We knew it was coming. Heard all the surf alerts, tuned in our step-up round-pins and planned our attacks. But we didn’t know it was going to be that big. Starting Tuesday morning and ending with victory-at-sea northwesterlies by Thursday, this early season south – coming straight up the pike from South America – had every So Cal surfer from IB to Ventura County Line screaming, “Holy shit! It’s HUGE!”
To be honest, not all the stars were in alignment. Eddy conditions, spring onshores, a stubborn northwest windswell and even a solid northwest groundswell all added to the mix, rendering many spots a huge, jumbled mess. But for those who chose wisely, the swell erased the bitter taste of the worst winter on record. At least most of it.
Where was it firing? Think beachbreaks that love combo swells. A certain long stretch of sand in North County San Diego really turned on yesterday, offering double-overhead-plus pits reminiscent of a crazy day at Hossegor. “We surfed for six hours straight,” says Pat O’Connell, who sounded like he was in Endless Summer 2 again. “So many wide open barrels – just crazy. Hands down the biggest I’ve ever seen the place.” The waves were so big in the area, sets were closing out all the way across Oceanside Harbor. For the first time in a long time, it even felt a bit chaotic, like Mother Ocean had taken over.
Others stuck to Newport and scored. Corona Del Mar was “the best it’s been since ’96.” Punker Pat Towersey caught the wave of this life at the Wedge. And the jetties offered stand-up insanity pits if you could make it out before being swept to Huntington. Up north, Zuma worked its sand-cylinder magic and Supertubes was heavy enough to dislocate Nathaniel Curran’s shoulder.
All in all, a wild two days for Southern California. If only we could be surprised more often.