On Saturday I met with James Dobies the creator and owner of Pescadero Surf Camp, the longest continually operating business in Pescadero.  When James arrived in January of 1996, all of Cerritos was one giant ejido with no property for sale.  So, he told his real estate agent that he wanted a piece of property that was as close as possible to the beach and with an ocean view.  This was the start of Pescadero Surf Camp.

The property started with a single palapa and a bunch of surfboards.  James brought in a camper to stay in and his two sons lived in the back of a suburban.  Slowly, the surf camp was built out with simple palapas with guests paying $2 per person per night to stay.  James set up at another palapa on Cerritos Beach to rent surfboards to tourists.  By 2003, the Pescadero Surf Camp had a number of simple palapa buildings and some even had sides.  He had built a common kitchen that guests could use and there was a toilet that set over their septic system (a drum with holes punched in the sides surrounded by gravel that had to be dug by hand). 

That year, he decided that the surf camp had to have a swimming pool.  The only problem was that there were no backhoes (and no swimming pools) in Pescadero.  They had to bring a backhoe from Cabo San Lucas.  They immediately hit a rock while trying to excavate for the pool.  They obtained a chipping attachment and the rock broke several points.  James was down at the beach renting surfboards when he looked up to see smoke coming from the surf camp.  Worried that one of the palapas was on fire, he rushed right back to the property.  When he arrived, what he saw was two big tires and gasoline on fire in the excavation, along with a huge drum of water beside it.  He wondered what was going on.  Once the rock was superheated, the workers poured the water on it and he said that you could hear the rock cracking.  After that, they were able to easily break up the rock and finish the excavation of the pool.

The Pescadero Surf Camp now has a whole series of tiered campsites and ten casitas, including two penthouses with spectacular views of Cerritos Beach and the Pacific Ocean.  The place is always in a state of renovation, with two casitas currently being redone.  Guests have access to WiFi and there is a lounge above the office with a television so they can watch sports.  With an outdoor communal kitchen and a sunken dining area at the end of the pool, the place is simple but a surfer’s dream, with reasonable prices.  During the last few months. there have been visitors from Europe and New Zealand as well as the United States and Canada.  With guests from around the world, James has had as many as 14 countries represented at one time, with everyone getting to know each other and sharing their experiences.