The Ultimate Guide to Surfing in Ventura
Surfing in Ventura is a rite of passage, mainly thanks to Rincon, the Queen of the Coast and one of the best breaks in California. Oh, and cos’ The Beach Boys came here in 62′!
An introduction to surfing in Ventura
Ventura is yet another of the class acts on the California coast.
Moving north into the shadow of the Santa Ynez Mountains, the coves and boulder-dotted beaches here do well to draw in literally any swell that drifts in between the NW and S compass points.
That means the surfing in Ventura is reliable – like seriously reliable. What’s more, you’ve got all sorts of breaks to pick from, whether you’re looking for sheltered beach breaks or a day riding the long, long rights at world-calss Rincon, one of Cali’s – and the world’s top spots.
Surfing in Ventura was thrust into the limelight back in the 1960s by the Beach Boys. Since then it’s been a major point of wavecraft pilgrimage.
That’s mainly down to aforementioned Rincon, but don’t discount the state beaches to the south of town. They hold some epic right-hand points that run one after the other like this is East Coast Oz, and good sandbar breaks alike.
Easy access to most spots from the 101 is a bonus, even if it means putting up with traffic noise from morning until night.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
>>This guide is just one part of our complete guide to surfing in California and surfing on the West Coast
Surfing in Ventura at a glance
The good:
The bad:
What’s in this guide to surfing in Ventura?
Where is Ventura?
Ventura is midway up the coastal portion of Ventura County. That places it roughly midway between Malibu (another of SoCals surf meccas) and Santa Barbra (yet another!).
The city itself is right on the Pacific Coast highway, which also happens to link up almost all of the main surf locations in the greater county, including Rincon Point, Solimar and Mussel Shoals.
It’s not for nothing that this is considered prime road tripping territory for surfers. In a matter of days, you can surf multiple spots on the West Coast, including some of the best in the whole US.
We’d recommend flying into LA and then renting a car from there. That opens up the countless connections that come into LAX and Hollywood Burbank Airport, all less than two hours’ drive from Ventura, and even less from the first surf spots in the south of the county.
We use RentalCars to hire from LAX and other LA airports. They’ve got some good late-cancellation options on lots of bookings and – at least we think – some of the most competitive rates around too.
Where to surf in Ventura?
Malibu
Malibu is the home of Ameirca’s most iconic logger right-hand point break: First Point. It’s epic for those with anything mal volume and up (the minimal was kinda’ invented here), with some performance waves on the outside to boot.
The letdown is the crowds. They are ridiculous.
There are some good sweet spots in the area to escape to when First Point gets too busy, like County Line and Staircase. They still have the quality waves of Malibu but are never as packed.
Summer and fall are the best times to surf here because S-SW swells are mana to Malibu’s points.
Check out our complete guide to surfing in Malibu right now
Port Hueneme
Regular and reliable Port Hueneme isn’t the most epic of the surfing in Ventura but it works almost any season, picking up summer groundswells and winter storm swells from the SW and the NW alike.
It’s long and sandy with a sand bottom, not to mention far enough away from the heart of the town to get any major crowd issues.
The whole thing is ddivided up by the big pier at the Port Hueneme Beach Park, which has waves both sides; better lefts with the roping S summer swells and better rights if it’s W-NW.
Time it for high tide. Low is too dumpy.
Silver Strand
The south end of Oxnard Beach starts the surfing in Ventura strong with the trio of breaks at Silver Strand.
The Jetty is a right that comes into the bay on S and W swells. It’s okay but can’t beat…
The Bowl. That’s a sandbar which always churns out pretty nice barrels when it’s on, but sadly suffers from bad-attitude localism in extremis.
La Jenelle is the breakwater at the south end of the jetty that loves wrap-around SW swells in the summer.
The best swells are directly W and an offshore wind in fall can really up the quality at Silver Strand.
Ventura Harbor Jetty
Known locally as, simply, the New Jetty, the Ventura Harbor Jetty creates a downright epic A-frame peak just to the south of the main breakwater. SW swells and a NE wind will combine from May onwards to give the best of the action, but there’s an infamous local crowd that rarely let travelers get far.
Dodge that by going real early. The right is the best, and the left is sometimes a deathwish, throwing you out onto the rocks by the jetty itself.
C Street
Some say C Street is the most epic right in the whole of California. There’s something to be said fpr that, or at least there would be were it not for Rincon Point (see below).
The wave here forms off a south-facing jetty, so any westerly swells will kick straight in and peel beautifully into the bay for hundreds of feet.
The take off zone is right on the point. There, the wave has a touch of steepness but soon fattens into something cruisy with a neat face for turning on. Good for short boarders but uber-fun with an egg or a minimal.
Emma Wood State Beach
There are a couple of breaks on offer at this long beach to the north of C Street.
The Ventura Overhead is the best of the bunch. It’s a reef that sits about 150 yards from the shoreline. The long paddle out is rewarded with very high-quality A-frame wedges, but keep watching the buoys on the forecast because it’s big swells only.
Further inside the bay at Emma Wood State Beach is the spot known as Mushpots. That’s a cracking beginner wave that reminds us a lot of a camel Canggu – short, small and crumbly.
Solimar
Surf the reef at this quality break under the Pacific Coast Highway. It has an uncanny ability to stay glassy throughout the whole year, and can hold up to 10+ foot of strong W-NW swell.
The take off zone offers a challenge on bigger days but it’s a true intermediate’s wave if you ask us, especially on fall and summer days when there are direct E offshores rolling down from the mountains.
It’s an A-frame but the rights are the best and the lefts are short, shapt and dumpy. Look south to Solimar Beach for some mushburgers for beginners on small-swell days.
Pitas Point
Pitas Point is a shoulder machine on strong W swells. Among the five-star surfing in Ventura, it’s true California quality. You do have to pick the right starting zone. Outsides is a harder performance wave that’s a doozy for short boarders who love to rip. Insides is a mellow mushburger that’s perfect for the Cali loggers. Holds amazingly up to 12 foot.
Faria Beach
Crumbly, forgiving waves carry on over the cobblestones and sand north of epic Pitas Point.
They’re good for beginners chasing the less-busy surfing in Ventura, but also fun ankle burners when the tide’s on the push. Anything larger than 4 foot is in danger of becoming pure slop.
Hobson County Park
A stretch of waves that are only mediocre because they are in Ventura. Anywhere else and they’d be the main action.
The north part of the beach can cook up long rights. The middle sometimes gets good A-frames with better lifts off the peak. Summer south swells work best. The main thing we like is that there’s usually a wave to suit multiple levels going on at Hobson County Park.
Mussel Shoals
Mussel Shoals is also known locally as Little Rincon, which should be a clue as to just how awesome it is.
Big winter swells with an element of west in the compass can really get it cooking. They’ll wrap into the bay after crashing into the headland to give sectiony rights that often get hollow and glassy.
It’s a fast wave which won’t mind dumping you out on the rocks at the end, so be careful to pull out when it’s right.
La Conchita
La Conchita is a good all-level option that has sandbanks that will throw out all sorts of shapes.
A full tide fattens them out a lot and they become positively easy, so long as the swell is sitting below the 5 foot range.
Above that, and with a dropping or low tide, the banks have the ability to offer up wedges that like to suck off the sand and hollow a little, so there’s something for everyone.
E winds are offshore and the highway is right next door for easy access. Best swells are direct W, because SW pulses in summer suffer from the shadow cast by the Channel Islands.
Rincon
Rincon Point is the most iconic wave in the whole of Ventura County, even though it actually straddles the county line with Santa Barbara.
It’s a prime example of a West Coast right hand point, sucking in W-NW swell throughout the long fall-spring period that hooks neatly into a cape on the Rincon Creek.
Centuries of silt and sand built up there has helped to craft three take-off zones that occasionally – read: rarely – link up (that magic needs large swells of 8-13 foot) to offer some of the longest rides in the Golden State.
When that happens, half of California will be out here. But the wave is lovely even when all three don’t join.
The initial section is Indicator, which is the biggest of the bunch; shouldering up on the outside of the cape parallel to Rincon Beach County Park.
That often softens and drops away as tries to cross the deeper water around the creek, which is where a second section known as Rivermouth can throw out those famous Rincon barrel sections – neat, rifle-tube rights that offer complete cover ups.
The final take off is known as The Cove. It’s the most usable of Rincons three, generally seen as one of the most perfect right points in the country for its long lines, which are groomed into glass by the Santa Ynez offshores throughout the winter. If you can beat the crowds and get in very early, you can rip up 500 meters of pure shoulder there, lipping out just before the wave washes into the beach below the highway.
Read our complete travel-surf guide to Rincon Point right now
Carpinteria
Carpinteria heralds the beginning of Santa Barbara surf territory with a spot called Tar Pits.
It’s a whole bay filled with peaky A-frames that’s really only surfable on a mid tide. High tide has rips crossing the bay that make it hell to stay in position and the backwash will play havoc with the shape of the sets.
Low tide is too shallow and can be dangerous. Westerly swells work well here, which means fall is usually best but mid-perid NW winter swells are A-okay too.
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara is famed as another of California’s surf hubs.
Only, the whole town sits in a really annoying swell shadow that turns off the taps all summer long.
That leaves winter to work its magic, which it does by activating some of the finest right-hand points (El Capitan among them) in this part of the Golden State. Oh, and it’s a simply GORGEOUS town with loads of Spanish history.
Check out our complete guide to surfing in Santa Barbara right now!
Where to stay when surfing in Ventura
We’ve slung together this selection of the top hotels for surfing in Ventura, with an eye on budget, style and location…
Waypoint Ventura ($$)
Waypoint Ventura is a stay with a difference. Not a motel, not a hotel, but rather a collection of vintage Airstream caravans all parked in a row. You’ll get to stay in a piece of true Americana history here. The place is in downtown Ventura, too, so access to the breaks to the north and south should be easy with a car.
Cozy beach home walking distance from ocean ($$)
If you ask us, the best way to experience the surf vibes of Ventura County is to get yourself a coast cabin like this one, walk to the beach (in this case it’s La Conchita but Rincon Point is literally a few mins up the highway) to surf, and then settle in for a sunset and a glass of wine.
Crowne Plaza Hotel Ventura Beach ($$$)
The Crowne Plaza Hotel Ventura Beach is hands down the most luxurious hotel in Ventura. If you’re surfing on your honeymoon, you might want to consider this pool-ready resort with sprawling suites and a beachfront location.
Amanzi Hotel ($-$$)
The 2-star Amanzi Hotel is well located in the heart of Ventura. It’s a no-frills but well-rated hotel. The suites are modern and spacious and there’s a medium-sized outdoor pool for those cooling off sessions when you’re not in the salt water.
When to surf in Ventura?
The fall thorugh to the end of winter, between October and March, is the main surf season in Ventura.
The dominant swell switches from S in the summer months to W-NW from around the beginning of October onwards. Thos are prime for the point breaks that make this region so iconic, especially Rincon and Mussel Shoals, which love big hits of direct W swell and NW swell with periods that are under 12 seconds or so, which is enough to help them refract around the western capes of Santa Barbara County and into the reefs and beaches and rivermouths of Ventura.
Plus, you get regular N-NE winds that flow from the Santa Ynez throughout the winter months; perfect for grooming up the main points.
Summer can be okay because there are some places in Ventura that manage to sneak in between the swell shadow that’s created by the Channel Islands. They include Port Hueneme and Silver Strand but not really the more iconic Ventura breaks further north.
That said, we rate the summer as a good time for learning to surf here. It’s logger season and S swells and windswells might get the beach breaks working for those who don’t want anything above knee high to practice on.
For dedicated surfers on a Rincon Point mission, it’s October-March only, and preferably the peak of the winter season.
Surf shops in Ventura
Ventura is surfing territory extraordinaire for the West Coast.
You won’t go wanting for surf shops in these parts. There are tons, too many to reccomend TBH.
Still, we’ll mention ones that have been helpful on our end…
- Ventura Surf Shop – Behind a sticker-covered doorway on the 101, Ventura Surf Shop offers all sorts of gear. The board rack is particularly excellent, with vintage models in tie dye stacked next to the latest Rusty carver.
- Wave Front Surf Shop – With the waves at the south end of Emma Wood State Beach still in earshot, the Wave Front Surf Shop served up a hefty medley of boards both long and short. It’s a pretty cavernous, warehouse-style place with everything from loggers to shorties and fins aplenty.
- Rincon Designs – This is one of Cali’s legendary classic surf warehouses. Run by board pioneer Matt Moore in the town of Carpinteria, it’s the place to go for trademark SoCal logs. But also for discounted wetties and some great tee designs. Not far from Rincon Point.
Where to eat and drink in Ventura?
Ventura is a cracking spot to sample the hearty dining style of coastal California. We’ve got our eye on a few casual cafe and diner spots that we think every passing-through surfer should try…
Bagelicious Café Ventura
Okay, so it’s a little back inland from the best surfing in Ventura, but beeeeejeeezus the bagels here are stunning. There’s so much variety, from caper-topped cream cheese to radish on smoked salmon, it’s a hella’ range of lovely breads. Maybe you can tell but we’re bagel fanatics?
Harbor Cove Cafe
Cruising the 101 to find the breaks of Oxnard State Beach Park? Don’t miss a pull-in brunch at the Harbor Cove Cafe. It’s bathed in the breezes of the Pacific, offering a menu of toasties, omlettes, seafood fries, and other West Coast staples. The view of the boats is also pretty darn nice.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
to say that ventura “ Doesn’t perform too well in Northwest winter swells” confirms that the author is entirely clueless about the surf in ventura. The winter season is what Ventura’s surfers live for
Nice spot! Article definitely needs updating and we have a new writer on the US stuff now. We’ll get it on our edits list and out to our US team ASAP.