Defending Paradise
Surfer|February 2017

Puerto Rico boasts some of the best, most picturesque waves in the Caribbean, and local surfers will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.

Ashtyn Douglas
Defending Paradise

Most days the caramel-colored shores of El Mix are like a postcard in motion, with a backdrop of azure A-frame peaks being groomed by offshore winds, framed by palm and almond trees swaying gently along the sand’s edge. In the pristine grasslands of Playuela that front El Mix, you typically don’t see much besides the tropical flora and fauna that reside there.

But today was different. A warm stickiness hung in the afternoon air as throngs of protestors gathered in the dirt parking lot of El Mix. Spanish proclamations blared through megaphones while surfers and local community members waved Puerto Rican flags and signs scrawled with messages saying “Nuestras playas no se venden!” which translates to, Our beaches are not for sale!

At the front of the group, three people banged on tambourines and led a chant as the crowd followed along, shouting and clapping in unison:

“Playuela, sí! Columbus, no!”

Behind the protestors, acres of verdant land sat still and beautiful. Sunlight was trying to poke through the low nimbostratus clouds hanging moodily in the sky above. As I made my way through the masses, looking for local Puerto Rican surfer Dylan Graves, an enormous, charcoal-gray billow rumbled just a few miles away, prompting those with signs to open umbrellas to prevent their messages from bleeding.

When I found Graves, he was echoing the chorus and rhythmically thrusting a Haydenshapes surfboard above his head. On the nose, he’d written “NO COLUMBUS LANDING” in big, bold letters. Behind him in the distance sat a patch of cleared land and a small fleet of yellow bulldozers.

This story is from the February 2017 edition of Surfer.

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This story is from the February 2017 edition of Surfer.

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