Surfing Waves

NorCal Folks,

I've been surfing Linda Mar so much now and am so used to close-outs and wall2wall longboards that I'm pretty sure if I ever see a gorgeous empty barrel, I'll just shake my head and walk away, wait for realistic conditions.

Sometimes I go up to Bolinas, which is less crowded but an hour and a half drive. I'm thinking now about trying out Montara, which is much closer. Wondering how stupid that is for a newbie. I.e. a guy who catches lots of waves but still occasionally looks like he's waving people away from a fire.

Assuming I wouldn't be out there without a buddie (but also a kook), how does Montara compare to, say, Kelly's at Ocean Beach on an extremely forgiving day?

I've never surfed Montara Beach but on Surfline it looks heavy for a newbie longboarder. The combination of 8 foot faces with 8 second periods requires bigtime paddling strength, fast angled take offs and skill with carving turns. It's just hard to maneuver a log when there's so little time between breaking waves.

If Montara is your choice, I recommend waiting for a smaller day or working reformed waves on the inside. Rinky Dink lives in your area and may have some better advice. Santa Cruz has several spots with smaller waves and longer periods and of course there's Bolinas. PM me if you want a buddy for your next trip to Marin County.



Montara Surfline
http://www.surfline.com/surf-forecasts/spot/montara_5011/

Santa Cruz Beaches Surfline
http://www.surfline.com/surf-spots-breaks/central-california/santa-cruz_2958

Thanks, BoMan, I may take you up on Bolinas next time I go up there. (BoMan! Now I get it.)

I don't even do Linda Mar on 8'+ days. I'd definitely wait for a kinder, gentler Montara, but frankly I'm more concerned about a rip pulling me out or local kids getting territorial. Those two things make me nervous much more than great whites.

I've loved Pleasure Point when I've gone, but I have to make a day trip of it, and that's not possible as often as I wish.

RobSF wrote:Thanks, BoMan, I may take you up on Bolinas next time I go up there. (BoMan! Now I get it.)

I don't even do Linda Mar on 8'+ days. I'd definitely wait for a kinder, gentler Montara, but frankly I'm more concerned about a rip pulling me out or local kids getting territorial. Those two things make me nervous much more than great whites.

I've loved Pleasure Point when I've gone, but I have to make a day trip of it, and that's not possible as often as I wish.

To be honest, most of my experience in the SF area was when I surfed there in college. I pretty much surfed Ocean Beach back then--probably the worst break for learning how to surf that I know of in Norcal. Nevertheless, if that's your home turf, then I'd surf there as often as the swell allowed. To my mind, it's good to just learn the beach that's closest to you so you can take advantage of it on its best days. You'll definitely get some paddle strength there given the current never let's up. When it's good there, however, you can definitely find some overhead tube rides if the water isn't too treacherous. In college we would pretty much ride up toward Santa Cruz every weekend and look at each break along the way. Rockaway, Waddell Creek (that's a great spot), Ano Nuevo, Pescadero . . . I haven't been to Half Moon Bay in a while, but I think you could find a good learner's break there if Linda Mar was too crowded. Take my advice with a grain of salt though because I've been surfing around Santa Cruz and the Central Coast for the past year.

Half Moon Bay - or the Princeton Jetty, anyway- is now as bad as Linda Mar. Not to mention the hellish clotted traffic. Bay Area is now one the the 3 worst spots in the country for that.

I think I'm going to finally venture out to Kelly's on an almost flat day for my Ocean Beach initiation, and in the meantime keep surfing straight into shore in the phalanx of beginners down in Pacifica. Together we look like the Riders of Rohan, riding to ruin and the world's ending.

I am a beginner that surfs in the SF area so I can definitely relate to you. I have been to Montara once when it was maybe 4-5 ft and it is a pretty heavy / steeper wave than anything you'll have seen at Linda Mar. With that being said the quality of the wave was definitely better. I surf Ocean Beach pretty frequently as well (when <6-7 ft) and the current at Montara is definitely not as strong as OB. One thing to watch out for is that when paddling out the the sand bottom drops from shallow to very deep quickly and the waves break pretty close to shore. With that being said, it's not a particularly far paddle out so when it's not huge there it's not too difficult. I am definitely going to try Montara again this summer. The time I went was a weekday before work, and I didn't experience any sort of localism, people were generally chill. Not sure about riding a longboard at Montara given how it's set up, I generally ride my 6'6 Firewire Addvance or 7' PU hybrid.

I feel that at Linda Mar it's almost always close outs and I find that there are only rideable waves once in a while when the swell isn't too large and there is some light offshore or mild onshore. With that being said I probably still go here the most because it's not crowded before work and I am not always fit enough to have productive sessions at OB. Riding something is still better than nothing. Agree with Princeton Jetty, it can get really good but when that happens you have all the local shredders taking over the one peak. When it's not so good it's hard to justify going there over Linda Mar unless it's less blown out.

Rockaway is a spot I have been starting to go more often as well as it is nearly empty during the work week and it has more consistent/longer rides, although the main peak is a right (I'm goofy). The paddle out is easy due to the channel and when it's around overhead and under it's not too scary. There is another peak in the middle that can be a good left or right but it breaks into rocks, which I have almost gotten thrown into before so I'm a little spooked until my endurance is better.

Sort of a long-winded response but just wanted to sum up my thoughts on the SF local breaks as I like you often find it too much commitment to spend a weekend day at Santa Cruz among the crowds when I can get to my local breaks in 20 min or less. I'd rather have convenience and less people at a less consistent break. I agree with RinkyDink that it may be worth frequenting OB to figure it out as it can be much better than Linda Mar (fall is great at OB). If I have to be honest I definitely spend 90% of my time at Linda Mar / OB. I still haven't figured out OB yet, but given the close out city that is Linda Mar, I think it's worth the time and building of paddle fitness (and yes, the paddle is truly rough).

Hope this helps. It's definitely tough learning in the SF area, but it's a good thing that when I need a break I am a frequent snowboarder and tahoe is less than 3 hours away, not to mention the great snow we've been getting

enjoy wrote:I am a beginner that surfs in the SF area so I can definitely relate to you. I have been to Montara once when it was maybe 4-5 ft and it is a pretty heavy / steeper wave than anything you'll have seen at Linda Mar. With that being said the quality of the wave was definitely better. I surf Ocean Beach pretty frequently as well (when <6-7 ft) and the current at Montara is definitely not as strong as OB. One thing to watch out for is that when paddling out the the sand bottom drops from shallow to very deep quickly and the waves break pretty close to shore. With that being said, it's not a particularly far paddle out so when it's not huge there it's not too difficult. I am definitely going to try Montara again this summer. The time I went was a weekday before work, and I didn't experience any sort of localism, people were generally chill. Not sure about riding a longboard at Montara given how it's set up, I generally ride my 6'6 Firewire Addvance or 7' PU hybrid.

I feel that at Linda Mar it's almost always close outs and I find that there are only rideable waves once in a while when the swell isn't too large and there is some light offshore or mild onshore. With that being said I probably still go here the most because it's not crowded before work and I am not always fit enough to have productive sessions at OB. Riding something is still better than nothing. Agree with Princeton Jetty, it can get really good but when that happens you have all the local shredders taking over the one peak. When it's not so good it's hard to justify going there over Linda Mar unless it's less blown out.

Rockaway is a spot I have been starting to go more often as well as it is nearly empty during the work week and it has more consistent/longer rides, although the main peak is a right (I'm goofy). The paddle out is easy due to the channel and when it's around overhead and under it's not too scary. There is another peak in the middle that can be a good left or right but it breaks into rocks, which I have almost gotten thrown into before so I'm a little spooked until my endurance is better.

Sort of a long-winded response but just wanted to sum up my thoughts on the SF local breaks as I like you often find it too much commitment to spend a weekend day at Santa Cruz among the crowds when I can get to my local breaks in 20 min or less. I'd rather have convenience and less people at a less consistent break. I agree with RinkyDink that it may be worth frequenting OB to figure it out as it can be much better than Linda Mar (fall is great at OB). If I have to be honest I definitely spend 90% of my time at Linda Mar / OB. I still haven't figured out OB yet, but given the close out city that is Linda Mar, I think it's worth the time and building of paddle fitness (and yes, the paddle is truly rough).

Hope this helps. It's definitely tough learning in the SF area, but it's a good thing that when I need a break I am a frequent snowboarder and tahoe is less than 3 hours away, not to mention the great snow we've been getting

Damn, I agree with everything you said! (I know because I once lived and surfed all over this region of NorCAL)

Thanks so much for the long winded reply, Enjoy, and sorry I hadn't seen it earlier. If Montara's not a longboard beach, I think I'll let it go until I'm ready to go back and try my funboard sometime.

OB terrifies me just by its reputation (Wm Finnegan describes it as a Mahler symphony), but it's so damn close, I think I really am going to try it soon on some flat day.

RobSF wrote:Thanks so much for the long winded reply, Enjoy, and sorry I hadn't seen it earlier. If Montara's not a longboard beach, I think I'll let it go until I'm ready to go back and try my funboard sometime.

OB terrifies me just by its reputation (Wm Finnegan describes it as a Mahler symphony), but it's so damn close, I think I really am going to try it soon on some flat day.

OB honestly is not as scary as people make it out to be. I've been surfing for only about 2 years and started trying the spot out well before that.

It is definitely heavier than Linda Mar and a long paddle out but just don't go out when Surfline says it's more than 5-6 ft and I think you will be okay as long as you stay aware of currents. With that being said, I'm pretty comfortable being in water and having to swim.

It's more just a tiring place to be and you can get skunked easily sometimes as the peaks often shift and feel just out of reach.. haha

Resurrecting this thread as there are many locals here . I can't go to the beach as often as I'd like so thought I'd ask

I'm trying to figure out Pacifica / Linda Mar. Various websites say it's best for "incoming to high tide". What about a day where the low tide is pretty high (3.5ft)? Will it be good conditions at this "low" tide still?

Also, looking at this Wed vs. Thur: is the ride better when 2.5ft@18s South swell, OR 3.5ft@15s same South swell?

Lindamar can vary pretty greatly from one end of the beach to the other, but generally it doesn't work well on a low tide. A 3.5 low is pretty high for a low, though, and will likely have enough water for a rideable wave if there's enough swell. The south swell sometimes doesn't wrap in there though. Still, if I had to place a bet, I'd say Thurs will be better since the south and the WNW should both be on tap. HMB and Santa Cruz both look better, though IMO.

surferbee wrote:Lindamar can vary pretty greatly from one end of the beach to the other, but generally it doesn't work well on a low tide. A 3.5 low is pretty high for a low, though, and will likely have enough water for a rideable wave if there's enough swell. The south swell sometimes doesn't wrap in there though. Still, if I had to place a bet, I'd say Thurs will be better since the south and the WNW should both be on tap. HMB and Santa Cruz both look better, though IMO.

Thanks! This is very useful!

As for HMB I feel like I can’t figure out princeton jetty. I went there last week when MSW rated 2 stars, 2ft@14s SW swell but it was near unriddable.