Surfminded - San Diego Surf Tours -

  As the days get shorter, the prospect of having my after-work sessions looms ominously before me.  Don't even get me started on the various wetsuits I'll have to wear before July 2010 comes around.

Luckily, the past few days have been spectacular all in their own ways:

- Wed. - Sept. 16 - Check out the surf at lunch - tide was too low and the winds were wreaking havoc on the shape.  No matter, I had to get to the comic shop anyway.  Went out after work and while the waves were still mushy, the waves were plentiful and offered up some corners that were open enough to afford one or two quick hits which is all you can really ask for at Scripps.

- Thurs. - Sept. 17 - Paddled out and there was not a cloud in the sky.  An extra treat this night was a band playing at the end of Scripps Pier.  I definitely enjoyed the live soundtrack to the session.  The size was somewhat smaller than the previous day, but I found enough open rights that had enough power to stomp and slide around on.

- Friday - Sept. 18 - Before Work - The sky was overcast, blanketing the breaking super clean, glassy, perfect corners that had me wishing both that I had gotten up earlier and that I didn't have to get out to go to work. 

The water was still warm though I still had to wear my spring suit because I left my board shorts at home.  But I couldn't believe that others were wearing full suits on a day like this, especially when there is going to be plenty of time to wear those awful straight-jackets over the next several months. 

Take-offs were super smooth, leading to ridiculously open faces both left and right.
The last wave was a nice right where I pulled in behind this longboarder giving me a view reminding me of that one camera commercial.  She noticed I was behind her and pulled out despite my yelps designed to encourage her to continue on. 

All together, today was the best day of the last three and I'm hoping I can pick up rights where I left off after work.

Sitting right below the famous volcanic crater, Diamondhead beach is easily accessed via a well-paved path that can be followed from the side of the main road. 

As someone from San Diego, I am all too familiar with having otherwise perfectly good surf days ruined by strong offshore winds.  What surprised me about Diamonhead and the east side of Oahu in general was the idea of sideshore winds that can gust and howl strong as high as 20 mph but not cause waves to crumble over. 

The other curiosity was the fact that different beaches in relatively close proximity to another could have completely different directional winds hit them by vitrue of the extreme curvature of the island landscape.  The same day at Diamonhead when winds were blowing fiercly directly from the east side of the break, a few miles over at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki the same trade winds gently skated over the surface and provided perfect offshore conditions.

To get an idea of how mighty the winds were at Diamonhead, check out the pic of this windsurfer tearing up the water:

But with these conditions, just a few hundred yards down the way I was able to find half-way decent open faced rights that were breaking with at least 3-5 ft faces. 

Back in San Diego, I can only imagine how great it would be on days when the winds get up high that if a beach gets completely blown out, I could just drive down around the bend a couple miles and find another beach with solid, open rights.