I'm moving to Hollywood, CA, need info on spots

[avillax]

Hi, I'm moving to Hollywood, CA, from San Diego, I'm looking for the nearest spot to surf , my skill level is intermediate, I know it will be way more crowded than San Diego and I'm just looking for a good spot nearby where the local crowd won't try to kill me.

Also I must say that today I took the HWY 101 - HWY 5 to get back to San Diego from Hollywood today (didn't go surfing) and got stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours! I want to avoid that as well. Please advice. Thanks.

[Neil_G]

El porto is probably your best bet. Spread out crowd, pretty mellow vibe, all different skill levels. In the Summer, catch it in the AM as the onshores start really early.

Santa Monica is pretty bad. Malibu is always perfect but way too crowded with no sort of rules or etiquette. I was out on this last Saturday, 6 foot, perfect, and there were at least 10 dudes on every wave, people blatantly dropping in, tons of bad vibes, and longbaords flying thru the air like missles. Not a good scene.

[avillax]

Hi, saw it on the map, the route that google map shows goes through L.A. tons of traffic 101 hwy, which route do you use from Hollywood?.

Oh man, this sounds too bad, I'm gonna miss my beautiful San Diego, it's like surf is going to end soon....

[jaffa1949]

Don't worry if you become an A list movie star you can go to far away surf spots ion tropical islands. Hope auditions go well, and you make it on time and are not stuck on the freeway!!~!~~!

[Neil_G]

Hi, saw it on the map, the route that google map shows goes through L.A. tons of traffic 101 hwy, which route do you use from Hollywood?.

Oh man, this sounds too bad, I'm gonna miss my beautiful San Diego, it's like surf is going to end soon....

Where in Hollywood?

I might avoid the freeways for the most part, Jump on La Cienaga, take that all the way down, jump on the 405 south for 1 exit to Imperial Hwy, take that for a few exits till it ends, then left on Highland, right on 45th to the Porto parking lot.

I work on Miracle Mile (Wilshire adn La Brea) and take that route after work at around 4:30, and get down to the beach by 5ish.

If its the weekend, dawn patrol, i take the freeways, 110s to 105 West. Unfortuneatly theres no way to avoid LA traffic in LA.. Just gotta know the times and the roads less travelled which will come with experience.

Hit me if you make it down there .We'll go catch a few.

[avillax]

Thanks Neil I will, BTW so it seems you're also suggesting El Porto, how are the waves like over there? I saw a few videos on youtube and waves seemed like small closeouts in shallow water, the waves look like crap in the videos.

[Neil_G]

Yea not the best wave in the world but it has its moments. The earlier the better. 2-4 ft with light to none S/SE winds is ideal imo. When its clean the wave holds shape pretty good. A little onshore and it gets crumbly real fast.

In LA, we kinda take what we can get, theres plenty of fun to be had out there tho.

[avillax]

BTW seems like I will be living in North Hollywood so the nearest stop would be Topanga beach, any advice on this beach?, I normally go surfing alone and in SD I always leave my backpack on the beach with my car keys, is that possible to do at that place? or what is the procedure?

[Neil_G]

BTW seems like I will be living in North Hollywood so the nearest stop would be Topanga beach, any advice on this beach?, I normally go surfing alone and in SD I always leave my backpack on the beach with my car keys, is that possible to do at that place? or what is the procedure?

Topanga is a nice point break setup similiar to Malibu. Super crowded tho, lots of valley kids, a little bit of localism. I probably wouldnt leave my backpack on any beach in LA but thats just me.

[avillax]

Thanks for the advice, so what do you do with your belongings and your keys?

[NevrdoWhatheydo]

I keep a key tied around my neck and tucked into my wetsuit, with my belongings kept in the car and out of sight. Sucks but not as much as having your stuff stolen.

[avillax]

Good idea, I might as well a specially designed pocket or something. Gosh, well at least I'm going to become a star in Hollywood...

[billie_morini]

key is kept on shoe string around my neck under wetsuit. If you have modern car requiring electronic key, then get standard key made to unlock door.

[avillax]

OK and what's near Topanga Beach with good waves, not so crowded and with not that much localism?

[avillax]

I just went to El Porto, was disappointed as it had mostly closed-outs, scary ones and only pros were surfing them, the other people just skipped them, and no corners to be found, I checked some pics online that also show close-outs. Is it always like that?

[IMinCA]

Avillax, I've never surfed in San Diego so I can't compare. On a good day, I surf Sunset, it's point break, it can get crowded but still my fave LA break, mind you I'm a beginner. I also go to Ventura - C street, Mondos. Occasionally Venice Pier, Hollister street, ocean park street

[IMinCA]

I do a lot weekend dp to avoid traffic

[cwall]

Well, if you have only a few hours and need to stay local, then head out to Sunset and PCH. Sunset gets maligned for being a slow mushy wave, which is mostly true, but on a nice low tide(1.0 to -1.0 IMHO) with a just a few feet of swell you can have yourself a blast. I'm not going to say it doesn't get crowded, this last round of swell it was more crowded than Topanga or Malibu because it gets some NW energy as well as W and SW), but it seems more often surfable than Malibu or Topanga. Topanga and Malibu, as good as they are, are frequently too crowded to surf. For the most part nobody is going to hassle you, you're just not going to get any room to do anything. Sunset is an inferior wave, but the crowd situation tends to be a little better. Just don't leave your stuff unattended ANYWHERE here.

If you have some time to make a drive check out County Line.

San Onofre is a blast if you have a longboard and a whole day to kill. The crowd gets a little more spread at San O so you can still have fun unless its a good swell on a Saturday in July.

The bad news is that you're going to have a tough time scoring waves anywhere in LA unless you can get out during non-peak times. Crowds are horrendous........

p.s. El Porto has shown me nothing but closeouts. I don't know if its the lack of rain for the last two years leading to no sandbars, but I still haven't seen El Porto fire the way people claim it can.