Wednesday 29 October 2008

Southern California has always held a strange attraction to me. Growing up with the Taylor Steele movies, Rob Machado in Surfer mag every month, the punk that was associated with it and of course the skateboarding made me want to one day visit the places I’d read or heard about regularly. That and the perma-sunshine/waves.

Fast forward to last year and having an idea for a holiday I managed to talk the wife into going to San Diego for a week. We loved it, although I didn’t surf as much as I wanted. I went skating with a local and visited Washington Street and some other places, hung out at Mission Beach and just generally enjoyed the SoCal lifestyle.











So much so we went back again last month. We stayed in Pacific Beach again, but this time got a hire car and a proper board. This trip from a surfing point of view was a lot more enjoyable – up at dawn (thanks jetlag!), surf, breakfast, play at being tourists, back for a surf then out for food and drinks. Heaven. I got to have a skate day again with Riik and some other fellas, eat some amazingly good (and nearly authentic) street tacos, checked out SurfIndian store and chatted to Chris the owner about the amazing surf art and boards he has in there and drove up and down the coast through all the surfspots that were the reason for the trip in the first place.














Pacific Coast Highway looking down to La Jolla

[Click Pic above for Peekers 08 SD Slideshow]

The surf was pretty fun all week – 2-3ft, nothing serious but enough to have fun in. I got to surf 27th Street in Del Mar on the last day which were the best waves of the trip.

I’m saving up to go again next year. Even if the wife wants to go somewhere else.

Oh and one morning after a surf I went and took a few snaps at Pacific Beach.

















Crystal Pier windswept but fun.

[click for surf slideshow]

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