| I have had a lot of fun surfing Santa Cruz. There are | | | | other. Pleasure Point, 38th Ave, the Hook, Privates, |
| many surf spots in and around Santa Cruz but these | | | | Sharks...there all good. Back in my single longboarding |
| are a few of the most popular ones. Steamers Lane - | | | | days I used to frequently drive down before work (in |
| very good, crowded, high performance wave, Cowells | | | | San Francisco) hit these spots for a couple of hours, |
| - near Steamers Lane but smaller with slow rollers for | | | | and roll in to work at my latest possible start time with |
| beginners, and Pleasure Point (and the series of | | | | blood shot eyes and screwy hair. Surfing Santa Cruz |
| breaks adjacent to it) - Good waves especially | | | | is nice because the area seems blessed with |
| popular with longboarders. | | | | geography. Not only was there less wind and fog |
| Steamers Lane can be found near the Santa Cruz | | | | many days than what I would see in the SF Bay Area, |
| Surf Museum. You can walk over to the bluff and look | | | | the Kelp beds also help keep things glassy. Beautiful |
| down on the wave. It is a great place to surf if you | | | | reddish sunsets and cute sea otters (don't see them |
| can take the crowds. I haven't surfed there very much | | | | around here) add to the effect. It was crowded then |
| because when I used to frequently make the drive to | | | | and more crowded now so I rarely go anymore since I |
| Santa Cruz I had only a longboard and felt I was | | | | can't hit it mid-week anymore. |
| better off (skill and crowd wise) with other longboards | | | | Cowells is actually the most inside break of the |
| at Pleasure Point and nearby breaks. The last time I | | | | several leading out to Steamers Lane. Just North of |
| was at Steamers Lane I took off on a wave but saw | | | | the Santa Cruz Pier the place is perfect for beginners |
| another guy coming out of curl - basically I dropped | | | | surfing Santa Cruz. The waves are similar to those |
| in...woops! I had room to pull off. But wait..somebody | | | | Waikiki slow rollers. After an aborted attempt trying to |
| dropped in on me..and them somebody in front of him. I | | | | teach my wife to surf a local spot with not so ideal |
| had nowhere to go, it was ridiculous. Multiple F bombs | | | | conditions, I took her to Cowells. She stood up and |
| later I went to one of the "zones" closer in...not quites | | | | surfed the first day. This is the place where you can |
| as crowded. As I said, surfing Santa Cruz can be a | | | | basically go straight in on really big softtop surfboard |
| crowded experience, but still an excellent place to surf. | | | | and start to learn to trim. Yup, crowded like the other |
| Just south of Santa Cruz in Capitola is Pleasure Point | | | | popular spots but if your a beginner you'll see lots of |
| and the nearby breaks. Just follow 37th ave to the | | | | other beginners and you can take a lesson and rent a |
| coast and look down on these spots all next to each | | | | board from the beach. Go at low tide. |