The real Surf City? It's Santa Cruz, says magazine

 

Huntington Beach may have the legal right to call itself Surf City, but Santa Cruz is the real deal, according to Surfer magazine, which rates the top 10 surf towns in its latest issue. 

The two coastal towns have scrapped and sued over the Surf City title, with the Orange County city insisting it was the place the authors of "Surf City" surely had in mind when they wrote the Jan and Dean hit song.

But Surfer magazine proclaims Santa Cruz to be “The Real Surf City, USA,” after it considered the surf, food and vibe of the nations' best known surf towns.

“Huntington Beach may have won the right to the name ‘Surf City, USA’ in the California courts, but any surfer who’s ever paddled out at Steamer Lane knows the judge got it wrong,” the magazine noted, referring to the city’s famous break.

And Huntington Beach? It doesn’t even get a mention in the top 10 list, though San Clemente comes in at No. 5 and Malibu is listed at No. 7. Encinitas, the only other California beach city on the list, weighs in at No. 3.

-- Steve Marble

Photo: A surfer takes off on a wave at Steamer Lane near Santa Cruz. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Skip H]

OF COURSE IT IS- anyone that has surfed the point breaks in Santa Cruz (Steamers, Pleasure Pt., even Capitola on a mondo day) knows it is better. Cold- yes, but still more consistent day to day 365 than anywhere else in the Cont. US.

No, wait... what am I saying.. Ii am totally wrong- yep, LA is WAY better so go there, NOT SCruz---

Surfing Sucks, don't try it.

[Stu Padaso]

I thought Chicago was the Surf Capital.

[El Guapo]

Yep, totally, it's all Santa Cruz, perfect green barrells, Monterey County too, and Central Coast, best surf in the world, hands down. The locals are friendly, polite, gracious and love to share waves. Great vegetarian food, they even may share a toke. Totally better, I'm WAY over crowded, bad surf OC, SD, and LA breaks. HAH!!! ;}

[TexasPurpleHair]

I only know Huntington, did a summer there. Actually that's all the surf I have ever done in my life. Surfing Kicks....its a sport for those that want to take a chance on the waves and getting stoked all at once.

[Yeah G]

Do not go to santa cruz. The water is cold. There are sharks. And worse yet, people that don't bathe. I repeat, do not go.

[tito_ortiz]

how could huntington be "surf city"? I thought it was part of the 909.

[ryan]

This is a pretty silly thing to fight about- both towns are well known for surfing, they have a very different feel, most people probably already have a preference for where they like to surf, hang out or visit....

[jerry Joslyn]

The Fire Sign Theatre pointed out years ago, if you re-arrange the letters in "Huntington Beach" it spells "Hang Ten Bitchiun'". Co-incidence? We don't think so. The major flaw with naming any California beach town as "Surf City USA" is that all the great surf towns in Hawaii are in the USA.

[ELy]

Surf culture initially developed stateside in the South Bay, specifically Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach.

Of course the jettys North in El Segundo and beyond impeded natural sand shifting marginalizing the quality and scope of breaks in this region to a fraction of what it once was.

[jack]

I remember when i was a little kid, getting into skateboarding and the cool things America brought out at the time like Alva, Vision and Santa Cruz skateboards - all i knew is that they were awesome products that helped carve concrete ( i used those products for 15 yrs and now passed that experience onto my nieces & nephews). Yrs later when i finally grew into a man and started my own record label, i was looking to relocate to America and what should i choose, New York for sky line or California for its beaches, when researching for locations i ran into Santa Cruz - all sounds very cool again and can't wait to one day visit. Btw, i'd assume Snata Cruz would be much better for surfing as it's further away from LA.

[Zach Curtis]

to "yeah g", your an idiot. grow some balls the water is not bad, a real surfer would see that the waves are way better. Ive never actually seen a shark surfing. they dont come in that close. our water is just nice enough to have sea life, unlike the overpoluted south :). i shower more than once daily usually, we dont smell, and we are a lot nicer than majority of you socal groms.

surf city= Santa Cruz. its not even in quesiton.

[Joz Estes]

Summers over, and is it me? or was it more crowded this freakin year?
Gee, thank you L.A. Times for sending so many SoCal kooks, squids and hodads up our way.
But I'm sure the Santa Cruz CoC loves you though.
Way to go...