Hey everyone! I will be moving to Santa Barbara from NY in March. Im siked!! I will be visiting the area in 2 weeks, for 5 days, to set up an apartment and a job. I plan on getting in the water, and will rent a board hopefully. I am wondering what types (#'s) of wetsuits you are wearing? I have a 5/4/3 with a hood. Should I bring it, or will I look like a dousche-bag. The water temp seems to only be 6 degrees more than here on Long Beach, NY. However, it is 11 degrees outside today! Changing in the parking lot SUCKS! Should I bring my wetsuit? What about boots and gloves? Anyone in the area? I need to meet some new people! I am coming there alone, and know absolutely no one! thanks all! ciao, Anton
Hey Anton, If your used to surfing NY in the winter, your not going to need that heavy of a suit out in Santa Barbara. Typically a 3/2 will get you by through the winter, but you may want a 4/3 on the colder days. You may want booties, but you can leave the gloves and hood at home. Winter temps are typically in the mid to upper 50's in SoCal, but can drop down in the low 50's. I'm speaking from my experiences in orange county and san diego, which shouldnt be too much different than Santa Barbara. Hope that helps.
Santa Barbara lies south of Pt. Conception which is kind of the dividing line between the colder water of Central California and the warmer waters of So. Cal. That's a great place to live for surf, say hello to my buds up at Jalama. You've also got Rincon to the south, a really tubular right point break. Even in Ventura there are lots of really fun rides. If you ever plan on heading south, say to San Diego, send me a PM and we'll hook up. I'll show you my fav breaks. I lived in Ventura and surfed alot of the breaks around the area. I truly loved surfing Jalama. Nice, long clean lefts on the right conditions. Anyway, I would think temps would be in the low to mid 50's, currently San Diego is at 57, which is warm for this time of year.
