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JOURNAL
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE
Huntington Beach calls itself Surf City and has the record to back it up: a long pier, a beach break that works most of the year, and a competitive lineup that reflects both. The waves either side of the pier are the ones that show up on television. They are also the ones with the most people in them and the most local pecking order to read.
Farther south the character changes. San Clemente and San Onofre draw a mellower, longboard-leaning crowd riding slower, more forgiving waves. San Onofre in particular has a long reputation as a place where beginners and old-timers share water without much friction. The surf runs smaller on average and the sessions run longer.
The mistake is picking a break by name. Sand moves constantly here. A bank that was working in March can be flat and closing out by August. Swell direction, tide and wind decide the morning far more than reputation does, which is why the same beach can be excellent one day and pointless the next.
The most useful thing a visitor can do is walk into a surf shop near where you are staying and ask what is working today. They will tell you, because they would rather send you to the right sandbar than have you in the way at the wrong one. Rentals are easy to arrange the same way, and a lesson on a soft-top is a far better first morning than an hour of getting worked at the pier.
Beginners should stay on the softer banks well away from the pier pilings and away from the packed peak. Rip currents are the actual danger here, not wave size. Surf and swim near a lifeguard tower, and if a current pulls you out, swim parallel to the beach rather than straight back at it.
Mornings are usually cleanest, before the onshore wind comes up and turns the surface to chop. The water runs colder than the air suggests for most of the year, so plan on a wetsuit outside of late summer. Summer weekends bring crowds and paid lots that fill early. Winter is colder, emptier and often better. Your local manager can tell you which stretch is the short drive from the house, which usually settles where you start.