Hello!

I am a university student trying to raise awareness surrounding surfing's sustainability. I was fortunate enough to study abroad in San Diego last year at SDSU! Since returning to England and missing the sun and surf of San Diego I have been thinking a lot about the practices I observed from myself and other surfers in the past year and how these can be bettered in terms of the planet and how to surf with a more environmental conscience

I have written a short Zine examining sustainable practices in surfing, the WSL and everyone's favourite surf film, The Endless Summer which was super fascinating to look at through a 21st Century lens.

Would be awesome if you could take a minute to have a browse and leave any thoughts or feedback to try and get a conversation started about this under-discussed issue.

Thanks!

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68591324/between-two-tides-the-modern-surfers-conundrum

I've made a link to a discussion page which I thought could be a cool way to start a conversation, feel free to add whatever!

https://padlet.com/harrygardiner1/between-two-tides-lnzufwgoa7u1coze

I'm looking for an instructor for a couple times a month, I'd like to go to less crowded spots (I usually am at jacks/point) and improve my turns and feel more comfortable in bigger waves. I consistently catch green waves and on a 6'10 egg. Ideally I'd like to build a relationship with someone, willing to pay for an 1.5hr-2hr session each time.

I've heard plenty about surfing kooks, newbies, etc... during COVID. I'm not some techy coming down from SF to take some photos for the weekend. I am a seasonal guide, live in a truck camper long term, and have winters off. I'm looking to post up on the coast and spend a few months snorkelling/surfing before work starts again. Any recommendations? My concern is not with being a newbie, more with the practicality of finding a decent spot to park and not get bothered. If y'all want to keep your spot off the books, I get that. Shoot me a private message and I'll buy you beer if it works out?? Lol.

I made friends with an old Hawaiian dude travelling in Costa Rica who told me to look him up and come to his place and surf CA, but I lost his number... Fuck.

Hi I am from up north and surfed Ocean beach for most of my life, just moved to santa cruz for school but I am having trouble finding a good spot mainly bc there are SO MANY good ones in santa cruz and haven't had time to explore. Recently I've found myself fighting the crowd at steamer.. Any recommendations?

Hi! I'm fairly new to surfing in santa cruz and was going throughout the fall up until the stay at home order was put in place at the beginning of December. Does anyone know if there are any restrictions on beaches in santa cruz still now that it's past Dec. 25th? I would really like to go throughout winter break! Thank you!

My wife and I took our first lessons, and our instructor told us to look out for Cowell's when the tide is 1 ft or lower. Cool. I started watching surfline. And yeah, the cameras tend to show people at Cowell's when tide is under a 1 ft, and usually no boards there otherwise. But it seems like it can go a lot of days without being surfable.

Is there anywhere else we should be looking out for, so that we could get out in the water more often? We're looking for places where we won't kill ourselves, but more importantly, where we won't ruin things for anyone else because while have no idea what we're doing.

It looks like maybe Capitola Jetty and Private might work? What surf conditions should we be looking for there?

Hi! I'm located in Stockholm Sweden, conducting research connected to California and it's surfer community.

I've created a survey and gotten a lot of replies in general from other groups of interest, but almost none from the surfer community so far and would very much want to include that in the study :)

Would you guys mind taking 5 minutes to answer the survey or maybe give me some pointers on where you think would be a good place to share it?

Link to survey

Take care! Greetings from Sweden.

Just went for a session at sharks cove this morning and found that they're closing the public beach access later tonight, so you better get it in now while you can, unless you know of a secret spot. If ya know ya know...

Have you ever wondered why your favorite spots are called what they are?

Why is the hook called the Hook? Who first named Pleasure Point? Who was Mitchell's? After growing up in Santa Cruz surfing these spots daily I realized I know very little of the history of the places I would frequent. Does anyone have any good resources about surfing history in Santa Cruz and spot names? Anything online or any stories?

Hello Surfers,

I am a student at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, which is far from the sea. I am writing a qualitative research paper on surf culture and need your help.

The specific focus of my proposed research will be on how surf culture differs from location to location. How would you describe the surf culture in your local spot? What makes it special? This is an open-ended question.

Please feel free to share what you know. Thank you!

Does anyone know if anyone has ever surfed the bombora out at Carmel? It's approximately 1000ft out from the beach in front of Ocean Ave parking lot entrance. I've heard it called "Pete's Nipple" or something like that. I'm pretty sure the reef goes dry on the low tide. When I've watched it a few times on a decent swell low tide and good winds it looks like there is a makeable tube. There's a good run of swell coming this weekend so I think I am going to check it out and see if I can get some shots from the 1000ft deep "channel" right next to it on a wavestorm or something. If anyone knows anything about it I would love to get some more information. I can't imagine the spot is too localized because I've been surfing SC/Monterey all my life and have never heard anything about it aside from people saying they've seen it look wicked but too far out to paddle/too critical. Thanks in advance.

Hey, I've been surfing big days at steamers for awhile now, but I'm ready to go to somewhere bigger, like moss. My best friend moved away, so I don't have anyone to paddle out with. Anyone down to go with me?

In considering hanging out in socal this winter and wondering what the oceans like that time of year? Is it comfortable to swim without a wetsuit? Thanks!

I've been looking online at Cowell's, Freeline and other shops in the area and I can't get a sense of who rents the best boards. Any tips?

Anyone want to let me rent their board instead? haha I'll only be there Monday 11/9.

Looks like it's going to be a fun, clean 3ft day.

I started surfing this summer and the waves are small now, but I am worried the waves will get too big in the fall for me to practice

I am a student at Cabrillo College from Lake Tahoe, California. I have been living in SC for the past few months and want to learn to surf! I am very passionate about being outdoors and love nothing more then to enjoy them through backpacking, climbing, skiing, and running! I want to learn to surf but have no financial means or local knowledge to get started. Because of this I propose a trade! I do not have exact parameters for this but I would be happy to offer ski/snowboard lessons for any person/people in or even a free ride up to Tahoe(Truckee) and back on the weekends I go up to work (presidents weekend is the next weekend I go up). Other than that I can provide nutritional advice (I am studying to be a dietitian) or just my outgoing personality!

I have a wet suit (more of a spring suit but I am tough!) and have surfed a few times on a soft top board. I am a hard worker and love to throw myself into the sports I love. So if you are interested in meeting and making a new friend message me!

I was just wondering how the longboarding culture over there in SC. I'm going there in a couple of weeks to check the campus out. I was set out on going to SF State, but I heard the beaches by the campus, such as Ocean Beach, are very inconsistent. Bringing a surfboard on campus is also a bitch. And it's even more of a bitch because I only have longboards. I currently use longboards after a previous accident using shortboards.

I know for sure UCSB has some kind of surf team for women, was just wondering if they having something similar to that there at SC? Also where's the best surf spots for novice surfers? I'm definitely not the best surfer but I'm not exactly the worst, I've been surfing since I was about 7 or 8. I just hate surfers with huge egos and I heard that there's a tension between local SC surfers and college surfers. Any chill, quiet surf spot suggestions will be highly appreciated.

I also know that the water up there is much colder than So Cal waters. This summer I got away with wearing a Brazilian bikini (made of neoprene) and a jacket. During the winter I use one of [these] (http://www.roxy.com/2msyncro-ls-bz-sprngsuit-booty-ARJW400000.html?dwvar_ARJW400000_color=xkks#pdpReviewsTab) and I don't catch a cold or anything. How much should I upgrade my wetsuits?

I am a lifestyle ambassador for a local surf shop here in Southern California. I kinda wanted to continue my sponsorship through college if possible.

Thanks for any suggestions!

How on earth do i access it? i managed to find it, i saw from a distance a sick looking wedging left with a handful of guys surfing it. where do i park and how do i access this place?

Hi SC surfers,

I'm making a series of California county surf spots maps, and Santa Cruz is a place where I don't know the spots very well. I've done some research but wanted to see if you guys had any suggestions of places to add or cut? Any advice is welcome!

http://i.imgur.com/X5pkDIR.jpg

Thanks so much!!

I don't know anything about the surf community in Santa Cruz. I'm from San Francisco and i'll be attending UCSC for school. Would it be bad to mention that i'm a slug :P and that i'm from SF or will most people be like-eh whatever? Thanks for any comments guys.

I want to get into surfing at Santa Cruz but only if I can do it on a students budget. Know a good place to rent from?