Being a water photographer at the fifth-annual Mexi Log Fest in Saladita, Mexico was like being dropped right into the middle of the most incredible three-dimensional longboarding movie. Imagine 140 of the world’s most talented surfers, a week filled with mezcal and tacos, many sombreros in and out of the water, and a nearly perfect pumping left-hand point break. It comes as no surprise that this year’s Mexi Log Fest produced a fine combination of high stoke and a heartfelt celebration of longboarding.
Every year, this single fin invitational pushes the concept of surfing competitions to new heights and in doing so has set up a friendly approach to the competitive aspect of the festival. Inviting 80 men and 60 women, each surfer gets the opportunity to surf three individual heats and after six days the judges determined the 16 highest scores for the men and women, who progress to the quarterfinals.
With this year’s final stacked with such a concentrated number of talented surfers, the excitement on the last day of Mexi Log Fest 2019 was underscored by an incoming swell that brought six-to-eight-foot surf into the bay overnight. Hawaii’s Kaniela Stewart and Honolua Blomfield took the wins with jaw-dropping nose rides, smooth cutbacks, switch riding, and each displaying overwhelming style and poise. The performances on finals day were some that everyone on the beach will not soon forget. Unless, of course, there was too much tequila that day.
