About Santa Barbara Surf Travel
Santa Barbara is tricky. Yes, it’s synonymous with greats like Tom Curren, Al Merrick and Bobby Martinez, but have you ever spent a summer there? With its myriad pointbreaks and kelpy, glassy conditions Santa Barbara lights up on a proper west swell (280 degrees at 18 seconds is the magic number). Unfortunately, due to severe shadowing from the Channel Islands, it’s blocked from pretty much all south swell. Beautiful and bucolic, whether you live there or are just passing through, Santa Barbara has a lot to offer…but if you’re on the hunt for surf you may give it a pass in the summertime.
Some spots serve as undeniable proof that our Creator was a surfer. Rincon, the famed half-moon pointbreak near Ventura’s northern county line, is one of them. While its sister points in Santa Barbara are perennially shadowed by the Channel Islands and a stubborn leg of land known as Point Conception, Rincon sits just on the receiving end of the majority of winter swells. It only takes one complete wave to realize why the ‘Con is considered California’s best right pointbreak. If you can luck into a set off the Indicator, race through the section that runs across the mouth of Rincon Creek, connect it to the cove and carve to the freeway (a total distance of about 300 yards), you’ve completed the Iditarod of pointbreak surfing.
Rincon
Rincon’s location (halfway between Santa Barbara and Ventura) and accessibility (a short walk from an open parking lot, an easy spot to check while zipping by on the freeway), helps make it one of the most crowded winter spots in Southern California. It’s not uncommon to see upwards of 150 maniacs from as far north as Lompoc and as far south as Valencia scrambling for everything that swells on a busy morning. Despite the glut, Rincon is a long, sometimes sectiony wave that tends to distribute the wealth. Unless Tom Curren’s out (who still doesn’t have to hassle for his pick of the litter), the ‘Con is no oligarchy. When all sections are up and running — any winter swell from 3 feet to triple overhead — there are three main takeoff spots.
The Cove
The queen of the coast’s crown jewel. The more west the swell, the better. The more sand, the better. A flawless section that starts halfway up the point and funnels onto the rocks lining Highway 101. This is where Curren evolved from boy wonder to Superman over a few winters’ time. Everybody wants a piece of the Cove, which, of course, makes it the most frustrating crowdwise. Unless you’re out there in July, during a howling south wind or on the full moon patrol, you’ll never get the cove to yourself.
The Indicator:
Where the big boys surf. The indicator is where the marathon men pull out their longer boards, sit out at the top of the point and try to go the distance. A popular overflow area when the Cove is clogged with longboarders. Although a high-quality wave, the Indicator is the slowest of the trio.
The Rivermouth:
An unpredictable, sometimes polluted, sometimes ultra-hollow section that links the Indicator to the Cove. On a typical swell, a little more than half of the waves that barrel through the Rivermouth end up shutting down. But it’s a great place to roll the dice when the other options are already taken by 200 of your closest friends. Rincon Creek has had chronic pollution problems over the years, but organizations such as Clean Up Rincon Effluent (CURE) have made progress in pinpointing the culprits — the septic tanks connected to the 72 homes on the point — and cleaning up the mess once and for all.
Sandspit:
Now this place gets good. Really good, mate — like Kirra when it’s on, yeah. Created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers some time ago, the breakwater finger sticking into picturesque Santa Barbara Harbor works magic with the local sand flow, arranging those precious grains in such a fashion that they transform ordinary lines of swell into insanely hollow, ass-flyin’ rights that can either peel on and on or dump squarely onto your back, depositing you straight into the oh-so-shallow bottom.
Most surfers think that Sandspit only breaks on the biggest of winter swells, but you’d be surprised at how many days it’s surfable. You’ve probably seen photos of Sandspit in the magazines or at its best during the 1982-’83 winter in the video, Off the Wall 2: the crazy backwash, the chocolate water, the frightening double-ups and a guy like Chris Brown or Tom Curren getting shacked off his nut. Believe what you’ve seen: all of this is part of the game.
Here’s how Sandspit works: a set will approach the breakwater, hit the backwash, jack up right in front of some craggy jetty boulders and spin off down the line. The takeoffs are ridiculously steep and are often outright airdrops, so paddle into them like mad, hop up as soon as you can and look to pull-in from ground zero. When conditions are ideal, the wave is a straight tube, nothing else. No room for carves, reentries or floaters. Visualize Kirra, but on a smaller, colder scale. You’ll see a lot of kids trying to launch airs at Sandspit, but why risk flopping over an endless, mind-bending barrel? Tuberiding is the name of the game here, but it’s also a dangerous place to surf. Not only is the bottom extremely shallow and the lips like jackhammers, surfers have been known to get washed over the breakwater and deposited in fetus position on the other side. Watch that backwash.
Surf Hazards
Tar balls on the bottom of your foot (see Surf Pollution section below) suck. They end up smearing oily tar all over the deck of your board and make a huge mess, but here’s a hot tip, if you step in tar use sunscreen to get it off. The oil in the sunscreen will break down the oil in the tar, mix in a little sand, give it a good scrub and you should be all set. Other surf hazards in Santa Barbara include the rare sighting of a Great White Shark, as well as urban runoff after storms and strong currents when the swell is maxing out.
Surf Pollution
One of the biggest bummers about surfing in and around Santa Barbara is the tar that washes up on the beach. As evidenced by the offshore oil rigs, the Santa Barbara area was blessed with legit petroleum deposits, unfortunately, some of that oily black tar ends up on the beaches. The area suffered a massive oil spill back in 1969, which resulted in the establishment of numerous environmental laws and regulations, and while most of the tar and oil that shows up on the beaches today is naturally occurring, it remains a constant threat. In 2015, a pipeline ruptured and sent 143,000 gallons of crude oil to the coast. Other water quality concerns for the Santa Barbara area are centered around urban runoff and pollution after periods of heavy rain.
Best Surf Seasons in Santa Barbara
1) Winter
(December-February) wintertime’s the right time for Santa Barbara. It takes a good west swell to sneak into the area’s limited swell window, but when it does, go find your favorite right-hand pointbreak and have the time of your life.
2) Spring
(March-May) typically windy and cold, spring in California is generally pretty rough, but in Santa Barbara, it can be downright heartbreaking. Spring ushers in Santa Barbara’s slow season. A late-season west swell may keep things interesting, but summertime’s right around the corner and that means more time on the road for local surfers.
3) Summer
(June-August) on the bright side, the UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College are out for the summer and there are a few fewer students clogging the lineups. The downside is that those lineups are all but dormant for the three months of summer. Santa Barbara is not what you would call a south swell magnet. In fact, it doesn’t get any south swell at all.
4) Fall
(September-November) after suffering through summer the autumn months are always much appreciated around Santa Barbara. Crisp, offshore winds and new west swells from the Gulf of Alaska remind everyone why being a surfer in Santa Barbara can be so rewarding.
Directions to Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara sits right on the coast and the only way to access it, either from the north or the south, is via Highway 101. It’s about a two-hour drive from Los Angeles and about six hours from San Francisco. There’s also a small airport in Santa Barbara that’s served by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas and other major hubs.
Surf Reading
Inner(lost) Limits of Pure Fun – Never-before-seen footage from George Greenough