World renowned Frommer's Travel Guides just came out with their list of the best beaches in Orange County. Now granted, no one at Frommer's surfs or their list would have been significantly different (they list Blackie's in Newport as being one of the great beaches but not 54th Street- enough said).
They also list Main Beach in Laguna as one of the great beaches in the OC- which it is- but then the wheels fall off as they posted a shot from the San Clemente pier claiming it's Laguna. Whoops.
In general, some of the beaches they also have great waves (Salt Creek, Huntington Beach, The Wedge), while others are, well, are great beaches (Aliso, Thousand Steps, Crystal Cove).
To see the complete list, check out Frommer's 'The Best Beaches of Orange County'. On that note, I thought I should make my own list of great beaches of San Diego County that ALSO include great waves. What's the purpose of having a great beach if there's no waves to surf?! Plus your girl needs a place to layout while you get a 3 hour session in. So here's my list, in no particular order:
-Tijuana Sloughs: Creepy big wave reef at the border and lots of wildlife in and around the lagoon- as well as the water.
-Windansea: Picks up swells from the S, SW, W, and NW plus the shack on the beach is as cool as the million dollar homes surrounding it.
-Blacks: Massive cliffs, deepwater peaks, and surfing in the buff is all part of the appeal.
-15th St. Del Mar: Ok, so it needs a bit of swell and low tide before it gets fun. But as you wait for the conditions to come together, walk up the street to Rusty and grab a new stick. Or have a drink at Jake's on the beach. Or let your girl melt your credit card at Banana Republic.
-Cardiff Reef: Another fickle wave that needs the tide and swell to come together. So in the meantime, push your grom into ankle slappers at the rivermouth and strum your ukelele in the parking lot.
-Swamis: The headland, the temple, the empty beach. All so relaxing. Until you hit the line up with 100 frothing old guys on fishes. Worth it though to get just one wave. To yourself that is.
-Tamarack: Lots of little peaks on the scattered reefs. Just find a little spot and paddle out to get your groove on. Easy in, easy out. Isn't that what a session should be all about?
-Oceanside: There's so many good waves on miles upon miles of beaches here, it's no use picking just one spot along this coast. Lots of sandbars to make it a liquid skatepark.
-Trestles: Churches, Barbwires, Uppers, Lowers, Cottons, Middles, you name it. The phenomenal waves match the natural beauty of the habitat on shore.
Of course this isn't a definitive list and I'm sure I've left your favorite spot off. But maybe we should make this a mini bucket list and it is your duty as a surfer to get a session at each one of these spots this winter...
