Here’s Where to Start Surfing in NorCal Before The Apocalypse

Santa Cruz lives up to its surfing hype. (Jake Longero)

As the world gets hotter and hotter each year, tides rising quick enough to make Kevin Costner’s Waterworld-ass head spin, it’s hard to see any silver linings. That’s because there aren’t any silver linings. Not sure Joan Didion could write a wry yet deeply insightful essay out of all the political corruption and head-firmly-in-sand avoidance we see in Northern California these days, letting our coasts whirl into polluted eddies and our forests suffocate in smoke. It seems like a better time than ever to learn how to float.

And why not float in style? Flying across the face of a wave like a steady arrow loosed from a bent bow? It’s pretty tight. Sure, five of the state’s dirtiest beaches are in the Bay. But with the planet’s temperature at 2 out of 3 degrees Farenheit warmer than what experts say is permissible, can we allow ourselves a seafaring reprieve? As it’s been said, if the cigarettes don’t give you cancer then they’re probably not worth smoking. There’s nowhere better to get started than in your own oceanic backyard. In the San Francisco Bay Area, there are a few places to get your kookdom going in full force.

Cowell’s in Santa Cruz is the picturesque beginner’s beach. The water is packed with kids and surfers taking lessons, and the waves never get too big or steep. All you need to do is drive right up to the beach and bring your foamie, code for a soft top board like a Wavestorm which is ideal for starting out, thanks to its length and volume. With one of these bad boys at Cowell’s it’ll be like walking out of Endless Summer with way less overt racism. That said, Santa Cruz is busy with a notoriously intense culture of localism. Pleasure Point, the Hook, and Jack’s are all easy spots to start, too, but I’d say steer clear of Steamer Lane until you’re up to snuff. And for god’s sake don’t go to Maverick’s — or Ocean Beach for that matter.

To the north an intrepid nautilus finds both Stinson Beach and Bolinas. These beaches are colder than what you’ll find in Santa Cruz — not by much, of course, since it’s the generally the same chunk of the Pacific Ocean. Parking is easy at both spots, and except for sunny weekend days one can cut their teeth more or less on their own. The world’s ending, but there’s no reason to get chewed out while you learn how to surf. Between San Francisco and Santa Cruz there’s also the very popular beginner beach Linda Mar in Pacifica and Princeton Jetty in Half Moon Bay.

The thing about surfing in the NorCal area that’s great for starting out is that, at nine breaks out of ten, the waves come in at beach breaks rather than point breaks. Largely speaking that means sand over rocks, though some still opt to wear helmets at these beaches. Make sure to buy or rent a wetsuit that fits, though booties and gloves and the kind aren’t worth getting until you’re sure you’re choosing to ride out the apocalypse on the face of a choice right.  

Don’t tell anyone I sent you. But if anyone gets mad, remind them machismo in surfing is a fucking blight and localism outside of Indigenous communities’ legitimate claims to their coasts is a joke. Try and enjoy the send before everything boils.

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