Peru has some of the longest waves in the world which makes it a pro surfer’s paradise. It’s no wonder that Peru has some of the best surfers in the world and many of them are women. Sofia Mulanovich is one of the many Peruvian women living life on the waves.

Peru’s hidden gem
When you think of Peru it’s easy to conjure up world-beating destinations: Machu Picchu or Cusco; or perhaps the culinary chefs who have put the country firmly on the international leader-board. But what about surfing? My daughter, Anna is a passionate surfer and loves nothing more than heading out early in the morning to ride the waves.
Given Peru is blessed with more than 2,400 km or 1,500 miles of coastline, it’s the place to head for – Mancora in the North, Punta Hermosa just south of Lima – and Playa Chicama, 20 miles north of Trujillo – home to the world’s longest left – are three beaches the cool dudes head for. A start is to be born, as Sofia Mulanovich was, with the surf at your doorstep.

Sofia Mulanovich’s childhood and success
Sofia Mulanovich Aljovin is a 3-time World Surfing Champion and the first Peruvian ever to win a World League Championship Tour event and the first Latin American ever to win the World Title in 2004. Amazingly too, at the age of 38, she competed in the 2000 Tokyo Olympics where she reached a respectable third round.
Born in 1983 in the surfing resort of Punta Hermosa – of Croatian descent – she took to the sport aged three – her parents and older brothers were both keen surfers – her mother ran a beachside smoothie stand and her father worked in a fish-processing plant. She soon showed the skill and determination to ride the wave to success. Aged 13, she made the quarter-finals of the US Open of Surfing competition, and from then on, from 2004, to win six-straight World Titles. On winning the gold medal at the ISA World Surfing Games in Miyazaki, Japan in 2004, she said, “This Gold Medal means the world to surfers in Peru. Two Peruvians just won Golds at the Pan Am Games in Lima and winning here just adds to that.” She added with a smile, “Surfing is growing so much in Latin America, and Peru is here to stay.”
Surfer and activist
She was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame in 2007 in Huntington Beach, California, and is also recognized as one of Peru’s leading environmental activists, fighting to prevent the encroachment of property development on surf beaches – and like surfers around the world, battling to ensure the sea is as clean as possible.
Supporting young surfers
Sofia also never lost sight of her roots and the opportunities that were made possible by family and supporters along the way. Supported by one of her sponsors, Swatch, La Gringa – as friends call her – created Proyecto Sofia in San Pedro, a high-performance youth surf academy for the sole purpose of sharing her surfing experience and passion with young people regardless of their social background, helping to prepare them for opportunities and challenges they might encounter in and out of the sea.

Sofia and her team spent hours watching more than 70 young boys and girls as they took to the ways, eventually selecting just ten for the Academy. The staff is not only coaches but nutritionists and sports psychologists. And who knows, perhaps we’ll see another Peruvian surfer represent the country at the next Summer Olympic Games in Paris in 2024?
She is also an ambassador for the country’s gay community, living with her girlfriend and son not far from where her remarkable rise to fame began.
Documentary
If you are intrigued to discover more about Sofia’s life, surf the net for the one-hour film, Sofia: A Documentary, completed in 2006 and directed by Peter Goetz.
But let’s leave the last word to Sofia. When asked what it is she loves most about what she does, she said, “Being on tour is the most wonderful thing ever, you get to surf good waves, meet amazing people, experience different cultures and at the same time you do what you love. It is living the dream’.
If you would like to try surfing in Peru, let our travel experts know and they can set up your equipment and/or lessons.
Cover photo sourced from El Comercio