Pacific Beach

Surf Guide

PB Point is a rolling right that meanders through various slow sections. In fact, it's the slowest wave around and requires a low tide and swell with push to make it decent. There was a time, though, when these qualities made the Point ideal. The very first San Diego shack, a copy of the Polynesian throwback at San Onofre, was erected at PB Point during the early '40s. This was the first headquarters of Pacific Beach and La Jolla surfers before they migrated to Windansea. The shack was rebuilt there in 1946. It seems they were moving on to better hunting grounds. Which makes one wonder: where would the shack be now if the tradition had continued? As a social gathering place, and center of a community, the parking lot and beach at the end of Tourmaline Street is something to be cherished -- old friends, old stories, old boards, and a brand-new sunset every night. The atmosphere here is the antithesis of the aggro jostling going on just a quarter of a mile away at the Crystal Pier. The people who surf Tourmaline love it. And you'd have to be bleary-eyed with love to stick with waves that mushy. Longboards are the rule.