santa cruz

 

Santa Cruz is rad. It deserves the hype as a surf town with something for everyone and i really enjoyed the couple of days we spent there. I think i've had a soft spot for it ever since i visited with a skateboard in pre-surfer days twenty odd years ago. Reading Dan Duanes "caught inside, a surfers year on the coast" further ingrained it's appeal in my conciousness. For me it encapsulates a lot of what i like about california. It's a little more "real", quieter and less plastic than some areas further south. The people are friendly, it has a wealth of right hand point breaks. The surrounding coast and countryside are greener and a little more rugged than SoCal, and there are more breaks in the urban continuum along the coast. It feels like an "outdoors" kind of place in the same way that the lake district does over here.

I'd love to go back soon, i could definately live there

mondos

 

The right handers keep coming down Highway 1. This is Mondos which is inside pitas point between Santa Barabara and Ventura. It's probably the closest wave to saunton ive surfed abroad. Really mellow and friendly stoked crowd of older locals and a hefty dose of srf school carnage on the inside. Pitas point itself is i think the longest wave in Ca but it only wakes up in the winter. This inside spot was good for a couple of mornings of trunk based sliding nevertheless!

devon corduroy

 

Lines from the lookout on a solid winter swell

alpine

Because it's all water right?!

pleasure park

Holga's view of Santa Monica pier. Just far enough away that you cant see the true horror!