Tres Palmas is the premiere big wave surf spot in Puerto Rico. It is a perfect right-hand outer reef that only comes alive on large swells, and starts breaking at double overhead. It at times is tubular, but mostly some beautiful open face walls perfect for high-performance carving. It can hold a clean 20-30 feet and breaks over a semi shallow reef. It has three sections; inside, middle and outer reef. It is known for breaking boards, so a backup is not a bad idea.
Tres Palmas has a deepwater trench that focuses long-period swell into big meaty peaks that draw up and challenges you to stay on your eight-foot pintail as you freefall down the face. There is a big easy channel that runs south of the reef and is relatively effortless to slide from the beach right into the booming lineup. However, if there is west in the swell the clean-up sets can be unpredictable and unavoidable.
It is a unique big wave spot in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in general. Hence, the locals wait for it all year, and have it wired There are a large number of traveling surfers that wait for Tres Palmas to come alive. Expect crowds. However, they tend to get tired by late afternoon, and it is possible to catch uncrowded windows of opportunity.
