Southern CA beaches/waves?

[ajgauthier]

hi all,

I'll be near LA in November with my car and wanted to find some good beaches for wave/sunset/surfer photography. I'm looking for a location between LA and San Diego, and plan on hitting the Torrey Pines/La Jolla area for "wave on cliff/rocks" action.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm looking for huge surfable waves and I'm not familiar with CA beaches and where to go. Also --- does anyone know when the waves are the largest? Going in or out of high or low tide?

thanks!
Adrienne

[ian408]

While you're in San Diego, hit Blacks beach. If you want to know more about
the waves, hit www.wavewatch.com or www.surfline.com. Both sites are
geared towards surfers and give OK surf reports. Waves are generally
better when the tide is changing. Don't forget to make some analysis of
the lighting conditions. Here in Santa Cruz, morning and afternoon light will
be difficult to shoot in (for example).

Bear in mind that there is no universally "epic" day for all spots. Different
breaks work differently. That is, a more southerly swell might be best only
for a few spots. Be prepared to drive and look around for what could be a
great spot. You need to do some homework before heading out.

Good luck and look forward to your shots!
Ian

[mmroden]

If you're going to be a bit north in LA, check out Zuma. There's some rock climbing there, and some pretty good waves. For surfers, I don't know the name of the beach, but it's along the 101 heading towards Malibu along the coast. There's almost always some kind of surfer or group of surfers there. If I remember correctly, you can stand on one end and get them for dawn, and then stand on the other and get them at dusk. Like I said, I don't know the name, but it's pretty hard to miss (just before Duke's, I believe).

[Seefutlung]

The biggest waves will be at The Wedge in Newport Beach. The best waves will be at Trestles in San Clemente/Camp Pendelton (USMC). Trestles is the only spot in the continental US which is on the world surf tour. Not only is Trestles the best spot for surfing ... it is equally legendary in surfdom lore and still pristine.

Gary

[ajgauthier]

thanks for the idea locations and info! we'll see how the trip actually turns out (I-10 for 8 hours...)

Adrienne

[ian408]

The biggest waves will be at The Wedge in Newport Beach. The best waves will be at Trestles in San Clemente/Camp Pendelton (USMC). Trestles is the only spot in the continental US which is on the world surf tour. Not only is Trestles the best spot for surfing ... it is equally legendary in surfdom lore and still pristine.

Gary

Nah, Steamers is more legendary...it's the real "Surf City" :D

If you look through the surf rags, Trestles shows up regularly and looks
like a great place to shoot from.

Gary, are there places in So Cal that you don't shoot at?

[BeachBill]

I'll be near LA in November with my car and wanted to find some good beaches for wave/sunset/surfer photography. I'm looking for a location between LA and San Diego, and plan on hitting the Torrey Pines/La Jolla area for "wave on cliff/rocks" action.

This would be a good place for a sunset or wave action with interesting architecture thrown in...

http://gallery.primarycolors.com/photos/95446491-M-2.jpg

La Tour Tower at Victoria Street Beach, Laguna Beach, CA

[claudermilk]

Very cool. Thanks for posting that. I've been thinking of heading down to Laguna Beach with the "new" Mamiya to shoot some. I just *knew" there was potential there. :thumb

[thdizzy]

There is some good feedback here but the bottom line is it all depends on swell direction. Considering you will be here in November, chances are that any swell action will be from the North or North West.

So essentially that would open up most spots North of Palos Verdes and there about 100 spots to consider. Then you need to consider the absolute direction of the swell to avoid spots that might be blocked by the Channel Islands.

I could go on forever since I do spend a lot of time in the water. Most importantly be prepared since driving the So Cal coast can be horrible regarding traffic. So if your at one spot and it's not working, chances are you will loose light before you can get past a million cars on PCH to find another spot.

The best advice I can give is to check out www.surfline.com (http://www.surfline.com) the night before you shoot to get a good idea of swell height and direction.

The shot below I got at River Mouth in Ventura County look closley and you can see the guy entering the "green room" -

http://HarrisonImages.phanfare.com/show/external/97669/108079/5038389/file.jpg

[claudermilk]

Good things to know. Great shot, and an oh-so-very Hollywood pun (yes, I got it :D).

[bfjr]

Try Leo Carrillo or the beach across from Neptune's net
Leo got the rocks, caves and always some surf action

http://MachineGun.smugmug.com/photos/100235591-O.jpg

[thdizzy]

or the beach across from Neptune's net

Spot across from Neptunes is called County Line and it can be really good for surfers/sunset shots. And Benjamin is right, Leo can be great too except for the wind. However, because of the wind you might get a lot of kite/wind surfers there too.

[ajgauthier]

awesome - more good advice, thanks all! I do plan on checking out the surf sites, etc. to see the predictions the night before. I plan on starting out at first light. It will be a weekday, so maybe that'll help with beach traffic (but not traffic getting around LA...I'll be in Pasadena)

thanks! Hopefully I'll have something sweet to post after the trip.

Adrienne

[Lardog]

Since you will be in San Diego, along with La Jolla Cove area, be sure to check out Windansea. It is between Pacific Beach and La Jolla and is one of the most scenic beaches in the county and has really good waves too.

Also, Sunset Cliffs at Pt. Loma, as well as the lighthouse, are good photo destinations.

[wlriv]

this probably isnt what youre looking for, but one of the more popular surf spots is just south of where sunset blvd meets pch. here is a link to photos i took this last weekend of my buddy surfing.

http://wlriv.smugmug.com/gallery/2033091

[Seefutlung]

Nah, Steamers is more legendary...it's the real "Surf City" :D

If you look through the surf rags, Trestles shows up regularly and looks
like a great place to shoot from.

Gary, are there places in So Cal that you don't shoot at?

Ian408 ... LOL ... what I haven't shot is scheduled ... just trying to get there ... SoCal is Photo Op City ... and California ... whew, what a place ... there is a theory that if the Europeans had landed on the West Coast instead of the East ... that the rest of North America would still be owned by the Native Americans.

[ajgauthier]

hi again, and THANKS!

I was out in Malibu on Friday roaming around...since I was coming from Pasadena, I took Malibu Canyon down and ended up right on Zuma Beach and shot a few surfers and some waves (not terribly big though, but nice and roll-y over).

Then I travelled up to Leo Carillo, stopping at El Matador (BEA-UUUU-TIFUL!) where I took the majority of my shots. Leo Carillo didn't inspire me, but I stopped briefly across from Neptune's Net...too many surfers, not enough waves! I got some strange looks with the camera, and there were some real rude young surfers, so I left there and went all the way up PCH to the navel base before starting back down. Stopped every now and then, and made it back to El Matador for sunset. Unfortunately...so were about 10 other people with cameras and tripods...so I couldn't set up where I had scoped out earlier...and there was an engagement/wedding photo shoot there too and this guy was just pushy and getting in everyone's way (even though he showed up with the happy couple AFTER about 5 of us were set up)...anyhoot...I just moved myself up to above the beach and got some nice shots.

Thanks again for the suggestions, it helped me find a starting out place :)

I'll post the pics soon...(I used (3) 1 GB cards...gah! too many images!)

Adrienne