Where the boards are

Newport-Mesa. It’s right next to Surf City, USA, and at the heart of

the international surfing industry.

But does that mean there’s waves?

The simple answer: Yes, although it does get a bit more complicated

than that because, it seems, everybody and their mother, sister and

brother are in the water.

If you’re learning to stand, there are a few obvious places you should

start. Doheny in Dana Point is one, but the San Juan Creek often leaves

this soft wave smelly and dirty. Watch for the warning or closure signs.

Then there’s San Onofre. Little can be said about this laid-back piece

of California surfing history that hasn’t already been said. Oh, here’s

one thing: It’s even more crowded today than yesterday. With the

longboard resurgence (not to mention the California State Park’s decision

to make annual passes $35), this often perfect, albeit slow, wave can be

impossible to get into on the weekends. If you’re willing to try, head

south on Interstate 5 and get off at Basilone Road. Follow the signs and

the horde of old beater cars.

Then there are our multiple high-performance waves. Trestles, just

this side of San Onofre, is world famous for good reason. It’s a wave

that lets you, almost forces you, to surf your best. And you’ll need to

to thread through the crowds even a decent swell brings.

Just south of Laguna Beach (which has its own south swell barrels if

you can wait out the tides near Brooks Street) is Salt Creek County

Beach, where there’s plenty of parking, plenty of steep, thick waves for

the ripping, and -- yeah, like everywhere in Orange County -- plenty of

surfers looking for their own wave. Half the shots you see in surf

magazines are from here, if that gives you an idea of the crowd.

And right here in Newport Beach, you’ve got a microcosm of the whole

county. North of the Newport Pier is Blackie’s, a longboard haven that

mimics San Onofre. At 56th Street and the Santa Ana River jetties, you’ll

find high-performance waves that can make you forget, briefly anyway,

what you find at Trestles and the Creek (the whole stretch from Blackie’s

to 56th will go off on a nice combination of northwest and south swells).

But the most radical two spots in Newport are our ridiculous,

out-of-place big-wave spots (even if they aren’t quite as gnarly as they

once seemed, thanks to tow-in surfing and the hunt for 50-, 60- and even

100-foot waves) right in our backyard.

The Wedge, of course, is famously wicked, but only on a solid south

swell. As those are confined mainly to the summer when the Wedge is

blackballed (no boards allowed), this hallowed spot has stayed a

bodysurfer’s paradise. But it’s a sick one, where huge 15-foot waves will

break through thin sheets of water and right into the sand. It isn’t for

the foolhardy.

Then there’s Newport’s most fickle spot. And while the Newport Point

doesn’t break often, it’s no secret spot: If the right south swell is

hitting, everyone will know about it. And you’ll know it’s firing because

of the double-overhead barrels peeling along the beach south of the

Balboa Pier.

If all else fails, there’s always a quick flight from John Wayne

Airport to Hawaii to satisfy the big-wave, big-time island urge.