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Author: Jordan Bennett

  • Surfing the Channel Islands: A Weekend Guide (Vol. 21)

    Surfing the Channel Islands: A Weekend Guide (Vol. 21)

    Another look at this, prompted by a wave of recent questions.

    Forty miles off the Ventura coast, the Channel Islands deliver some of the best uncrowded surfing in California. No roads, no crowds, no cell service — just pristine waves breaking over kelp-fringed reefs and empty beaches.

    The crossing takes ninety minutes by boat from Ventura Harbor. Island Packers runs regular trips to Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the chain, where a handful of quality breaks await those willing to make the journey. Bring enough supplies for two or three days — camping is permitted, and the stargazing alone is worth the trip.

    The surf ranges from mellow beach breaks suitable for all levels to serious reef passes that demand experience and respect. Check the swell forecast carefully before you go. A well-timed trip in winter or early spring can produce conditions that rival anywhere in the world.

  • Longboarding Revival: Why Classic Style Never Dies (Vol. 11)

    Longboarding Revival: Why Classic Style Never Dies (Vol. 11)

    Same topic, new angle — here’s what’s changed.

    Cross-stepping to the nose, hanging five over the tip, dropping into a graceful trim line — longboarding is a meditation in motion. While shortboard performance surfing has chased ever-more-radical aerial maneuvers, longboarding has quietly reclaimed its place as the soul of the sport.

    The revival began in the 1990s and has accelerated ever since. Today, some of the most stylish surfers in the world ride single-fin logs shaped in the tradition of the 1960s. The goal is not power or speed, but grace — making it look effortless while everything around you is in motion.

    California has always been longboarding country. From the Malibu colony to the classic point breaks of Santa Cruz, the long, peeling waves of the California coast reward patient, flowing surfing over aggression. Pick up a 9-foot log and find out what the fuss is about.

  • Mavericks: Northern California’s Big Wave Mecca

    Mavericks: Northern California’s Big Wave Mecca

    Thirty miles south of San Francisco, a submerged rock formation called the Mavericks reef transforms winter groundswells into some of the most terrifying waves on the planet. On the right swell, faces reach forty feet and beyond — cold, powerful, and unforgiving.

    The break was kept largely secret by local surfers until 1990, when Jeff Clark finally convinced a group of professionals to paddle out with him. What they witnessed changed big wave surfing forever. Within a decade, Mavericks had become the proving ground for the world’s most fearless watermen.

    Today, an invite-only contest draws the elite of big wave surfing to Half Moon Bay each winter. But the real Mavericks experience belongs to the dedicated few who monitor buoys obsessively, make the call on twelve hours notice, and paddle into mountains of cold water because they simply cannot imagine not doing so.