T Street

Surf Guide

T Street is known for one thing -- consistency. The entire West Coast from Jordan River to Cabo could be flat, and T Street, the central hub for San Clemente's finest, would manage to cough up a wave or two that would make a surfer happy. There are a lot of things that help T Street break: sandbars, reefs, rocks and odd seaweed gardens all contribute to the wave's quirky behavior. It'll transform from San O' to mini-Backdoor in the time it takes to do a bottom turn. Although the T Street fanatics have many different names for every hole in the reef, the break is typically divided into three spots: the Reef, Cropley's and Beach House.On a strong S swell, lefts hit the outside reef, break slowly, then peel over the inside rock shelf, bowling in a fast, down-the-line section. On winter swells, you get the opposite: long, workable rights off the reef ending in a collapsing shorebreak. Cropley's is strictly a winter break. Named after the owner of a tasty hamburger stand that no longer exists, Cropley's provides fast, zippy righthand peaks just north of the snack bar. Some swear it's T Street's best wave when it's on -- which isn't very often. It takes just the right swell direction from the NW. South of the overpass, there's a sandbar that old locals call the Beach House, named after a candy shack that once stood there. On medium-size swells, you can catch some wedgy lefts and rights that are often less crowded and more geared toward shortboards and bodyboards. T Street is a longtime haven for bodyboarders and San Clemente's top pros.