Surfing Waves

Water skiing tournaments are starting later this summer, so after I got hooked on surfing in Hawaii, I got some of my buddies together for a trip to Cali after we graduate, so it'll be late May to mid June. We're shooting for three weeks.

There will be three maybe four of us, and it's half road trip half surf trip. There's not really a destination except for California-I have some family and a friend of mine surfs the San Diego area a fair amount, so we'll be by there at least once. If we have enough gas money we'd like to see and surf as much of it as we can (being from Colorado, naturally, we're not exactly good. I'm the only one that has surfed, at that was for a week mostly on a spongeboard, so we're not too particular about big waves)

We need advice on just about everything, so if you have an idea, please post it. I need a board, booties, wetsuit, place to stay, food, places to see,
etc. We're obviously pretty poor too...Our max budget will be $2,000, but with college starting next fall we're trying to stay as far under that as possible. PB&J are our 3 food groups sometimes. We're pretty good at manual labor though, if you have any ideas for miscellaneous employment.

It's kind of amazing how far a conversation starting out with, "hey, you know what would be awesome?" can take you.

Thanks a bunch-reading the other posts has been helpful too.

you wont need booties in socal in may/june.

Depending on how long you plan on staying or should i say how often you plan on surfing it might be more economical to buy a cheapo second hand board

Well that's good to know...don't I need anything to protect my feet? And where might I look for a board/how much would it cost? I'm 6'2" and 190, so I was told get like a 9' longboard.

Usually, in socal you really don't need to wear boots, unless its cold as hell like 60.

Get a good used longboard at www.craigslist.com, a lot of them offer good value than buying a new or a used one from a shop.

Oh and rent a VERY high MPG surf van or suv, since the gas price is sky rocketing!!

Ok-I'm going to guess "socal" means "southern california," but correct me if I'm wrong. I won't be renting anything-the oldest one of us is 19-but I'll keep the vehicle choice in mind. I'm pretty sure we're going in my beater, a 1987 Nissan pickup, which shuold work about right. It's easy to fix at least.

What should I look for in a second hand board, except for size? Are there any giveaways it'll be bad? (I don't know if there's a board-equivalent for "runs good, needs engine")

Yes.
socal = southern california
SoCAL = same

Boards: look to see that patches are holding up; look to see if fiberglass is pulling away from foam core; look for cracks that don't have glue or epoxy on them. Pressure dents, if not too deep, are OK. Repairs are OK.

In addition to Craigs list, you can go to many true surf shops in San Diego and parts of Los Angeles (LA) (Huntington Beach, Malibu, etc) and buy used boards and wet suits. This could speed things up for you

Ok, I think I'll do a fair amount of looking around.

I too will be going to central Cali (Monterey Santa Cruz SanFran) in the summer for a friend's wedding. I've never surf traveled before. I'll fly there, and rent a car. Should I bother dragging my funshape or even a longboard there with me, or should I just rent something down there.

Also, how is surfing there in the summer? The surfing season is supposed to be fall and winter. But the swell forecast looks like the winter days down here (North/Central Florida).

What kind of wetsuit do I need? I've got a full 3.2mm suit? Do I need something thicker or is that fine for the summer?

Cortex wrote:I too will be going to central Cali (Monterey Santa Cruz SanFran) in the summer for a friend's wedding. I've never surf traveled before. I'll fly there, and rent a car. Should I bother dragging my funshape or even a longboard there with me, or should I just rent something down there.

Also, how is surfing there in the summer? The surfing season is supposed to be fall and winter. But the swell forecast looks like the winter days down here (North/Central Florida).

What kind of wetsuit do I need? I've got a full 3.2mm suit? Do I need something thicker or is that fine for the summer?

Those areas you mentioned are actually part of northern california, not central ca. When you mentioned central ca in a post regarding surfing, my first thoughts were of the central valley, and there's no place to surf there.
I would check with you airline to find out costs associated with transport of the board, it may be cheaper to rent one, so also find a surf shop in the area and contact them before you go. From what I've heard, it's kinda cold, so if your planning to surf, bring your wetsuit.

I would recommend getting long boards for all. In that short of a time, it's the only way to insure the best time. As soon as you can make a B-line for "Old Mans" (Surf Beach in San Onofre) $10.00 parking fee.
The waves are long and rolling so you can pick it up better. You'll find the crowd is more tolerant towards beginners as well.
Remember there is surf etiquette make a friend before you go in, stay out of the way of others.
have fun