Scoping the lineup (and the paddle-out). Photo: SF Surf Shots
After living in San Francisco for years, I finally made the commitment to the SOCAL life and moved to San Diego. I bounced around for a few months, and fell in love with Ocean Beach. Something about the graffitied walls, the painted murals, the hippie-esque culture, the homelessness, and the cold surf made me feel at home. But in my heart, there was only one OB.
Growing up in the Bay Area, I always thought that the title OB belonged to San Francisco’s fabled Ocean Beach… but after moving to Ocean Beach in San Diego, I was confused when I saw the OB stickers on every car in town.
After asking friends from home in SF, and local buddies in San Diego, it appeared that everyone was in agreement that their neighborhood was (un)officially called OB. And people less in the know from either pole of the state were unaware that the other side had an Ocean Beach to represent.
“San Francisco actually has beaches? I only know of one OB,” says Eric, an Ocean Beach bohemian who spends most of his time in a van… surfing south of Point Conception.
“San Diego has the title for sun and girls, but there’s only one OB, and it’s gnarly NORCAL,” says Petey, an Irish construction worker who braves the Sloat to Kelly express every winter.
There was something strange in the air. Was one town copying the other… or was it by grand design that I ended up in Southern California’s mirror of my home? What follows is a closer look at the ins and outs of California’s Ocean Beaches.
San Francisco
It’s dawn patrol, and a few early risers canvas the pounding surf from the dunes of San Francisco. Dressed in a black beanie, black hoodie, Dickies pants and work boots, these blue collar chargers sip black coffee and simply grunt in between shivers of cold wind and the thunderous boom of sets cascading from the northwest into San Francisco’s western most front.
The Outer Sunset is a relatively quiet escape from the hustling and bustling downtown. What lies beyond the City – the outline lands – is often called San Francisco’s frontier. The water is always cold, but the people are always cheerful. The Outer Sunset is a peaceful neighborhood sedated by fog named Karl, Chinese food (Mr. Szechuan), bakeries (Devil’s Teeth), and some salty local bars.
OB is a three-mile beachbreak identified by each street that runs the Great Highway. You can also use the large concrete embankment that’s tagged with graffiti to pick a lineup marker.
OB runs the gamut from impassioned and dramatic, to downright chaotic and deadly. There’s beautiful sunsets over shimmering water, and fogged-out days of doom. It receives some serious swell. In the winter, waves can get up to quadruple overhead, while summer months see waves in the knee to head-high range – but it always has some juice.
In those heavy winter months, the surf is generally populated by a few identical characters in hooded wetsuits. The daily driver is a step-up or a colorful gun. These surfers represent the working class of the City.
But in the summer months, when the waves are more accessible, the crowds feature the usual influx of soft-tops and Tesla cars from the tech boom. Even though this OB is a frontier, it’s no exception to the expansion of surfing.
The other Ocean Beach. Photo: Unsplash
San Diego
San Diego is one of the sunniest cities in America. On a typical surf day in any part of the county, you might encounter a number of Rob Machado lookalikes, sporting unbuttoned Hawaiian shirts, and board shorts while waxing a twin fin. Work boots are replaced with flops, and the coffee is always iced.
There’s a steady stream of groms that turn the typical 2-3-foot surf into a skatepark, ripping harder than you do in your daydreams.
But Ocean Beach has a unique vibe. The streets are littered with modern day bohemians. There’s beautiful murals on every block. The local Noodle House serves quality pho, and the beers are craft or local.
When I stumbled upon this OB, it felt strangely familiar. The morning marine layer cakes the town in fog, and it can stick around all day. When I got in the water, I knew I’d found what I’d been missing. Although the water is typically described as warm in San Diego, OB has some nip to it, dipping as low as 55 degrees in the winter months.
While the daily driver here is certainly a fun board, there’s a step-up season.The swell picks up big time, and closes out the entire pier – the world’s longest concrete pier – which extends nearly 2,000 feet out. There’s a punch behind the break, which is open to all sorts of directions of swell.
The San Diegan charger might opt for a session at Black’s Beach, but shooting the OB pier on anything overhead adds a new layer of fun and danger that’s an unequaled adrenaline rush. Plus when you get out of the water, you can listen to the local musicians playing a show live on the beach.
North or South, OB Feels Like OB
The tale of two Ocean Beaches is one of common ground. Sure, a keen eye can see a world of difference between the two. But both areas share a charming and diverse culture. They get cold water and swell.
When I moved to San Diego, I thought I’d be leaving any remnants of SF’s winter vibes behind for a full-blown endless summer. What I found was a slice of home.
