Page 445 - California Diving and Surfing

VENTURA & SANTA BARBARA
SURFING SEASON OVERVIEW:
WINTER Consistent west and
northwest swells pound Ventura
and Santa Barbara during the winter
making it the optimal time to score
overhead perfection. Whether you’re
sampling one of the area’s world-class
pointbreaks or dropping into one of
the area’s sick A-frame beachbreaks,
winter makes it all possible. If there’s FALL Summer’s depressing hiber-
a swell pulsing through do yourself a
favor and make the drive… it’s worth
it.
SPRING Post-winter surfing in
Ventura and Santa Barbara is a lesson
in patience. Late-season west and
northwest swells are still around, but
their smaller size and noticeable de-
cline in power make it more difficult
to find a suitable location to surf.
The brutal afternoon onshore winds
make the water temperature and
overall conditions unstable at best.
SUMMER Unless you have access to
The Ranch most surfers in Santa Bar-
bara & Ventura do a lot of traveling
during the summer months because
of swell blockage from the Channel
Islands. However, despite this unfor-
tunate situation, most of the breaks
in Ventura County are still capable of road but in the summer it’s one of the
serving up a few decent waves during
a south or southwest swell.
nation is finally over. Early season
west and northwest swells combine
with mild air temperatures & off-
shore winds to produce some of the
best waves you’ll ever see, yet alone
surf. Whether you’re surfing one of
Ventura’s fabled beachbreaks or Santa
Barbara’s points you won’t be disap-
pointed.
SIDE 1 SURF DESCRIPTIONS
JALAMA Jalama is a freezing cold
beachbreak/reef combo that draws
swells from any direction. Dur-
ing the summer Jalama is a hotbed
for neglected Santa Barbara surfers
looking for anything to stand up on.
This wave works best with crossed up
lines from the west forming semi-
hollow peaks. Jalama is a fair bit out
of the way down a winding, narrow
few waves available.
TARANTULAS “T’S” often has the
best shape in the area. A juicy reef
on the south end of the beach. Best
Season: Fall/Direction: W/Size: 3’-
10’/Tide: High - Medium/Wind: E/
Bottom: Sand, Rock/Rating: Ad-
vanced.
this multitude of world-class waves
along this pristine stretch of coast.
Conditions ebb & flow with the ever
changing tides and swells.