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Santa Cruz Beaches for Surf Culture

Entertainment Factor High at Santa Cruz Seaside
Michelle Fitzsimmons

December 30, 2011 // By Michelle Fitzsimmons

By Michelle Fitzsimmons
December 30, 2011

 

Host of the Cold Water Classic surf contest and just a few miles south of the world's biggest big-wave tournament, Mavericks, Santa Cruz is the perfect playing ground for amateur and professional surfers alike.

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Steamer Lane is situated just below the Lighthouse Surf Museum and sees surfers of every skill regularly riding gnarly sets. Spectators perch atop West Cliff Drive to watch local legends, up-in-coming stars, and visiting wave riders tear through the frothing surf. Though the waters are open to all year round, Steamer Lane becomes home to the internationally recognized and always exciting Cold Water Classic late each fall.

Pleasure Point is a legendary surf spot on the Central Coast that's ideal for all types of surfers. Divided up into a series of smaller beaches such as The Hook, O'Neill's (a.k.a "The Dirt Farm), and 36th Ave. & East Cliff, short and longboarders alike can find a wave to ride at "The Point."

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Cowell's Beach, which borders the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, is known far and wide as one of the best places to learn to surf in the world. If you've never hanged ten before, sign up for a lesson with Cowell's Beach Surf Shop or the Club Ed Surf School. Both provide wet suits, boards, and professional instruction in the water. Classes fill up fast in the summer, so if you can set aside a time to get schooled in the spring or during the work week, you'll receive more tailored, hands-on instruction.

Manresa State Beach is the last of the major spots worth checking out on Santa Cruz surf adventure, but remember that inside every twist and turn of the Santa Cruz coastline you can find a secluded beach to test your surfing savvy.

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Michelle Fitzsimmons

About Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle came to Santa Cruzfor college–Go Slugs!–and decided after graduation that there’s no place she’d rather be than right here on theCentralCoast. She regularly treks through the miles and miles of wooded wonder in the Santa Cruz Mountains and takes every opportunity to stroll on the beach with her dog. When she’s not sampling Santa Cruz’s eclectic eateries or browsing the shelves of Bookshop Santa Cruz, Michelle is at home on her boat in the Santa Cruz Harbor watching the sea otters and seals swim in her back yard. The travel bug bit Michelle a long time ago so whenever she gets the chance to head up to San Francisco for the weekend, spend a day in Big Sur or Monterey, or fly to Asia or Europe, she’s the first to pitch for gas or plane ticket. One of her favorite adventures remains going cross-country on an Amtrak train with her dad. Michelle is a freelancer who writes for Capitola-based paper, The Mid-County Post, Patch.com, and several marketing companies. Her passion continues to be writing about the stories that make the Central Coast such a fantastic place to live and visit. 

Read more about Michelle Fitzsimmons here.

Connect with Michelle via: Blog | Twitter


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