Near Trestles (Old Man's)

San O' is there to remind us that in this crowded world, 
there's still a spot where we can all ride together with smiles on our faces. -Surfline

For me, the highlight of the SoCal surfari was to be surfing at Trestles. Originally we’d wanted to camp nearby but no spots were available, and the rest of the posse thought we should stay in San Diego, 50 miles to the south. We had most of the day Monday, and I thought we’d hit Windansea early and then surf Trestles on our way back up the coast, missing the weekend crowds, before Luke drove home to the Bay Area with our surfboards in the back of his truck. But after Luke planned lunch with a friend in LA, the window narrowed to just the morning. To meet schedule, the crew rallied to get on the road northward around 7 am. On the plus side, Windansea wasn’t looking too surfable, so another spot was the call anyway.

J-Bird looks like she knows how good it's going to be

Nikki

There was some confusion about the precise location of Trestles and the difficulty of access. I’ve never been there, and it turned out the others hadn’t either, although they’d surfed nearby breaks. When Luke paid the $15 day-use fee to enter San Onofre State Beach with all of our surfboards, the die was cast to surf elsewhere. We followed, parking in front of Old Man’s, which looked pretty sweet and not too crowded.

The bottom is cobblestone with ubiquitous sea grass, and I had to take care walking out on soft naked feet. Although the vibe was friendly, the main peak had too many surfers on it for my liking so I hung on an emptier inside section. The rides were amazing and I lost track of my wave count. Even from the inside, many rides were quite long with lots of shoulder time for turns and for feeling the board and the wave’s energy through my bare feet. I was grinning from ear to ear. Sooo good! I would’ve surfed for hours more if I could’ve.

But in less than an hour and a half and far too soon, the clock spun around toward Luke’s planned departure time with our surfboards. I saw Nikki on the beach and came in but the rest weren’t back yet, so I handed her my camera and went out again to mess around close to shore on tiny waves for a few more minutes. When the posse emerged onto the beach, it was time to pack Emm into her boardbag for the ride home, and then while away the rest of the day before our evening flight.

I still want to surf Trestles. So there will have to be another SoCal surfari soon.

Surfline: Glassy, inconsistent low tide peaks working through with a few okay little corners at times. Small scale surf from a mix of very modest Southern Hemi swells and a little local windswell. Most breaks are waist high and below. Buoy 46231:  (Wave) SWELL: 1.3 ft at 14.3 s SW 58 / WIND WAVE: 3.3 ft at 7.1 s WNW / WVHT: 3.6 ft / APD: 6.1 s / MWD: 286° (Met) WVHT: 3.6 ft / DPD: 7.0 s / WTMP: 70.0° F. Tide: 1.5' rising to 3'.