How to check surf conditions in Los Angeles
As a someone new to surfing it is important to find decent conditions to go out in. Going out into waves that wall out and dump you every time is a good way to turn off a beginner to the sport. In Los Angeles the sites I have found the most useful to find the best conditions are:
- Swell Magnet - This is my favorite site for getting good, up to date, reliable local surf reports. They simply have people go out every morning (sometimes evening) and tell you what the conditions are first hand. They also post some good pics.
- Surfline - This is probably the biggest worldwide surf site. They have lots of extras like graphics and charts that are useful but require a subscription to their site. Their forecast and webcams are free.
- PacificWaveRider.com - This isn't my favorite site but has some good surfing pics on it.
- Wavewatch.com - This site has the best graphical way to understand the different swells coming at you. It may lack first hand forecasts but is still a site you need to check out when figuring out where to go.
- WetSand.com - This site has a pretty good overall SoCal Surf Forecast with some decent graphics for swell.
- www.oceanweather.com/ - This is a pretty good winter link. You can see the storms coming from Alaska and where the energy is going to hit.
- WannaSurf.com - This site is good to see all the different breaks in So Cal and see what they all about. I used this site to initially learn about the local scene and go back to it when there is a road trip planned to a new far off spot.