"Swells like this rearrange our relationship with where we surf. We think we know the takeoff zone at our local spot, and then all of a sudden it's 100 yards out and to the left. We think waves never break inside that cove or jetty or harbor or river, and then all of a sudden, they do." I'm not crying, you're crying. Poetry.
Among many great things, and places I've been, Surfing for over 25 years (and for 1 month a year now) is the best, most pivotal decision I ever made. Started at 29 yrs old, in cold water. Cheers.
I’ve lived and surfed in Hawaii for 40+ years (too old to surf now) and live near Rincon Point now. I saw the huge waves there recently and I also saw all the debris in the water and on the beach, logs, limbs etc from the storms. That’s not something I would like to be tumbling in the whitewater with, lol.
Yes, 1969 is the benchmark used for the last 50 years. For us in So Cal that were there, we will always remember waves breaking over both Newport Harbor jetties. Dana Point closing out across the entire bay, and a reef breaking further out than the end of the San Clemente pier. Fun times.
I had to laugh when they said they had their big boards of 9 feet for this. In 64 my favorite board was 9 5 and I ended up with a 10 when I gave it up in 66.
What a great posting! I grew up spending my summers in Balboa. Learned to surf at Zuma & Surf City. Graduated to Surfrider and Killer Dana. Surfed a 10'2" GUN, red-fin surfboard - shaped by Mike Hynson. Also bought a Phil Edwards shaped board from Hobie Alter. It was my favorite board ever. I was in Newport Jetties on my parents 46' cruiser, with the waves breaking over each jetty. The Wedge was beyond description. Another day my buddies and I drove oun chevy surf wagon down (lol) down to Dana Point, when the huge waves were breaking all the way to San Onofre. We jumped off the pier and tried to paddle out (kneeling on our boards in those days) - but had no chance. I'm 76 yo now - and have just a few people within my family and friends....that I can recall these days with. I wish "bitchin times" to all you old guys & gals with smiles on your faces - (from thinking back to your own gremmie memories)!! Rich Muller ps. don't even get my started on the insanities of "Bal Week" - when Marine Ave often had to close - and there were fire pits covering Balboa beach!!
Grew up in San Clemente, surf the pier all the time. Hard for me to imagine it breaking out past the pier. Sounds unreal epic! Although the sand has definitely changed, especially in the last several years.
Lot of Respect for Greg Long. He's already died once but he is Such a Warrior and Great Surfer he wants to Always Take off on the Biggest Wave! Mahalo Greg for your Spirit
Hi Kevin!! I miss your folks.. hug your Mama for me.🌴🌊 Thanks for the epic surf reports. You know if the Goat rerouted his travel path for the year, for this, it's gotta be epic, as well.
Back in the late 1970's I remember going with a few friends down to the Seal Beach Pier. We were in High School and I rode my bike down there from my parents house near Recreation Park golf course and Wilson High. I would cut through the marina to shorten bike ride there, but it was a pretty long ride none-the-less. The waves were the same height as the pier. I had my Boogie Board and I managed to drop in on a few of them. The water was really nasty from all the sea debris being churned up. But it was an awesome day in the waves and I will never forget it.
@davidboudreau Love that part of Long Beach near Big Rec and Little Rec golf courses. I played a lot of twilight rounds back then. And of course Seal Beach is great. That must have been a heck of a ride.
@@mztokyo7630 I played a few rounds at both big and little rec golf course. I remember one hole on little rec where it seemed like you teed off from a cliff above the green. Or was the big rec? no clue now, that was so long ago...
@@davidboudreau4054 Thanks for the reply. Alas, even I am forgetting the correct hole as well. I hit a lot of balls into that lagoon though! Water holes were my achilles heel! Enjoying the memories.
I live in Mendocino. The waves were large but so messy and undefined that it didn’t look majestic. The waves did not look as big as they were because that ocean was just so rough. I’ve seen waves LOOK much bigger here. They just actually weren’t. PS: they ended up damaging the Pt. Cabrillo lighthouse in Caspar. That thing is on a cliff 50’ above sea level.
Woohoo!!! That is awesome! I saw massive waves twice when I went to Waimea Bay to watch the first two Eddie Aikau surf contests back in the day. I also saw epic waves at Sandy Beach and Makapuu before in the 1980s where it was breaking way outside and massive. I was so happy to see a picture of the huge waves in one video of Sandy Beach and there is a video at Makapuu not long ago where it got epic. I first learned it could get that big when my college professor in Oceanography at the University of Hawaii told us in class about how Makapuu could get epic on extremely rare conditions. He used to go bodysurfing after class at Makapuu and I would see him gliding along the waves in the water when I was swimming back out from the waves I caught. I used to go bodysurfing almost every day for years when I was younger but now I am an old man living on the Mainland. :)
Almost been surfing for 60 years grew up in Pacifica Cal! I rode 55 ft North Bird Rock in1975! The monster from New Zealand! I ride a Mike Eaton bonzer! God bless all my surfing Brothers!
I'm from Ensenada which faces Isla de Todos Santos. And I'd heard about how insane the waves can get on the island. It's so cool to have seen it in this video even if I've never seen it in real life.
Amazing. Those people are really brave. I used to boogie board when I was a kid. There were huge waves in 1982-83, does anyone remember this? That was the year a lot of piers were damaged. I was there the day the west end of the Santa Monica pier was severely damaged. There were pieces of wood and debris all over the beach. It was something I will never forget.
I was living in Mission Beach, San Diego in 69.. hanging out up on Black's Beach in the Torrey Pines park up on the cliffs watching the waves... digging the storm.. those waves didn't come close to what we are seeing the past week or so.. it is, possibly.. because of polar ice sinking... it can get much.. much bigger.. hope everyone has their boards ready
the el niño current jumps the equator during solar maximum in the southern hemisphere.. like now... bringing warmer water to the cooler north... bringing large and persistent storms above the warmer water... and.. because we're on a smallish sphere going round and round .. so does the water.. and air... the butterfly effect... times a bazillion
Anyone recall the article in Surfer in the late 60's titled "The Day the Islands Came to Newport"? A couple of years later, the City of Huntington was allowing riders to run out the pier and jump onto the top of the swell (just a few feet below the bottom of the pier)
Mid 80s I ran into some big ones one fall day in HB at Bolsa Chica State beach. Normally blown out and high tide slop. That day I dropped in on a 25' face and made it. Speed so fast the rail was humming. Riding a 5'10" Randy Lewis tri fin. I was maybe 16. 57 now, and will never forget it
Every swell is different, and in So Cal the angle is the key. The Channel & Offshore islands make a huge difference in where these swells will hit. I would say this wasn’t the biggest we’ve seen in San Diego, but up north it looks like the swell snuck through the shadow of the islands better. Winds were also a factor - never got right in a lot of spots, but The Cove & Blacks were pretty good! I did my thing at Blacks & The Cove & The Cliffs & Mexico (Todos & other unnamed spots) in the 80’s, 90’s I'm like that grumpy old man now - mid-60’s & too beaten up to do this any longer. I’d like to say "…it was definitely bigger in my day, sonny-boy!...” Well, maybe it was & maybe it wasn’t… We didn’t have digital cameras back then, or digital video. Only some grainy old pictures… And the memories of lifting 20’ to 30’ off the ocean’s surface, and taking that massive drop! So here’s to today’s young-turk chargers. Thanks for allowing us to re-live the moments through your exploits! It was definitely bigger in years past! And the fish are always bigger at the bar! Same thing you’ll say to the new guard in 30 years!
I remember the 1969 swell well. We surfed "off the end" at Big Corona, then actually in the channel between the jetties because they were more ride-able. I remember the storms that destroyed the HB pier in 1988, Balboa Pier in 1998, but I have never, even seen Black's so big or Todos Santos so big. This has been epic.
If you are looking for big swells, move to Okinawa southern outer islands. Here we have an average of 2 to 3 typhoons a month, from July to end of October.
As with swell events, different spots will eclipse one another, even on different times of the day. This looks on par with Jan '83 with intensity, if not with longevity. I'm not old enough to comment in person on 1969, though the Renny Yater Rincon photos from '69 look like Rincon was better then. I wonder about Todos in '83? Honorable mention Nov. 76, and was it 93 or 94? in summer California was so huge some of the Mavericks crew almost drowned at Fuller's. I heard Don Curry was rock solid, though. I stayed at the Lane where only me and Tom Powers were out for a good while. Summertime Steamer Lane with only 2 guys out. Tom Powers was heavy. He and Big Bird (Dave Schmidt) were the first 2 guys to surf Mavericks when Jeff decided to show someone else. I was glad someone more serious than me was out to surf with that day at the Lane.
@@Swayzeo Did it get rideable, or was it just nuking out in the clouds? Dudes had it killer the other day, I was looking at multiple vids. I wish I would've got to surf that before I got hurt. Looks soooo fun. Powerful, too. (I was a strictly up-north guy. So I scored incredibly, but missed out on a lot, too. We didn't allow cameras. Looking back, all that was dumb.)
@@mozdickson It's all I have left. Old injuries came back worse than ever. Can't surf anymore and even fall in the house sometimes. Sadly, 7 or 8 grand would pay for the surgeries (here in Mexico they're cheap) but I'm barely able to make rent, eat and keep the cats fed. My lifetime of surfing ended by lack of 8 thousand bucks. Plan better than I did, bro.
@@seancallahan1312 The '82-83 season had many Giant days. Many good and choppy days. The day Island Ester got destroyed I personally witnessed. Many rogue waves pelted the Island, but one giant wave completely destroyed the Island. Boulders were getting knocked out of the jetties. Different pier sections were getting knocked out on numerous days. Many days ridable, some not. I soloed out there many times that season, among many others, I don't mind choppy waves. Hope you heel soon 🙏
I remember going out one day back in the 70s when we had a massive swell hit Southern California, the waves were crashing over the end of the Hermosa pier, my buddy and I were just teenagers and had no business going out in that surf but we did anyways.Once I got in the water fear starting setting in but I didn’t want to admit it, I was actually very relieved when the Coast Guard helicopter flew over and ordered us out of the water lol. I didn’t catch a wave that day unfortunately or maybe fortunately but at least I can say I paddled out in one of the epic swells of my lifetime.
I surfed todos at 20’ and perfect. I think the big drop is great and scary but I prefer a waves with shape . I just go to Porto Escondido now it must be huge now . I still remember my best wave of my life. Jumped off the pier in Oceanside California because the paddle out was horrendous 15 to 20 foot riding a 6’8 sunset swallow tail single fin . Me and my partner just looked at each other a huge set was looking right at us everyone was tired from paddling out, we were scratching hard I turned around took a steep drop into to a 15 foot barrel I must’ve been in there for 10 seconds came out made the inside section all the way to the life Gaurd tower . I just sat on the bench smiling watching this massive swell
Any report about Salt Creek (just south of South Laguna)? Did it break in this swell? In the early seventies I remember a couple days with a big well ordered winter west swell it broke about 1.5 miles off the point in a pretty good left. Hard to get past the shore break and there were only a few of us out there (scared), it was epic.
North end salt creek very solid...bigger than the epic 2/24/08 swell (I was stoked to make surfline on that one...pic #21 under "west coast goes off again") but a little too much straight west in this one with more close outs on the inside.
I've never been on a surfboard. But I'm a long-time body-surfer who remembers the swells off Santa Monica in late August of 1973. The waves were nothing like what you see here - I wouldn't have been out there if they had been - but they were much better than anything I'd seen on the Maryland and Jersey shores, and I couldn't get off the beach. They were perfect for body-surfing, not monstrously big, but powerful, shaped just right and breaking far enough from shore where you wouldn't break your neck in a wipe-out. I was disappointed when I returned to California in 1975 (at Zuma Beach), expecting a similar experience I had enjoyed two years earlier. But it was not to be. The waves were anemic, the surf relatively placid. Nature moves on its own time, not ours.
"Oh God, thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small" Breton Fisherman's Prayer, posted in Surfer Mag in the early 70's with a huge wave behind it. Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover presented a plaque with this prayer on it to President John F. Kennedy and it is in the JFK Library and Museum in Boston Ma.
3:04 Todos Santos MX is 1,000 miles south of San Diego (same todos Santos? ). It would have been nice, for curiosity sake to say how they got down there and how long it took them. That little trawler is not going 1000 miles very fast.
Winter 1988 at El Porto, Manhattan Beach ca. was Waimea bay at its best day, and I’ve got dozens of pictures to prove it, 50ft 60ft at peak faces, only just a few were brave enough to try, it was huge! It was epic a couple of weeks ago as I compare it to the photos I have, winter 1988 in SoCal was epic, I was down in Todos santos a month ago and only wish I had planned it a month later.
