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A sprawling metropolis with a population of approximately 10 million people, Los Angeles is home to movie stars, extravagant homes, 12-lane freeways and nearly 96km (60mi) of Pacific Coast beaches. Among the surf spots of California’s largest city, none can claim to be as famous as Malibu and its long righthanders breaking beside the coastal Highway 1. Tom Blake pioneered the break in 1926, but Malibu’s fame really took off in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Along with a host of other surf legends, Miki Dora’s stylish riding prowess exposed the wave to the surf world, while a movie based on a Malibu surfer girl, Gidget, was presenting surfing to the mainstream. With the exception of the area north of Santa Monica and the Palos Verdes peninsula, LA County is all beachbreak, but man made structures like piers and jetties provide some good sand bars. Over development of the LA basin has resulted in huge volumes of urban run-off from the coastal concrete jungle, causing regular beach closures from high bacteria counts and other toxic pollutants.
When to Go
The primary source of swell comes from the SW groundswells April to September or tropical cyclones off Mexico between July and October. Waves can reach 12ft (3.6m) but average 3-8ft (1-2.5m) as Santa Catalina Island can block some of the swell. Aleutian lows in winter (Oct-March), bring waves 2-8ft (0.6-2.5m) waves to the beaches but it wont get in between Malibu and Santa Monica. Before and after summer, frequent 2-6ft (0.6-2m) W swells appear from distant West Pacific groundswell or near shore windswell. Calm days and offshore days are more common in winter even though the magical E Santa Ana winds tend to blow in late summer. Dominant winds are NW-W. NW sea breeze usually chops things up from noon until dusk. Winds are rarely strong and glassy days are a SoCal feature. Tides vary from 4-7ft (1.2-2.1m): getting a tide table is easy.
Surf Spots
Statistics |
J
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F
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M
|
A
|
M
|
J
|
J
|
A
|
S
|
O
|
N
|
D
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| dominant swell |
W -NW |
W -NW |
SW -W |
S -W |
SW -NW |
W -NW |
| swell size (ft) |
5 |
4 |
3-4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
| consistency (%) |
80 |
73 |
68 |
39 |
44 |
67 |
| dominant wind |
NW -NE |
W -NW |
W -NW |
W -NW |
W -NW |
N -NE |
| average force |
F3 |
F4 |
F4 |
F4 |
F4 |
F3 |
| consistency (%) |
63 |
60 |
65 |
66 |
66 |
66 |
| water temp (C) |
14 |
15 |
16 |
19 |
19 |
16 |
| wetsuit |
4/3 |
4/3 |
3/2 |
3/2 |
3/2 |
3/2 |
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Travel Information
Weather
Southern California is famous for its reliably sunny weather. It hardly ever rains especially from spring to fall, but there are many morning fogs, which dissipate by noon, unlike the constant LA smog. The sun shines, perpetuating light onshore seabreezes. The driest, sunniest time occurs with late summer Santa Ana conditions, when winds blow in from the desert. Nov to Feb brings mild winter weather with a few rainy days. Water temp is the warmest in California but still requires a steamer most of the time. Water is warmer in Santa Monica Bay than San Diego because there is no upwelling. El Niño years have warmer water temps, lots of swells and flooding rains.
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Lodging and Food
The Malibu Beach Inn is right on the beach south of the pier ($170/dble), Casa Malibu Inn is a bit cheaper, starting at $100. Malibu Creek State Park Campground is open year round and affordable. Other options include the Hotel California in Santa Monica ($160) or Cadillac Hotel in Venice ($80).
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Nature and Culture
Cruising on Coastal Highway 1 means checking the surf and the rich and famous’ houses perched on the hillsides. Body-builders, posers, jugglers and activists: Venice boardwalk’s characters’ gallery is a must see. Of course LA offers endless entertainment possibilities.
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