary, kilometre-long waves that rolled onto the beach, but bulldozers over the grounds of the - now former - El Faro resort.

According to the Peruvian Undiario online magazine (report with photos), the El Faro hotel complex, which is popular with windsurfers, was completely levelled under police guard. The spot has already hosted the IWT Wave Tour several times and is famous for its legendary long waves. Worldcupper Maria Andres' spot reports certainly ensured that the location ended up on some people's bucket list.

According to the magazine quoted, the hotel was apparently built illegally on municipal land and now stood in the way of the renovation of the dilapidated seafront road and the construction of a new seafront promenade from Pacasmayo to El Faro Beach. However, the cheaper accommodation has always been in the town centre and the tuk-tuk ride from there to the spot costs only a few soles, even with equipment on the roof. So the dream of endless waves remains, even if the most comfortable accommodation for windsurfing has disappeared.


Stephan Gölnitz

Stephan Gölnitz

Deputy Editor in Chief surf

Stephan Gölnitz comes from Bochum and had Holland as his home windsurfing territory for many years before moving to Munich in 1996 for the job of test editor at surf magazine. The materials engineering graduate worked as a surf instructor on the Ijsselmeer during his studies and competed for several seasons for the Essen sailing team in the Surfbundesliga and the Funboard Cup. He completed a traineeship at surf-Magazin in the test department and since then has actively accompanied almost all tests on the boom and for more than 10 years also as a photographer. Stephan has covered many thousands of test kilometers, mainly on Lake Garda and in Langebaan, but also in Egypt and Tobago. He gets his hands on over 100 new sails and boards every year as his company car. Privately, he prefers to surf with a foil on Lake Walchensee or “unfortunately far too rarely” in the waves. SUP is Stephan's second passion, which he pursued for several years at numerous SUP races. Today, he prefers to paddle on river tours with family or friends - even for several days.

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