California is generally hailed for its right hand point breaks, however there are some decent lefts to be had at several spots. The question is.... where in southern cal have you scored the best left??? you should probably include the swell direction along with the spot for good measure.... -BK
One of the fastest lefty is The Point in Newport Beach, It only breaks on a SSE from a Hurricane swell. It has to be the right swell but if it hits right, its comparable to Pipeline in some aspects like speed of the wave and shape! Also I have score some great lefts Off the Jettys from 32nd st to 56th in Newps from a South swell or a West. Cottons in Trestles area has great left, but needs a good size swell to make it work. There are just as many good rights as lefts in So. Cali. I like your question but i have lived here all my life and surfed and I have never heard that So Cali is hailed for its right hand point breaks. Newport Beach is pretty much all LEFTS during South swells, yeah there is rights of course, but the best rides are going left off the jetties.
There are a couple really good spots down on Sunset Cliffs that I have Scored. best conditions on a left I've had over the years was at Chasm, the last break on the southern end of the cliffs before you hit the military/wildlife zone. The swell I surfed during the most Ideal conditions was a WNW swell. In January, 2007 I believe, light 3-4 MPH variable wind. Pretty much sheet glass since it was DOH. It was that large swell that parked pretty much Due west of San Diego at one point and just fired for a week. Just firing automatic lefts all day long. There are plenty of times Ive score ABS etc on the cliffs when it was macking, freight train lefts, but if I had to pick one, it was a Chasm on a HUGE WNW swell. Easily 30-45 second rides. I would venture to guess 2-300 yards each. Huge, open faces with the occasional barrel section. The Best left around here used to be down in Mexico about 20 miles down. Papoltla. It is that left that is right in front of Fox Studios in Baja. It is destoroyed now, with a beached ship and bolders that were dumped off the point right ontop of the reef... It was the SH** 6-7 years ago.... Now, there aren't too many lefts left.
big rock, la jolla ... south jetty oceanside harbor ... south mission jetty ... or my home break SS OB pier on a DOH+ NW swell. sunset cliffs is sick on big swells and low tide but i'll keep those breaks to myself. i'm a regular-foot but i feel like i surf better backside than i do going right for some odd reason as for LA or OC, i'd go with PV cove or... haha... the wedge... almost snapped my neck on a chest-high day there earlier this past summer
Yeah, I live in OB also and when the south mission jetty is firing, it's all time. Automatic. You just have to share it with 30 guys from claremont.
i despise the south mission crew. don't they have jobs? it seems like 8-10 of them are there every minute of daylight, every single day. they're good surfers, sure, but waves are public not private. they're all like 30+ years old with terrible tans and permanent stinkeye. do me a favor and the next time they're all caught on the inside and you're the only one in the lineup to catch that last set wave, spray each one in the face as you pick your way down the line. what a bunch of ass clowns those guys should not be in the water, they should be picking on little kids at the mall or better yet stabbing themselves in the eyeballs.
Haha! Couldn't have said it better myself! You left out their daily tough guy group meetings that they have in the parking lots. When they park all 17 of their Lifted f-250s side by side and stand around talking about how sick the jetty is!!! "We OWN THE JETTY" chest bumping... Probably passing meth pipes around... God I love OB.
Great post. I think every one of us can relate no matter what crappy break we call home. I've only made the trip from Dela-WHERE? to california a few times. I keep expecting to run into the crap you describe. So far...Mission north, PB, Blacks, Windansea, Trestles, Pleasure Point, Steamer, AnoNuevo and i havent run into the the lifer-hard asses at any of the spots above. Stayed low key, waited many many sets (specially at windansea and lowers) so the lineup could see i was mellow before paddling for a good one.
no, you won't run into any of the guys we're talking about at the breaks you mentioned. those are all pretty well-known breaks and if you do encounter one of these guys there, it won't be the same. the inner-asshole only comes out in a surfer when he is surrounded by his cronies at their tucked-away, perhaps fickle break they call home. i'm guilty of it; i think it's human nature - but at least i'm aware of it and fight for my life to suppress it when some noob from germany cuts me off here at the pier. or... you can be consumed by it like the goons at the south mission jetty.
Best Lefts are Horseshoes, Hospitals, and Little Point. Also they are all walking distance from eachother. MIke Losness and Gabe Kling were surfing at Horseshoes and Hospitals last weekend which would suggest that the spots are that good.
