Orange County

Seal Beach Pier takes what is big and walled up at Huntington Pier and grooms it into nice, snappy little peaks. The most consistent spot to surf is on the north side of the pier, where you get all kinds of surfers. North Side of the Pier is also a great place to learn how to surf with good surf school instruction and small, gentle waves on most days. South side only works on winter swells from the WNW -- the bigger the better -- and is a hot spot for bodyboarding and skimboarding with steep bowly shorebreak.On a large WNW swell North Side becomes a very demanding wave with steep "pier bowls" that are reflected off the Anaheim Jetty to the south and sweep through the pier. South Side begins to imitate Hawaii with powerful thick bowls that break countless boards each day it pumps.At the north end of the beach is Ray Bay at the mouth of the San Gabriel River, where you can sometimes find long fun rights on big south swells -- but may actually be best on huge west swells. If the sandbars in the San Gabriel river are currently good, they offer steep hollow sections beginning at the end of the jetty -- especially on bigger swells and lower tides. However, most of the time the River is best for a longboard and beginners. Warm water from the Edison Plant inland keeps the water temps in the higher than the surrounding areas, which also attracts thousands of stingrays so stay off the bottom or do the shuffle.Seal Beach is in a wind tunnel due to its location below the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and the place is a favorite for kite boarders on windy days. Seal Beach may also be one of the cleanest spots around when the wind is strong out of the northwest due to the south facing coastline and protection from the jetties.

Just the other side of the pier from the spot where the Huntington Hop was made famous in countless junior and world tour events is the HB Northside. The crème de la crème of the Northside is the Pier Bowl. Generally, a short, wedgy, occasionally barreling right into the pier on solid south swells with a bowled up but more elongated left running up the beach. During the winter, solid WNW swells continue to offer bowled-up rights into the Pier, while the left is a mixed bag of closeouts and open sections. The surf is serviceable most every day of the year, and as such, the Northside has ample crowd. While the Southside is typically filled with any number of traveling pros getting ready for the next contest, the Northside often entertains a saltier crowd. Up the beach gets great on combo swells, while the pier bowl is the best show this side of the pier on the daily. LOCAL RESOURCES: HB Boardriders Club | HB Surfing Museum | North OC Surfrider | HB Longboard Crew LINEUP TIPS: Etiquette | Surf Safety Basics

56th Street produces zippy, sometimes world-class lefts on a S swell. Like any high-performance hotbed, if you prove you can fly with the best of them, chances are you'll be given plenty of clearance.

The Wedge is a mutant of a big wedging left that reflects south swell energy off the Newport Harbor jetty. On a big south swell, the Wedge can produce waves well over 20-foot faces very close to shore, with hollow grinding bowls right on the sand. During the summer all flotation devices (surfboards, bodyboards, skimboards, etc.) are banned at Wedge between 10am-5pm so the old school bodysurfers can have at it. The Wedge is a classic spectator arena and one of the best entertainment venues in the world when it's on. LOCAL RESOURCES: North OC Surfrider | Wedge Crew LINEUP TIPS: Etiquette | Surf Safety Basics

Nestled in a beautiful cove at the northern end of Dana Point lies Salt Creek, a watery playground of long pointbreak-style lefts, wedgy A-frames, relentless shorebreak and sand-gurgling rights. You name the type of wave, and Creek probably has it. At the most southern end of the beach is the Point. If the sand is good, it's a goofyfooter's skatepark as far as left pointbreaks go: extremely rippable, extremely crowded and has an extremely small takeoff zone. The Point takes any south swell and on the largest days, it can reel across the bay producing 50-yard rides. Watch out for rocks on the inside at low tide. Middles is usually where the rest of the pack ends up catching waves. Peaks crumble year-round from the outside and suck dry on the inside, creating ankle-snapping aerial sections on the right tide. During summer after 10 a.m., Middles is blackballed and Point is the only spot left open to surfers. If you're one of those surfers who enjoys pulling into deep closeout tubes and getting sand in all of your orifices, head north of Middles to the section in front of the golf course called Gravels. On west swells, Gravels is a showcase right-hand barrel. It peels in about two feet of water on any tide, and sometimes throws squarely into shore. LOCAL RESOURCES: Dana Point Surf Club | South OC Surfrider LINEUP TIPS: Etiquette | Surf Safety Basics

If you aren’t aware of what existed before it, Doheny is an ideal beginner’s wave.  Swells slip past the swell-choking jetty, break softly over a bed of cobblestones and form into slow shoulders. A few hundred yards southeast, by the San Juan Creek, there’s a sandbar and reef that break better on stronger swells. If you can withstand the sky-high fecal counts, it’s these types of bars that’ll quench the thirst. Those days are all too rare, though, so Doheny, if anything, will serve as great place to introduce your child to his/her first wave.Water quality at Doheny is often poor and can be especially bad after it rains. LOCAL RESOURCES: Doheny Longboard Surfing Association | Doheny State Beach Foundation | Bring Back Our Beaches | South OC Surfrider LINEUP TIPS: Etiquette | Surf Safety Basics

T Street is known for one thing -- consistency. The entire West Coast from Jordan River to Cabo could be flat, and T Street, the central hub for San Clemente's finest, would manage to cough up a wave or two that would make a surfer happy. There are a lot of things that help T Street break: sandbars, reefs, rocks and odd seaweed gardens all contribute to the wave's quirky behavior. It'll transform from San O' to mini-Backdoor in the time it takes to do a bottom turn. Although the T Street fanatics have many different names for every hole in the reef, the break is typically divided into three spots: the Reef, Cropley's and Beach House.On a strong S swell, lefts hit the outside reef, break slowly, then peel over the inside rock shelf, bowling in a fast, down-the-line section. On winter swells, you get the opposite: long, workable rights off the reef ending in a collapsing shorebreak. Cropley's is strictly a winter break. Named after the owner of a tasty hamburger stand that no longer exists, Cropley's provides fast, zippy righthand peaks just north of the snack bar. Some swear it's T Street's best wave when it's on -- which isn't very often. It takes just the right swell direction from the NW. South of the overpass, there's a sandbar that old locals call the Beach House, named after a candy shack that once stood there. On medium-size swells, you can catch some wedgy lefts and rights that are often less crowded and more geared toward shortboards and bodyboards. T Street is a longtime haven for bodyboarders and San Clemente's top pros. LOCAL RESOURCES: South OC Surfrider | Bring Back Our Beaches | San Clemente Boardriders Club

While the surf media limelight tends to focus itself a quarter-mile south, Upper Trestles steadily grinds out quality cobblestone righthanders that are often equally as impressive as Lowers. And if the river is flowing, Uppers can even offer a short, punchy left into the mouth. But the focus is always on the rights, especially since Uppers draws in a bit more west and northwest energy than its sister to the south.North of the rivermouth is the outer takeoff zone, which peaks up the biggest but usually sections off once the wave reaches the corner of the cobblestone point. From the corner, which offers the most bowly, rippable waves, rights run through the quasi-cove created by sediment buildup from the San Mateo Creek. And if you pick off the right wave, it's not impossible to go the entire distance -- burning your legs through upwards of 150 yards. It should be noted that the sections are directly affected by sand and cobblestone placement. Big swells and the extreme rains that cause the rivermouth to burst are the main movers and shakers of Uppers' wave quality. LOCAL RESOURCES: South OC Surfrider | Bring Back Our Beaches | San Clemente Boardriders Club LINEUP TIPS: Etiquette | Surf Safety Basics

Offering forgivably rippable walls going either way, Lower Trestles only closes out on the rarest of swells.If there's a sniff of south swell in the water, Lowers will welcome it with open arms. But if there's a puff of south wind, Lowers will shut down quicker than 5:00pm on Wall Street.Don't expect to score Lowers uncrowded either (even on full moon nights). Watch any set roll through and you'll see two (or more) surfers taking off in either direction, which often makes things frustrating for even the biggest name pro surfers. But if you manage to wrangle one to yourself, hold on because you're in for one of the best rides Southern California can offer. LOCAL RESOURCES: South OC Surfrider | Bring Back Our Beaches | San Clemente Boardriders Club LINEUP TIPS: Etiquette | Surf Safety Basics

San Onofre State Beach is the Waikiki of the California Coastline -- a beginner's paradise of gentle breaking waves, long sandy beaches and an absence of ego. Today, it is one of the last few beaches that epitomizes the California surfing lifestyle. On any given summer weekend, you can find a whole tribe of surfers playing volleyball, talking story and swilling beer under grassy huts or sitting hunched over their longboards, waiting for the next lazy peak to float their way. Locals divide San Onofre into three main breaks: the Point, Old Man's and Dogpatch. All work best on a strong south swell. If you must bring a shortboard to San O', which, by the way, is the equivalent of bringing a longboard to Teahupoo, the Point would be your best bet. The Point is located directly in front of the northernmost parking spot. On a head-high southwest swell, there are some relatively fast lefts (fast in San Onofre terms) and even a section or two to hit if you get lucky. Rights are far more predominant and can be milked with a funboard or longboard. During winter, the Point often shuts down. With a 15-minute paddle to the south of Point, you'll find yourself in the surfing world's equivalent to the movie Cocoon. Here at Old Man's, geezers rule and grommets learn. The wave rolls off a padded reef some 200- to 400-yards offshore and is mushier than a bowl of cream of wheat. A longboard that'd float Shaquille O'Neal is the weapon of choice and surfing etiquette does not apply. In fact, it's not uncommon to see 10 people on a wave during the summer, nor is it rare to see lawn chairs and dogs brought on board. Just south of Old Man's is Dogpatch. It's ideal for beginners if the swell is up and they cannot make the paddle out to Old Man's. On a high tide, Dogpatch breaks in slow motion and is second to Doheny as Orange County's easiest wave to learn on. All of San Onofre's waves are typically indecisive about breaking. If you understand this point, you'll be well ahead of the game. Waves here like to crest, back off, crest, back off, crest, back off and then finally break. Trying to find your "one last wave" of the day can be a good trial in anger management. But if you find yourself ready to spout, you've missed the point. San O' is there to remind us that in this crowded world, there's still a spot where we can all ride together with smiles on our faces. LOCAL RESOURCES: San Onofre Surfing Club | South OC Surfrider | Bring Back Our Beaches | San Clemente Boardriders Club LINEUP TIPS: Etiquette | Surf Safety Basics