Los Angeles County Surf

Most of coastal Los Angeles County is a curved sandy beach break that is very sensitive to local winds and tides. Most of these beach breaks are combination breaks, in that they are affected by both northern and southerly swell angles. There are river mouths but they are controlled be cement channels and walls of rip rap. Long shore currents also play an important role in the surfability of the beach breaks and can become quite strong in overhead surf. Numerous rip rap jetties provide wind and current barriers and create point breaks along the urban beaches. The Northern portion of the Counties coast is mountainous, this is the Malibu area. Every canyon is a coastal river mouth and from most of these river mouths emerge rocky points. The ocean is glassier here and the waves break slower and more gently. Kelp forests and mountainous wind barriers combine to produce these all day glassy conditions. Wind is often channeled down many of the canyons and can produce offshore and sideshore gusts that sweep across these points even while the urban beach breaks are full onshore and choppy. The NW swell is partially or wholly blocked in the northern counties but when there is a good south west swell all of these breaks really come alive and some days are simply epic. The southern portion of the county is dominated by the rolling hills of the Palos Verdes Penninsula, the winter crown jewel of the South Bay of Los Angeles. These breaks are for NW winter ground swell and can easily tame 20 foot surf. The Palos Verdes breaks are at rocky points and submarine outcrops of the Monterey Shale formation. The cobbles and boulders along these shores are often polished dolostones, shales, green sandstones and volcanics. There is very little sand anywhere on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the bottom is always rocky. Local knowledge of the tides and swells is critical if you plan to surf here and some of the breaks have a reputation of jealous territorialism by local surfers. Best to surf the area with a knowledgeable guide your first few times and be top of your game before approaching some of these rocky points and reefs.

Combination point and reef break. Lefts and rights. Best time of year:May to October. Generally mushy but can get good. Low cliffs and narrow sand beach with a rocky point.

Great location for all types of surfers. From county line to Lunana there is a wave for every level of surfer. LA is made up primarily of beach and point breaks which the fall and winter tending to have the best swells. If you can get past the smog, Los Angeles offers some of the best scenery a surfer can ask for from mountains to beaches that go on for miles.....Ryan Sliva