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Many, many years ago when l lived in Santa Cruz, we were blessed with a huge west swell but also the powerful surf destroying south winds that accompany a storm so we drove through the late afternoon and evening the 300+ miles to El Capitan. After setting up camp and eating a late dinner we slept lightly as it seemed every set was louder then the last anticipating what the morning light would bring. Of course we were ready to go at 5am, 2 hours before 1st light. So we made breakfast and paddled out at 6am...pitch dark. 6-8' faces, light offshore coming out of the canyon, l remember thinking not 1 drop of water was out of place on the lip; perfect peelers. I would catch a wave, ride it in the dark, paddle back to the peak and now there would be 6 guys out there, next wave 12 guys, next wave 24, next wave 50 guys in the lineup there was no 5th wave. We drove home hoping the wind had subsided...
Last time I surfed here was 1973. Rick Branning and I drove from San Diego but it was not this good. Mahalo for the footage! I miss California but don't miss being cold. Now I vacation in San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily (Sicilia) There is surf in Capaci too! :) Konaboyz Surfin CPA Honolulu, Hawaii
I went up there one time when Surfline said 6-10 El Cap. Only 5 or so guys out when I got there and it was good! Although it was raining but not blown out at all ! You’re going to get wet anyways, those days still happen. A lot of fair weather surfers I think..
Had a couple of great sessions there, but hard to catch it good if you don't live there. A blessing when it happens. Goleta coast has changed a lot but still has it's wintertime charms.
Drop in , mess the wave up, fall off. Over and over and over. Nice little set up and such a pretty location. Imagine having it to yourself & a couple of friends 60 or so years ago.
what a shame there r SO many packd line ups...!..beutiful state...great surf...thank god I never settled there....would of had to quit surf'n....great footage ...thanks...
first time i surfed this place it was this size but cleaner lines and like 5 guys out. it took multiple disappointing sessions afterward to realize how rare and special that session was. to do this day, after travelling the world for surf, it remains as some of the best waves i've ever seen or surferd.
Started surfing in this area as a beginner in 1973.over a four year period surfed it only twice,but perfect.the inconsistency will drive you nuts.better more consistent waves nearby.
Nice work! It's thanks to RU-vid videos like this that we no longer need to respect the locals. In fact, just tell the folks who who surf here that you saw this video, and I'm sure they will be honored that you showed up. They'll probably even let you have your pick of the sets. Of course, the alternative would be to post this video and kindly omit the name/location. But hey, that's for thoughtful, respectful suckers, right?
Hi everybody, thanks a bunch for keeping this channel over the minimum ( 1000 subscriber count ) as of Feb 20th 2018 new rules. Please keep smashing that red button in support because who knows it may get raised again soon? I very much appreciate it, and if you would like to be notified when a new video is uploaded hit that "Bell" symbol also.... sincerely ru-vid.com
Did I get it wrong, or anything a little off of what I mentioned? Basically just made up my own information based on my life long experiences of living in Southern California. There are a lot of variables to condense in a general description! I have surfed El Capitan many times in winter going way back....
Henry, nice work. I'm not a camera expert, but you must have one of the best for these purposes. Lots of new breaks remain for you to explore which are rarely covered, both to to the south and north of your location! Brief review: My fav so far was Brooks Street, never seen it covered even though it's certainly not isolated. LJ Cove was good, but didn't really capture what it's about like you did Lunada...
Sure what place would you like to see? Keep in mind some of these places only break at certain times. I try to wait for clean conditions on a good swell, a lot of the times the place I'm trying to get is not hitting so I end up going somewhere else that might be?
Yes, and the one I have in mind only happens during a super south, (New Zealander or Baja Hurricane). The swells are coming straight up and they catch the SD Bay Side of Point Loma. They line up beautifully and peel off right almost all the way to Ballast Point./USN submarine base. The place is called Ralph's and you can shoot it from above on a trail that leads down from the lighthouse at Cabrillo National Monument ,
..There you can get some angles similar to the ones like Ron Stoner captured in about '67 from the cliffs above Blacks. They got a lot of coverage in a Surfer mag from fall '67 and a couple of the ones featuring Dickie Moon (Windansea Surf Club) showed up on the original version of the Rolling Stones' Satanic Majesties Request album cover in the inner liner..
Where I live in Perth is getting an Urbansurf Wave pool. Locals here can't wait. the surf here has been almost nonexistent for years. The other week my sons and I tried the Wakeboarding cable park! That was great also. Might also try Kitesurfing. There just doesn't seem to be enough clean swells these days!!
+Jack Malczynski Glad you like it! Have you tried hitting the "CC" Closed Caption feature bottom right side of screen? It gives more detail and descriptions about these surf breaks. If you use the "Settings" wheel bottom right screen, you can change languages. I just started using Closed Caption and will be adding more to other surf breaks also! Thank a bunch for watching
+muddy waters You should not post stuff like that online, combined with no profile picture or even any of your own videos, it makes you look like an angry frustrated Old Surfing Internet Troll, just saying.....
+henryssurfshowcase Very limited now. Used to park right off P C H and walk a tree line through a cattle pasture and pop out through a small aroyo. Three breaks. A reef right hander at the top. A fun left down the beach and another reef right about 250 yards past that.
+carnage747 You and Muddy don't even have a profile picture, and your page is other peoples videos, you two seem to think you own the ocean, and yet you 2 want to troll my page and tell me what I can upload and write! I would like to see a REAL picture of you guys ( surfing preferred) ( no fakes) so maybe I can respect anything you have to say after your foul mouth comments and threats on my page.....
+TheBroLounge The State Parks have a world wide advertising and promotion team better than I could ever have! Once again, surfers are really not my target audience to enjoy these videos! I have been told that there are lots of patients in hospitals, and others that will never have the chance to get out of there who absolutely enjoy what I am doing, and MOST others that don't even surf, or live anywhere close to the beach etc. The ocean is gods gift to ALL of us! This localism of the FEW who Vandalize cars and intimidate thinking they own the beach, their days are numbered! No I am not "sorely mistaken" Anyone making online threats to me, or anyone else on the beach are very foolish now with technology, smart phones, small GoPro's, hidden wifi camera's etc. Don't blame me for the rapid increase in world population! Why are you ok but the next guy is not? I suggest use common courtesy to any surfer that follows the rules of common courtesy ( don't purposely drop in on anyone, don't paddle out in the riders way, and don't trash the beach, etc etc ) If you don't like these videos then simply don't watch them- ru-vid.com
+henryssurfshowcase Nobody vandalizes cars at El Cap bro. My issue here is that the more video footage that gets out, the more people will be attracted to spots. I understand that all the spots are in books and guides already, but video footage is NOT everywhere and more of it on youtube is not a good thing.
+TheBroLounge I respect and appreciate your comment, I am not focusing on 1 spot, There will be many more others uploaded soon! EL Capitan will always be crowded, always has been! It rarely gets big enough to thin the crowd. This video is after it already happened, good luck catching it, Rincon was almost triple the size this day! Maybe it will keep people from going here by looking at that crowd? I have found that the biggest and best days (at localized spots) hardly anybody is out ( if any), and it is a full waste of waves from those who hassle everyone when it's small, then flee themselves because they can't even make a paddle out! A few complain about the Campus Point video, when you can go on a "live" webcam, and watch uninterrupted "camera rewinds 24/7 with wave models and forecasts, also get an " alert" on your smart phone! This is just a video after it has already happened, and it is no secret spot by any means. Surfers know all the secret spots already, but some area's are hindered by the FEW, then when it gets big they bail from their localized spot to places like El Capitan, thus the pile up!
Sabrina, I surf Huntington Beach and Newport and still get plenty of waves.( it does not get anymore over exposed than that) Get off the boogie board in 1 foot surf and learn how to take off on the peak! I watched your video of you, just saying......
Your swell direction information is way off. A 265 degree swell is a West swell not WSW. When a swell comes from 255 or less then maybe call it a WSW. The big January swell this year was about 252 degrees, and we still call it a West swell. We're currently seeing WSW swells lining up out of the Tasman Sea in mid September. So clearly WSW is not the correct term. If you had done any type of legitimate swell mapping, you would clearly see that El Cap is open to long period SW swells greater than 225 degrees, and its swell window stays open until the Bixby ranch shadowing at 270+.
It would seem a SW swell would get mostly shadow blocked from the offshore islands, most swells in winter are WNW a lot NW and actually wrap into El Capitan. Straight west 270 are actually kind of rare, and even a good size clean WSW even more so I would think?
@@henryssurfshowcase When you say W/SW or WSW swell, people confuse that with Southern hemisphere swells. A North Pacific swell generally from 280-250 degrees is classified as a West swell. When you say a North Pacific swell from the W/SW, it's usually a short-mid period swell from around 240 degrees. This angle will even light up Malibu. Real W/SW swells come at this time of year from the Tasman Sea in the southern hemisphere at 230+ degrees, with South Pacific shadowing by Fiji and the Samoan Islands. Like I said, jump to conclusions about Refugio and El Cap never breaking on southern hemi swell all you want. The maps say otherwise. The longer the swell period mean the more uplift from deep offshore bathymetry. Shark Park off of San Miguel Island doesn't slow the long period energy down that much if it's at 225+ degrees, it's just a reef shelf that will facilitate the long period lines to wrap into El Cap. If El Cap ever breaks on swell steeper than 275, it's likely significant long period swell (over 14 second intervals). The longer the swell interval the more potential "swell wrap" we can expect to see. Next week it will likely show. We have 18-20 second W/SW on the way for next week so it might be worth a look.
Sounds like you really know what you are talking about Zach. Although for me if I see a SW swell coming off Tasmania or New Zealand, El Capitan would be one of my last choices. If I see a strong storm in winter just north of Hawaii generating large swells then I would be thinking the rare spots in Santa Barbara..
@@henryssurfshowcase You can bet you aren't the only one to write off those two breaks, but it is on the way to Jalama which is a solid bet for fun waves in the Summer. I saw in the forecast a significant long period swell lining up @ 238, now it says 233. So short lived and ultra inconsistent, yes. The window is still there, like you were saying ultra rare, but it's there. It would be lake flat in between sets, but the long period swell will still show. The W/SW swell from 230-240 (Southern Hemi swell) That's the white whale. A North Pacific swell from 240 or 250 W/SW is generally from a low pressure system that's already moving away from us and away from our swell window sending waves to Baja CA or impacting the coast with poor weather. It's that NPAC energy @ 250-260 degrees that can stall perhaps a couple hundred miles off the CA bite and produce what we would all call a big West swell. Most big West swells are accompanied by poor weather, but that's why it pays to know where it's off shore on the south wind. 🤙
Offshore on a south wind I don't know anywhere in Southern California like that, semi protected maybe? SE wind yes there are a few side shore- side offshore possibilities like South Bay area and a few others..
+clarkewi I hear that all the time and was lucky enough to live in Kona and surf Banyans for 9 months! I have also surfed both sides summer and winter Kauai, Oahu, Maui. What I can say in deepest respect to the Hawaiians is they have never measured in feet which equals 12 inches, It was more of a measurement of fear! There was no such thing as feet, that has become a mis translation from the Americans when the Island became a U.S. state in 1959. Most of the world is on the metric system! Measuring breaking waves from trough to crest is pretty much a world standard now and more accurate! For example: a 3 foot wave at 17 seconds can produce about a 6 foot wave face. While a 3 foot wave at 9 seconds is pretty much a 3 foot wave face.
@@henryssurfshowcaseI think they will never understand. Hawaiian scale means sitting in the front of the Laptop and meassuring the wave face with a ruler😂.
Yes 3-7 foot "wave faces" peak, 12 inches equal 1 foot rule! No Hawaiian scale, no BS just 2nd grade math. Ok maybe 6.5 trough to crest? I freeze frame a few sections and I get 7 barely but that's what I get! 1 to 2 feet over head on a few "peak" sections. If you like that, then you will really like my daily Southern California Beach and Surf Report on my home page discussion section.. Here's the link... ru-vid.comdiscussion
+carnage747 Those guys were all out in the water before I got there, can't blame me for that! Maybe this way they will stay home and just watch themselves in the video?
+henryssurfshowcase Why tell people all the info about the best swell direction for it to break etc. Let the true hardcore surfers figure it out for themselves, how the places works or even the location. That's what we all did. I guess that's the way it is now with social media, everything gets handed to you and you don't pay your dues.
+carnage747 There have been many books published already with EVERY spot in California and Hawaii that you can get easily at a surf shop. Who says that my info that I'm providing is correct? It's just another RU-vid video! I am not focusing on just 1 spot, and I'm not really trying to target surfers, ( they already know about these breaks) Most of the views coming in are from out of state and foreign countries and people that don't even surf and just enjoy watching the ocean. If i was to travel somewhere in winter from far away, it would be places like Honolua Bay.....
+carnage747 Once again you can get this information 24/7 on many websites with "live" beach camera feeds! Nobody has to blindly " figure out" anything for themselves anymore! By the time you watch this video it is history.....
Look I dearly love el cap, its my favorite wave, not necessarily because its a better wave than others i have surfed, but because its perfect with its imperfections. The reward of the dicey and slippery boulder paddle out coped with the insane drop (usually) by the table rock makes every good wave rewarding. +carnage747 Henry merely took footage of a spot that doesn't break often but when it breaks is already crowded. Not to say that it cannot get more crowded but Henry isn't doing anything that any other bozo on a bus couldn't stop and do, hell, I don't see comments like this on any other el cap videos. You're yelling at henry for exposing a spot that is already well known... its a STATE PARK yet you are the one WHILE arguing with henry NAMING BREAKS THAT AREN'T WELL KNOWN AND SHOULDN'T BE WELL KNOWN. hypocrite
+Keith Miller It broke for 3 months straight this year. Best winter in years for the Gaviota coastline. Super crowded though. Everybody from up north came down as well, because there spots were to big.
+carnage747 haha bullshit, unless you count waist high as breaking. It is rarely overhead and even more rare to be barreling. Of course when it is on with perfect conditions its a top 5 wave in the state.
+TheBroLounge I use to live across hwy 101 from El Cap and this winter it broke a bunch of time. I surfed it this winter and a few times it was so big there was a left breaking part way down the point. It's not a top 5 wave in the state, actually it use to be. The ranch has better points and same with some other obscure spots.
+carnage747 Not to get into a pissing match but I drove past el cap every swell and it was good way more than normal, but in general it wasnt overhead very often at all. But for the second part, El Cap when its on is better than anything at the ranch, its the best right point in the land of right points (okay maybe 2nd to sandbar only)
+TheBroLounge I agree, I don't have time to get in a pissing match either. haha, but when Drakes, Razor Blades, Little Cojo and Govt point are on, they are better then El Cap. I would take 8' Razors over 8' El Cap any day. But then again it comes down to preference. They're all good waves, just some are more crowded than others. P.O.P is my fav break along Gaviota when it's on.
Henry?! "The channel Islands south offshore as seen in this video ensure a complete wave block during summer!" This is not true in fact I surfed El Cap during a super huge massive southern hemi with cat.5 hurricane swell mixed producing swells coming through the Channel Islands in Sept 75 two days in a row after surfing Pipeline Newport Pt. El Cap. on a south the wave forms in a different part of the point top/middle then ,a 3 foot wave turns into a 5-6 feet wave as it goes around the point it gets larger! I can honestly say I've surfed it over 200 time since 1970
Thanks Alan, I will change that to "almost". You must have been very lucky to catch El Cap in the summer! Do you remember any freak off season Sept early W swells combining with that? If Pipeline was breaking, then you came over here and scored, you had the most perfect timing one could ever expect! It can be a consistent micro teaser 1-2 foot face max in summer just from the ocean doing its thing, and yes a strong hurricane can muscle a swell through that tight jig saw gap in the Channel Islands..
It was a maxed out SSE swell Newport's Pipeline is south of the Newport Pier you have one of my friends on a wave in one of your videos at Newport Point a goofy foot named Mark on one of the first three waves?,it's the third wave the guy on the orange board ,I just watched it as Pink Floyd plays in the background I'm listening to Echos!
Ah Newport Pipeline, I thought you meant Hawaii? Yes if you look at a map that SE direction will squeak through the Channel Islands for El Capitan! Especially that hurricane Marie, " Sandspit" was all time getting through the Anacapa channel which is extremely rare also
I snapped my board Sept.9th 2015? Hurricane Maria I dropped in on a outside perfect hollow drop hit bottom saw two pieces floating in the foam at River Jetties , A 6'10 Country Surfboards by Roger Hinds a beautiful outline and tail rocker I was not happy seeing that one go .
The wave at El Cap actually gets bigger as it goes down into the bay ,way different than a West swell that gets smaller if you can picture that..,Rincon Lefts same type of swell direction SSE perfect Too!
I hate this vid------ I camped there for weeks every year on our way to mainland M ---- for --- well --- not even this. I can tell cali surfers.----- you are all very lucky folks. could have been born in a battery factory in Medan.
Don't worry bout me you pricks after living in Ventura and surfing everything from Pelican Point to the Ranch I'm done and now living in Montana fly fishing. I had the best, you can have the rest.
when every single surf spot has a video of it, does that increase the crowds? I used to think the problem was population growth, but windsurfing is not growing, it is shrinking. Rafting is growing, but white water kayaking is staying the same. The problem is culture. Too many people want to go out in nature, and not enough want to stay in the cities. I doubt these videos have much of an impact. If they didn't exist, everything would be about the same.
