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#3 Salt Creek
There are many people who will refuse to paddle out at Salt
Creek, whether it be the crowd, other surfers, or not willing to
fight for waves. But no one will deny its greatness. Salt Creek
consists of three different breaks, Gravels, Middles, and Point.
Many pros from Orange County, spent their grom years surfing
here, and later became pro. Many of the magazine photos
and cover shots that are taken are shot here. During good
swells Salt Creek boasts beautiful clean barrels that offer a
great ride, there is very few times you can say, Salt Creek has
bad conditions.
Average Wave Height: Anything from small 2-3 foot
lines, to 8 foot overhead barrels.
Skill Level: Even though Salt Creek looks like a
beginner beach, intermediate is the lowest you should
be here.
#2 56th Street,
Newport Beach
56th Street is the last jetty south of Newport Shores. On good
days, 56th is perfection, rarely bad conditions, and you can
thank the jetties for that. On weaker days the conditions are
still clean and you will still have a great session. If you find
yourself in the line up on a good day, you are destined to have
the session of your life. “56th is always a nice place. It almost
never walls out. Even if there is only one-footers with the
water depth barely up to your waist you will have a fun time”
says 19 year old Saddleback student Anthony Baldo. Hit the
take off perfectly and you will have a great wave. Many aspiring
pros come here because of the great conditions; photographers
love it for the sheer good looks of the place. The only
downside is a large crowd, but that should be expected at a
break like this.
With perfect waves, attractive settings, and great people to
surf alongside you, one session here and you won’t want to go
anywhere else.
Average Wave Height: Anything from 3 to 6 feet, during big
swells it can reach overhead to even double overhead.
Skill Level: Intermediate and above, beginners sometimes
have an issue with the jetty.
#1 Trestles
It was a given what number one would be. Wow World Class,
in every sense of the term. The ASP holds a World Tour event
here every year, and there are reasons for it. Although it’s
heavily crowded, it’s long pealing wave fires during pretty
much any swell, especially summer south swells. Lowers
boasts perfect conditions, long barreling waves, and size.
Most of the time Lowers becomes really crowded, and the
take off zone gets really tight, but if you can get a late drop
during the take off and come through, it will be the wave of
your life. On good swells when lowers is going off, you can
bet half of the surfers on the world tour are in the line up.
Have a great session here, you may start thinking you have
surfed it all. Next thing you know, you just bought a plane
ticket to Bali Indonesia, loading up your boards and leaving in
the morning, but try not to go overboard just yet.
Average Wave Height: Wave height at Lowers is any
thing from 3 to 6 feet, with flawless conditions.
Skill Level: Lowers, may be to intimidating for be
ginners, better for intermediate too advanced.
Lowers boasts perfect
conditions, long barreling
waves and size.
The Trestles Kingdom.
Trestles is split into three different spots: Uppers, Lowers
and Middles
UPPERS: North of Middles and Lowers, it fires during
winter swells, becoming a clean right hand barrel heavily
crowded.
LOWERS: The most popular part of trestles, a world
class break that is popular with pretty much every pro
surfer on the world tour. Lights up during summer swells,
has been called one of the greatest surf spots in the world
MIDDLES: More popular with longboarders than anyone
else, a smooth wave that picks up in the summer time.
Less crowded than Lowers, or Uppers.
Terminology.
Wind-Blown—The wind has turned the surf into choppy
mush.
Walled-Out—The face of the wave becomes steep.
Close-Out—The wave crashes all at once, making it hard
to surf the wave.
ASP—Association of Surfing Professionals.
Right-hander—The wave moves in right hand direction.
Left-hander—The wave moves in a left hand direction.
Barrel—Where the wave is hollow when breaking.
Orange Appeal spring 2012 17