I'm planning a surf trip out there for November. Where is the best beach/hotel to stay at during this time of the year? Hows the surf?? Is there really thattt much rain in November??? Any input would be really appreciated. Thanks
How much money you got??? Personally, I would stay in a central location like Hotel Circle, you'll be within striking distance of just about every beach and reef in SD. In November, it won't be a question of if there'll be surf, but exactly where. A good rule of thumb is: if the beachbreaks (except Blacks) are over 4-5 foot, start looking for a reefbreak. I could go on all day about the breaks....but I'll just throw out a few. Imperial Beach: down by the Mex border. Strong A-frames that pitch, tube and spit. Slightly less powerful than Blacks, doesn't hold nearly the size and hardly ever crowded. Sunset Cliffs: a series of reef breaks that start breaking over 4 foot. Kelp keeps it glassy. Many spots are difficult to access (why they call it "The Cliffs"). Watch, learn and you could be rewarded. OB, MB and PB: the city beachbreaks. Surf off the Jetties can get very good, and very crowded and the scene of many brawls. Beaches are average but fairly consistent. La Jolla: Quirky and shallow reefs run by tight-knit crews. Don't just pull straight into the peak without due respect. Also home to Blacks Beach, one of the biggest and best sandbars on the coast. North County: lots of fine beaches and reefs with kelp to keep things nice and glassy. Cardiff, Carlsbad and Oceanside are usually the most consistent. You should do fine with a high quality 3/2 and 3mm booties in November, but many use a 4/3. Whatever. Have fun and good luck. You'll find a bunch of East Coast transplants out there to surf with, I'm sure.
WOW! THANKS!! That was deffinitly a response beyond my expectations. I'm a little conserned about surfing the reefs tho.. I've never surfed a reef before. Are there any tips that I should be aware of about surfing the reefs down there??
Man, Im sorry but these guys on here are leading you in the wrong direction. Staying in Hotel Circle is the worst idea ever. That place is a **** hole, and unless you like hanging out at the mall you will have to drive to do anything and the traffic is horrible. I am going to give you golden advice as I am from the east coast but lived in La Jolla for years. Stay in La Jolla proper or stay in Pacific Beach. La Jolla has multiple reef breaks with incredibly easy access and then it has two great beach breaks (Blacks and Scripps pier). The one guy was right that the reefs are pretty localized, but if you keep your mouth shut and dont paddle right to the peak and start burning people you will be just fine and not have 1 problem. Someone said the reefs are hard to access, and that just makes no sense. You can pull up park on the curb and walk 50 feet to every reef break. Windansea is a perfect example of a awesome reef break that is 25 feet off the road. If you surf Scripps stay near the pier as it sucks everywhere else. Blacks is the best Beach Break maybe in the world and if its good go there every single day and dont even look anywhere else. November is a great month and you will only need a 3/2 with no boots. IB is a **** hole and Oceanside is a **** hole dont waste your time. If you want to get out of La Jolla, go to San Clemente and that it. If i were you i would stay at the travel lodge in La Jolla, walk to surf windansea and then drive 5 miles to surf blacks, and I would never get on the highway once.
ummmm.....I was born and raised in SD and lived there for over 30 years. Hotel Circle is 5-10 minutes away from Mission Blvd, which keeps you off of Hwy 5 and takes you from OB to Oceanside. But if you have the $$$$, go ahead and stay at a hotel next to the beach. I can GUARANTEE that no matter which beach you stay at, you WILL get in a car to travel to a different beach to surf. This place ain't OCMD or Casino Pier where you every sandbar for miles is almost exactly the same. If you're sketch about surfing reefs, then I would avoid surfing La Jolla reefs and go straight to Cardiff, where the reefs are gentler and deeper and so are the locals. The great thing about surfing reefs is that you'll take very few waves on the head due to channels on one or both sides of a reef, unlike paddling out in big beachbreak conditions. I'm not gonna argue about somebody else's opinions on PB or IB or O'side....everybody has an opinion. I'd recommend that you go check it out for yourself and draw your own opinion afterward. P.S.---a few recommendations here for surfing Trestles in San Clemente. I didn't recommend it and I normally wouldn't because it's not "San Diego", it's actually Orange County, and because I don't like surfing with 300 bozos from around the world. Other than that, it's a fantastic wave.
zaGaffer, cool. I actually learned at Crystal Pier and Law Street while getting screamed at by Joe Roper and Skip Frye....a long time ago. I'll be out there in September to surf the reefs, maybe I'll shoot you a PM for a surf.
I can't imagine flying out from the east coast and just surfing weak assed Tourmaline, Crystal Pier, and Mission Beach jetty - below average spots in that stretch to avoid dropping $200 on a ****ty car rental. Windansea Blacks Sunset Cardiff Swami Church Trestles We're used to surfing in crowds on the east coast...when in SD, i want to surf high quality waves to justify the five hour flight. Wave for quality wave, Blacks- Sunset- Church- arent as crowded as decent spots in the mid atlantic. Mission Beach, and the Pier at PB are mushier, more average waves (not all days - they do get fun but they seem weak a lot of the time) than a lot of what we deal with in the mid atlantic. None of the reef spots are hard to find. Nothing out there is hard to find - especially fake racks on rollerblades. Crazy. EDIT: i realize im talking about a big stretch of coast and driving up to an hour north to get to some of those spots. When i go our there i dont mind doing it. I've scored fun chest high Church with 5 people out on a random afternoon check. But theres something to be said for just posting up in PB like you said and surfing nearby. I should probably try it sometime. I drive way to much and have kind of grown immune to it.
Im a nj native belmar/casino pier are my normal spots. I have been to CA about 16 times in 9 years for weeks at a time. I have family that lives out there because of military. One of the first times I ever went I stayed here http://www.carlsbadinn.com/ was directly on the beach next to a beginner break, a walk down the beach was Tamarak. It was late September the water was super warm I also think the pros where in town for the Trestles contest or the US open at Huntington I forget which one, all I know is that the swells where decent about 10ft. I surfed every single day more than I ever had in NJ and although Tamarak is a beginner wave my hotel was still right on the beach and the wave was better than anything I have ever surfed in NJ. Carlsbad was also cool because other than the beach it had a decent night life all in walking distance. Locals where awesome I had no issues. I would definite go back to carlsbad. I think that trip I also surfed Churces too... not sure the trips blend together. Churces had almost no one surfing it and the waves where good. Since then I have stayed close to Miramar SD which is very close to La jolla. This by far was the best home base. Like some of the other posters have said La Jolla is perfect a lot of beach access and its easy. I have had some great waves in La Jolla, locals where a non issue and crowds are not as bad as people say. Ocean side is ****! so is IB!! I would not waste your time going to either of those two places its trash bro. In my CA travels over the years I have surfed Uppers, Lowers, Churches, Swamis (amazing), Blacks (amazing feels like my home breaks but much better) La Jolla cove, Scrips, Oceanside, Iperial Beach, tamarak and windnsea to name a few. These are all well known so please no one cry to me. If you want more info you can also hit me up. I need to get my ass to ventura never been north of LA. Like others have said don't worry about the "Reef" breaks in SD they are mostly stone and its not jagged stone either...you will be fine. Plus when I surfed my first real reef (coral) I didnt feel ready...you have to start some day.
Just Paddle out at the north jetty in Ocean Beach and start speaking Portuguese. They will quickly show you around the area.
Huntington Beach and Oxnard are "trash" too....but that doesn't mean that the waves are "trash". Hollywood By The Sea is almost a carbon copy of Blacks, except that you'll be paddling out with guys that look like they should be part of the Sinaloa Cartel. I will admit that IB can get pretty bad, but I've never gotten sick in over 20 years of surfing that place. I just don't paddle out when the water is brown. Brown water = Mexican Brown Trout P.S.---if you have any buddies in the military, I know of some bomb spots where you'll be surfing with just you and your buddy. Military pass is mandatory.
Maybe you have other reasons, but if you're going to fly that far, why wouldn't you go to central america (probably not that much more expensive), or just go to puerto rico?
My two cents: 1. Whoever is telling you to stay at hotel circle is a quack. Its like 3 miles inland. Im sorry, but if I'm going on vacation, I'm staying ocean front... Get a spot in PB/MB and you will have a blast. even if the waves aren't great. As for surf, we should be getting winter swells around then. GO TO BLACKS EVERYDAY. Check the reefs in la jolla once and a while. I really like hospitals. Shallow short left. Windan gets so crowded with the ****head locals. and you must surf the cliffs.
