Monterey County

Monterey County surf travel guide

Oodles of swell exposure in Monterey County, but it’s tricky knowing where to go and when. To the north, Moss Landing and the surrounding beachbreak is pretty basic in that you need ESE winds and medium-sized swell to see it really working. And when it’s working, Moss serves up world-class beachbreak barrels can be cold water rivals to Hossegor and Puerto Escondido.

Down around the Monterey Peninsula itself are a bunch of quirky and fickle reefs, a point or two, some rocky beachbreak, and some booming sandbar spots – all breaking on different swell and wind directions. It’s quite possible you could live an entire year in Monterey County and surf nowhere but the Peninsula. You’d get some good days and some bad ones, but it’s almost always possible to find some spot blowing offshore with a wave to ride.

Big Sur is another story. Without fail, one glance at a topographic map of this section of the California coast sparks incoherent blather from the unenlightened surf-trekker who’s intent on raiding this rocky maze because, dude, anywhere with that much serrated coastline must offer barrel after sparkling barrel. Not so. This 72 mile coast’s highly-venerated rugged beauty has been celebrated in stacks of coffee-table books holds, at best, maybe a half-dozen funky surf spots. Big Sur’s handful of spots is brutally fickle, rendered almost impossible to score epic unless you reside in the region. The sights and sounds of a gray, messy ocean are impressive here, but the surfing is not.