Surfing Seal Beach

Seal Beach is the first surf spot in Orange County on the north side. The predominant feature here is the pier. There are also four jetties that influence the shape and size of the surf. Two large jetties flank both sides of the beach. The north side has a jetty that seperates the San Gabriel Rivermouth from Alamitos Bay. The south end has a jetty that seperates the beach from the Naval Special Weapons station. The two smaller jetties are the south breakwater of the San Gabriel river and the short barrier wall near the pier.

There are several distinct breaks here:

San Gabriel Rivermouth - AKA Ray Bay. Best on SE to SW swells and lower tides. Soft sandbar break popular with longboards. Often polluted and teaming with stingrays. A larger short period S swell can produce very long waves on occassion. Access at the end of Ocean Avenue. Warm water in the high 70's from the discharge of the electrical plant...thus the stingrays. The nearby peak off the south jetty is called Crabs.

7th Street - Hollow left breaking sandbar. Needs S or SW swell. Access at...you guess it, 7th Street.

The Pier (North) - Usually smaller surf with lots of longboards. Works best with W to S swell. Best with W swell and a secondary cross up swell. The most popular spot in the area.

The Pier (South) - Best on large W swell. Usually a bodyboarding spot. The bottom and reflection of the breakwall under the pier can conspire to form barrels on the right tides. Many broken boards on bigger swells.

13th Street/Dolphin Street - Left breaking sandbar wave on big W and NW swells. Lower tides better. Can be a nasty shorebreak. Access is again self explanatory.

Cloudbreak - Outside big wave spot that breaks on large, long periond W swells. Made by wave refraction from deep water and reflection from the south jetty. Needs to be at least double overhead to work. Best with lower tide and it can't handle much wind.

I used to go here almost 20 years ago when I was going to school at nearby Long Beach State. I would only sponge back then and it was couple of years before I took up surfing to which I can only think now....why the hell didn't I surf then?

Nearby Surf Shop

Harbour Surfboards, 329 Main Street, Seal Beach, CA (562) 430-5614

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