San diego, OB in january, beginner friendly?

[aaron d]

hello, just looking for a winter break in january, as im a beginner learning to get on the green face i'm trying to avoid anything much bigger than 4 / 5ft.
And so the question is, im thinkin of stayin in ocean beach hostel in january; whats generally the average size in january? is likely to consistently 5 feet or bigger?
Thanks folks

[pkbum]

hello, just looking for a winter break in january, as im a beginner learning to get on the green face i'm trying to avoid anything much bigger than 4 / 5ft.
And so the question is, im thinkin of stayin in ocean beach hostel in january; whats generally the average size in january? is likely to consistently 5 feet or bigger?
Thanks folks

San diego is pretty big during jan to may since it is exposed to swell very well. I would go a little bit north maybe like north oc if possible. There might be some spot that are flattened out but I don't know the spots in detail.

[isaluteyou]

You should expect an average of 4-6ft but there are lulls even in january where it gets smaller. december/january is usually when we get the solid NW swells and yes it can get pretty large at times. Im not sure about smaller breaks but if it macking i surf the cliffs as it can hold just about any size and has channels to paddle out in.

Id say its probably not the best season for beginer and you might want to try search out beaches that dont get much NW. But its never always huge and swells only usually last 2-4 days at a time.

[aaron d]

yeah, thought something like that all right, might postpone until march, would that be the same? would averages tend to be a bit smaller then?
thanks lads

[pkbum]

yeah, thought something like that all right, might postpone until march, would that be the same? would averages tend to be a bit smaller then?
thanks lads

Yep summer is the start of the flat season, but it can also rock some overhead once in a while

[soops]

I was at OB in Oct/Nov last year and it was a pretty beefy wave.

I had a cold so wasnt even tempted but I'd of thought twice even if I hadnt been ill, but I'm not much of a surfer. Was pretty busy there too

Here are a couple of pics I took while I was there:





They dont do it justice tbh

[jimbobells]

I'm not sure of great spots in OB, but North of OB on highway 5, about 30 miles, there is a perfect beginner spot. It's called Beacons and it's in Leucadia off of Neptune Ave.

Good luck!

Jaime