Big Sur Rivermouth Surf Guide

Big Sur Rivermouth Surf Guide

The driftwood-strewn beach here is safeguarded from all wind directions except W, so it blows offshore almost every day of the year. The prevailing NW winds whip around and shoot directly into the oncoming waves -- sometimes too fiercely to grant you wave entry. The flow from the Big Sur River does a fine job of maintaining the gravelly sandbar in its correct alignment here, resulting in a semi-point setup with fast, thin rights and shorter, mushier lefts burgering into the rivermouth itself. Best when it's head-high and under, the rights can line up quite nicely, providing a taut lip to whack and, occasionally, to tuck under. Although it's probably the most reliable spot in all of Big Sur due to its seemingly endless offshores, the Big Sur Rivermouth can also be pathetically closed-out, shallow and honeycombed with currents that transport you merrily on down the beach, far away from the desired peak. Always worth a look during dismal, unending bouts of onshores, which tend to occur every day.