Surf Guide

Parlour is a wave with many looks. On smaller days, it offers gentle, soft shoulders for beginners and intermediate surfers. It's almost like a tropical San Onofre. On bigger days, only a few are willing to tackle it and it gets heavy. Really heavy. And it can easily hold up to triple overhead. Parlour is also the most consistent spot in the area, picking up any wind swell scraps as well as any swell that hits that side of the island. Where there may not be enough swell to make Soup Bowl work, Parlour will still have fun, clean lines running across the inside reef sections.Parlour easily handles big winter northeast swells. Big winter north swells can produce a rip, but also some solid left-hand walls. Parlour prefers a straight-on east wind swell or south swell in the summer produced by passing tropical waves. It will offer up clean, sloping A-frames that are softer on the takeoff, but then zip along on the inside. Check out Parlour if you want to take a break from the Soup Bowl crowd or just want a fun change of pace.

Ability Level

All Abilities

BegIntAdv

Beginner to Advanced -- depends on the swell, but everyone can surf it some time during the year.

Local Vibe

Welcoming

WelcomingIntimidating

Not much.

Crowd Factor

Mellow

MellowHeavy

Not usually.

Spot Rating

Fun

PoorPerfect

Just down from Soup Bowl but doesn't offer as good of a wave.

Shoulder Burn

Medium

LightExhausting

Depends on the size of the surf.

Water Quality

Clean

CleanDirty

Pretty good.

Ideal Surf Conditions

Swell Direction

NE, E

Wind

South, Southwest.

Surf Height

Well overhead-3x overhead.

Tide

Low, incoming.