The Harbor Surf Guide

The Harbor Surf Guide

Another Santa Cruz institution that ain't what it used to be. When the Army Corps of Engineers built the Santa Cruz Harbor jetties in the '60s, it didn't account for all the sand drifting down from the San Lorenzo River. All that sand-thick current would slow down when it hit the jetty and deposit tons of sand into the harbor entrance. The harbor mouth would fill up with sand almost overnight, forming a perfect sandbar and one of California's grindiest little waves. The '70s and early '80s were the heydays for the Harbor, when the Army Corps of Engineers didn't have the dredge situation figured out, and the bar would fill in with sand every winter. On minus tides and big swells, the Harbor was the place to be and a cool little scene: surfers pulling into the barrel and keeping an eye out for boaters, who sometimes would fail to negotiate the harbor entrance and end up getting bashed into the rocks. There were injuries and deaths, and legendary battles between the surfers and the harbor patrol. Those days, for the most part, are gone. They've got the dredge all figured out, and the harbor is a shadow of its former self.

During the winter of 1998/'99, it let the sandbar run for a month or so, giving a new generation of Santa Cruz surfers a taste of what they're missing. But it was only a taste, and not likely to be repeated any time soon.