Ilianet Nuñez Valdovinos: Surfing Queen

Me encantó. I loved it. That’s how Ilianet describes catching her first wave. The phrase translates literally as “I was charmed”. What a way to describe the indescribable, that experience of catching a wave and gliding, not being in the water, not being on land, not being a creature of the air, but feeling like one. I started following Ilianet on Instagram years ago, her easy way on her surfboard popping up on a surf feed. Since then, I’ve seen her raise her daughters, run her restaurant and surf like a queen, dancing across her board while the rest of us happily watch. When Aura told me she found someone who talks about surfing the way I do, I clicked on the post and found it was Ilianet. I had to meet her.

‍

LOT: What was here when you were a kid?

Ilianet: There was nothing, only a few properties, marked off, undeveloped. My grandparents owned some of that property on the beach.

‍

LOT: Were they fishermen?

Ilianet: No. My grandparents worked in the countryside, as ranchers and farmers.

‍

LOT: How many generations of your family have lived here?

Ilianet: As far as I know, five generations on my father’s side have lived in Los Llanos. My generation is the first to live in Saladita. Now, our children do, too.

‍

LOT: How did your family end up in La Saladita?

Ilianet: My grandparents bequeathed some beachfront property to my father. Even though we already had a grocery store in Los Llanos, the earnings weren’t enough to support the family, so my parents found themselves needing to start a new business on that property. That became Enramada Ilianet.

‍

LOT: Did you grow up working there?

Ilianet: Yes, in the little store in Los Llanos and then in the restaurant, when I was 11 years old. That was, more or less, the year 2001.

‍

LOT: What motivated you to go surfing?

Ilianet: That happened after we came to live in La Saladita. A foreign friend, an American, told me I had to surf. He had a daughter my age who was also learning to surf. That was a little odd because at that time there were no women surfing. It was just men. He came to visit Saladita even though it was more like camping back then. No electricity or water. One day he told me, “Let’s go, you need to learn to surf.” I was unsure about that. I said, “I don’t know.” But he said, “You need to learn to surf because this wave is going to become very famous. You need to represent La Saladita.” I didn’t understand. I was a child.

I also didn’t want to go because he liked to go out early, like 5:30, or at first light, at 6. It’s cold at that hour. I didn’t want to leave my bed. I told him, “I’m not leaving”, but he got me up. Then he got me on the wave. After that first one, I was like “Wow!” I loved it. We were in the water for more than two hours. I learned very quickly. He told me, “You have a natural talent.” He pushed me and I somehow knew how to stay on and steer.

‍

LOT: What did you like about that first wave?

Ilianet: It was the most beautiful and incredible feeling I had ever experienced, an emotion that, as a child, I couldn’t describe. I couldn’t believe I was riding a surfboard while catching waves at an incredible speed without falling, just following the wave, my hair flying in the wind. It was so much fun that after almost two hours I said, “I want to do this for the rest of my life.”

‍

LOT: What made you want to do it again?

Ilianet: It was fun. But, really, it was the emotions I felt in that moment. The freedom. The rush. It was so different from any other sport, any other experience I’d ever been a part of. The sea is a whole other thing. What a sensation. Our friend had to leave the next day to go back to the United States. I asked him, “What am I going to do now? I want to keep surfing.” We had surfboards my brothers used, and we had a few others from friends who left theirs with us. The next day, I grabbed a board and I went into the sea by myself. I really liked being there. I was so happy in the water. I felt very comfortable.

‍

LOT: Did your brothers want you to surf?

Ilianet: They were happy to see me out there. My mom was a little scared. She was afraid for me being there alone. She said, “You’re too small.” But my brothers were there. They kept an eye on me. Like I said, in those years, there weren’t many people here, and only a few of us in the water. All the men knew my parents had the restaurant and that I was the little girl there. They all took care of me, they helped me out, telling me when a wave was coming, where to go, when to get after it. Dale [dah-leh]. Go. Most of our friends were in Los Llanos. There were no children here, just me and my brothers, so we went to the water. That’s where we played every day.

‍

LOT: Where do you like to surf now?

Ilianet: Saladita is still my favorite. I don’t have to drive. The water is warm. I’ve traveled to other surf spots because I like to compete, but every time I go out in another wave I realize, all over again, that we have a paradise.

‍

LOT: What do you feel when you’re out there surfing?

Ilianet: When I’m in the water, I like to connect with the movement of the sea. Every wave that comes has its own motion, its own story, its own dance. I surf on a longboard and I love the movement of my body with the wave, how I connect to the wave with my board. For me, it’s like dancing with the wave. It’s up to me to select the right one, one that allow me to make the movements I like, the movements I make with my hands, with my body. The fact I let the wave come to me relaxes me a lot. I’m not thinking about anything, what’s going on around me or what’s going on anywhere in life, I’m just connecting to the sea and to myself. Sometimes, I like to sing, especially when I’m on my own. I get that relaxed.

‍

LOT: Where do you go on the wave at Saladita? Do you go all the way outside, or to the peak, or to the inside?

Ilianet: I don’t like going to the peak. There are always too many people there wanting the best wave of the set, and, in the end, they don’t even make it past where that section breaks. I have my own spot, one that’s best for me, where I can get the rides I like, where the waves let me do my dance.

‍

LOT: Have you found another wave somewhere else that you like?

Ilianet: Two years ago, I visited Malibu, California. It’s a wave similar to Saladita, only it breaks to the right, which I like because it helps me practice frontside.

‍

LOT: Do you have a sponsor?

Ilianet: Yes, for my boards. Mine are nine-four [that’s nine feet, four inches in length]. They’re from Hot Rod Surf in San Diego.

‍

LOT: How did you connect with them?

Ilianet: We have some bungalows at the restaurant and someone who has been with us for many years said, “Hey, I have a friend who makes boards. You surf very well. I’m going to talk to my friend. Maybe he can make surfboards for you.”. That friend, Mark Whitney Mehran, visited Saladita and we talked. Mark told me, “Ili, I would like you to use my boards. I can bring you boards once a year and you’ll always have new boards.” I’ve gone up to San Diego to surf, at Tourmaline, Mark’s home break [in North Pacific Beach], and at Encinitas and San Onofre. I go up there when the water’s not so cold, when I can use a thin wetsuit.

‍

LOT: What kind of swimsuits do you like to use here?

Ilianet: I’m old school when it comes to what I wear surfing. I like the full suits. Right now, I’m using a lot of full suits that have shorts because they’re super comfortable. For me, surfing, I need to have a good board and a swimsuit that makes me feel comfortable, so that when the time comes to make my move, everything is in place, I don’t have to be reaching, adjusting. I like to feel fashionable in the water and what I wear sometimes depends on my mood. Luckily, I have brands that send me swimsuits. I work with them, sharing content, but I look for suits that make me feel comfortable, elegant, that don’t show too much.

‍

LOT: Do you still go out early in the morning?

Ilianet: Before I had my daughters, I liked to go at first light, at 6. Now, I take them to school and then I go surfing, like 8:30 or so. I try to go every day, for a couple of hours.

‍

LOT: Do you like to surf alone or with a partner?

Ilianet: When I travel or go to other beaches, I like to go with friends, but at Saladita, where the waves feel like home, I’d prefer to surf alone, jaja [Ha-ha, funny, because there are always people out surfing in Saladita, from first light to last light].

‍

LOT: What do you see on land from the water?

Ilianet: I love to see the mountains, to see everything in Saladita. Watching the sunrise, the sunlight coming over the mountains, that’s my favorite. I like looking at the palm trees. They’re still taller than the houses. Even though the community has grown a lot, I still see more palm trees than houses. Palm trees all the way up to the mountains. That’s the landscape for me.

‍

LOT: Do you use the mountains to triangulate your position in the water? To find the spot where the wave breaks the way you want?

Ilianet: When I started surfing, my friend showed me some landmarks so I could position myself where the wave would break. Now, many years later, I still sometimes use those landmarks—a palm tree and a house.

‍

LOT: When you’re surfing, how do you protect your face from the sun?  

Ilianet: I have a brand of sunscreen that is my favorite, that I found at a competition in Baja in 2019. It’s called Valchini. It keeps my freckles in check. With other sunscreens, my freckles were getting more visible, more distinct. This one fit me like a cape. It looks like makeup, but it doesn’t run in the water. My eyes don’t burn. When I get out of the water I have to remove it with a sponge and soap. It’s organic, too.

LOT: How do you describe courtesy in water? How do you make room for others?

Ilianet: How do I handle it? I am very respectful in the water. I also have a lot of patience, the patience to wait for the right wave for me. And, I’m lucky that everyone here knows me, that everyone in the water is so nice to me. I’ve learned how to read the wave, to watch what other people are doing. I know where I can go. I know when I can go. I like sharing the waves. Sometimes there are people who act like they want to take the waves home with them, that it’s theirs. I let them. I have way too much going on to deal with that sort of thing. The most important thing is to be kind. That kindness always comes back.

‍

LOT: Do you pray when you are in the water?

Ilianet: Every day I go in, I feel so blessed. I typically say something like, “Virgencita, here I am again, coming back to the water. Yay. Please give me pretty waves. Protect me. I love you, I respect you and I always ask for permission to enter the sea. [Virgencita, Ya vengo otra vez al agua. Ajá. Regálame, por favor, olas bonitas. Cuídame. Yo te quiero, te respeto y siempre pido permiso para poder entrar al mar.]

And when the waves are big, it’s like “Virgencita, please take care of me and don’t let my board go. And send me a wave to help me get out.” I’m always asking to get good waves and be taken care of, and I don’t use a leash so I don’t want to lose my board.

‍

LOT: No leash?

Ilianet: When [longboard surfing contest] MexiLogFest came here eight years ago, one of their rules was you had to surf without a leash. I liked it. It was difficult at first, but then I found it gave me a new freedom on my board. It let me move, glide and dance in a new way. It also taught me to be even more aware of where I’m positioned and where the wave is breaking. I have to take responsibility that my board doesn’t get away from me, that it doesn’t get in someone else’s way. That’s why I’m always watching the sea, I’m always alert. I am calculating everything. I am calculating where the wave is going to break, where it’s going to come from, how fast it’s going to arrive, where I am and what the people I have around me are doing. It’s made me a better surfer. But it didn’t come easily. I’ve learned to read and select my waves more carefully.

‍

LOT: When I go for a wave, I ask for permission. I say, “If you will have me.” Do you do anything like that?

Ilianet: Whenever I’m going to take my last wave, I always ask, “Please send me a really good wave that can get me all the way into the beach, to the restaurant.” Even if it doesn’t come like that, all at once, it’s a moment of gratitude. For me, when I teach–usually women, I like teaching women–the most important thing I tell them is that they need to enjoy themselves. They need to relax, not get frustrated, because the energy you have in the water is the same energy the sea is going to give you. If you’re frustrated, if you’re angry, you’re not going to get any good waves. I know because it’s happened to me. It’s better to try to connect, relax and enjoy yourself.

Link:

https://www.instagram.com/ilianetnv

All photos courtesy of Ilianet Nuñez Valdovinos