The next morning I got up at 7am to get ready to head to Himank’s when he so kindly offered to pick me up at my place, as public transport to his house would have been 45 minutes as apposed to an 18 minute drive. The drive to Pacifica from my place was only 20 minutes and the route by the coast was absolutely amazing. The highway stretched out along the coast lined with hills, trees and an incredible sneak peak of the marine blue ocean. Now and then you could see certain corners with beautiful lines of waves coming through and rolling out cleanly over the ocean.

Pacifica, more specifically Linda del Mar, the beach right by a Taco Bell where you can apparently also buy mixers, is apparently the beach to be at for beginners. You could also tell by the number of people walking around semi-awkwardly with their soft tops and mini-malibus.

Best part? It was warm enough for a 4/3 (a wetsuit that’s 4mm thick at the body and 3mm at the arms and legs), which is great compared to the Netherlands where people wear a 6/5/4/ or a 5/4 in the winter and where it snows occasionally while you’re in the water.

We ended up staying out for around 3 hours and the waves were insane. The first part of the session we stayed a bit South, where I think the waves were a bit too mellow for my board. Also, the long 20+ second period meant long periods of waiting during which I constantly paddled back against the current to stay in position. There were a lot of noobs, which you could tell by their techniques, but I am by no means a pro but I do think I knew more about surfing than most of the people on this side of the beach.

In the second half, we headed over to the North side of the beach where all the pros were (finally saw people on shortboard and duck-diving). I’ll be honest, I didn’t actually make it past the break in the beginning. I only just started duck-diving (which means to push your board and yourself under the wave and pop out once it’s past) and the waves here were so powerful, that the poor technique that I got away with in the Netherlands just didn’t cut it here.

The part that probably boggled me the most was the fact that I don’t usually scare easily, I’ve been to Hossegor twice and Mexico once and wasn’t scared for a moment. On Saturday on the other hand, it was pretty intense and I got held under for pretty long periods. I think it’s because with a longer period (the time between sets of waves) the swell builds in power, so even if it’s not super high it is very strong. Also, my surf buddy in the Netherlands Richard sent me an article about the fact that California has been seeing crazy swells (and I also ran into some surfers on the coast saying it was getting pretty “gnarly”).

For the surf people among my readers, I definitely think that this is going to be a promising place to surf, but as with every spot, you really have to get used to the waves and the moment to paddle. Happy I decided to get out when I did, but also excited for the next surf session! I’ll try to take some photos next time.