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The Palm Steakhouse
Happy Bellies Jobos
Metropol
Parrot Club
Nativo Bar & Grill
Yamato Sushi
Soliel Beach Club
Che's Argentine Steakhouse
Lolita's Tex Mex
BARS & PUBS
Logans Irish Pub
Migas Condado
Tamboo Beside the Pointe
Dunbars
The New Shannons
Shots Bar & Grill
Restaurant Fratelli
Lupi's Mexican Cantina
Hollywoods
Brass Cactus
Doubleteams Sport Bar
Adventure Tourism
Jobos Beach
Arecibo Observatory
Salinas Speedway
Taino Divers
Camuy Caves
Luquillo Beach
Paseo Princessa
Playa Santa
Mar Chiquita
La Guancha
Taller Ce
Plaza Las Americas
Wildo or Rincon, but not the groms. When
Jobos boils over at 6 to 8 feet, everyone heads
to breaks that are more capable of holding
such a swell. And if your only 3 ½ feet tall,
charging throaty Jobos amounts to double
overhead bombs. May 26 saw no surrender
from the youngest of competitors at the Rip
Curl Grom Search held in Isabela, Puerto Rico.
With 3 time World Champion Tom Curren
in town and the Puerto Rico Surfing Federation pitching in, contest organizers turned out a world class event.
“All of the planets were aligned this weekend for the 1st stop of the Rip curl Grom Search here at Jobos, said
Jose ‘Nono’ Sierra, Puerto Rico’s Rip Curl rep. “ We’ve got waves at the end of May, more groms charging than
any event held here and a great family turn-out – the event was a total success.
Nono described the waves as ‘gnarly huge’ in the morning so there was a short delay for safety reasons. At
around 60 lbs, paddling into waves this big sometimes takes a little push for the smallest of groms, so Puerto
Rico Surfing Federation President Carlos Cabrero and others swam out to give moral support on Big Saturday.
“Waves were a little big and closing out, but we still had fun, said Jose Tavares, Split Team rider who took 2nd
place in Boys 16 and under. In the boys 12 and under Division, Caguas native Christian Rivera took first place
with Tom Curren’s sons Patrick and Frank rounding out the top 3.
In the 14 and under Boys Division, usual suspect Hector Santa Maria was comfortable in the heaving surf with
high scoring 8 and 9 point waves taking the victory for his division. Rounding out the top three were Roger
Torres and Bernardo Martinez.
And for the Diva groms, Liz Caban added to her resume by winning the Girls sixteen and under closely followed
by Rocio de la Cruz and Notchka Aceveda.
Boys 16 and under had a trip to the National Grom Search final up for grabs and also a possible all expense paid
trip to Bells Beach, Australia. All competitors, barely old enough to drive, had their game face on and with double
digit scoring waves, all were in the fast lane to victory, but Eric Torres decisively took down his fellow competitors
by fearlessly hacking away at the Jobos rights.
On a closing note, Nono gave props to all competitors and to Peggy Toth, who helped organize the contest. Don’
t stop the Carnival –the Rip Curl Grom Search heads to California and local winner Eric Torres heads to
Nationals later this summer. Best of Luck Eric!
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