Blacks:
This is the best beachbreak in the county, and everyone knows it. The saving grace here is the long hike due to the sheer cliffs. It requires a time commitment that rules out most before-the-job or lunch-break sessions. There are three main peaks, shifting phantom peaks and sneaky insiders that work according to conditions. A deepwater canyon attracts most any swell with west in it and holds waves from 2 feet to as big as it gets. During head-high and smaller swells, low to medium tides are best, but, during large swells, it’s less tide sensitive. It should be obvious, by the glider port on the north end, that the dominant wind is onshore. Which is, as Black’s northern residents will tell you, the perfect direction to tickle a heavily tanned, stark-naked bum.
Black’s has long been a celebrated nudist beach, existing in spite of a 1976 city-wide vote banning nudity here and at other city beaches. In fact, the nudies may be able to claim a more entrenched, if not longer, residence at Black’s than surfers. But the obscene and surfing have come, over the years, to meld into the essential Black’s experience. In an attempt to reign in the freewheeling nudists, the city imposed a “nude line,” which is basically a line drawn in the sand and a couple of signs posted. The line is about 20 yards north of Black’s North Peak and prohibits nudity south of it. Squeamish surfers can now use the gated road off of La Jolla Farms Road, which ends up at the South Peak, and avoid the nudists altogether. From the bluff above, on a clear day, you can see Catalina Island. So, be warned: a line in the sand on this broad beach doesn’t offer much protection against exposure to renegade franks and beans.
Scripps:
One of the most popular beachbreaks in southern San Diego, the sandbars that form at La Jolla Shores and either side of Scripps Pier have qualities that augment the beaches to the south. This stretch of beach isn’t quite as tide-sensitive as Mission or Pacific Beach, which makes it the overflow spot for the masses. Although it can be smaller than the surrounding breaks — Black’s, in particular — its sandbars hold more swell before closing out. And a south wind, which mottles waves in other parts of the county, can blow off or move sideshore here. While the Shores is ground zero for most of the area’s beginners, Scripps is a favorite for local hotshots and often draws photographers and filmers. Also in the mix are students from UCSD and other area colleges. West and northwest swells work best, and the rights dominate at these times. Be aware that water quality is often affected by drain outfall directly at the beach. City lifeguards warn that water contact should be avoided for 72 hours after a storm event.
Birdrock:
Nestled just north of Pacific Beach Point and about half a mile south of Windansea sits the area known as Bird Rock. As with all of the other surrounding spots in the larger La Jolla area, these are reef breaks. There are two dominant breaks — South Bird Rock and North Bird Rock — that are surrounded by a handful of lesser quality and finicky sub reefs.
Both of these breaks get waves from a variety of swell directions. Overall, S/SW swells generally produce better quality waves. This area is notorious for having long lulls when the swell is southerly. Swells coming in out of a more W/NW direction can produce decent quality waves at North Bird while the South Bird reef will only have some short, and often soft, pop-up peaks. While both spots can break through a higher tide, if a swell is large enough, they are often best at a lower- to mid-tide. Medium- to larger-sized swells are needed for both of these breaks to show their better sides. North Bird is one of the few areas in San Diego that can hold shape and form on the largest of swells, as the bigger it gets, the further out it breaks.
South winds can and most often will affect surface conditions badly. Winds out of the north to northeast are the preferred direction. A flourishing kelp bed growing just to the outside of both breaks can also keep the areas surface textures cleaner. The water clarity can be some of the best that you may find in the entire San Diego area, which bodes well for those who like to go diving when the surf is down. A wide variety of bottom contours as well as sea life assure that each and every dive will present you with a unique experience.
As with ALL of the surrounding breaks in the area, the Bird Rock region is home to some of the best surfers in San Diego. As such, a higher level of respect is needed if you expect to ride these waves in peace.
Windansea:
Cobalt water speckled on the horizon where the kelp bed has stopped short of its urge to reach for the sky; the shape-shifting peaks emerging and reacting with elemental choreography; the inside shorepound, arid sandstone ledges, rocky shoreline and the iconic shack at Windansea — combine these with the gaggles of European men prancing about in banana hammocks, and you’ll think it’s the Mediterranean with waves. The stretch of San Diego’s coast from PB Point to La Jolla Cove is peppered with reefs. In the early days, these reefs contributed more to California surfing than most any other length of the coast in the state. The peak at Windansea has been the main stage of the area since the 1930s. Previous histories of the spot have divided conglomerations of surfers who have passed here into movements and revolutions: the Plant Boys, the Meal Hall gang, the Red Fin era, etc. Once the favorite spot of beer-swillin’, beast-riding watermen, Windansea has become, in recent years, the center of the community. The wave that spawned Hawaii’s first generation of big-wave surfers and developed a round of hotshot Californians in the ’70s has since been relegated to fun-wave status. Surfers looking for more critical waves have moved on, even if only a quarter-mile south to Big Rock. But the community has filled in where the mavericks have left off, and the surf culture at Windansea continues to thrive.