Author Topic: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers  (Read 5064 times)

Zooport

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 3533
    • View Profile
    • Email
Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« on: May 21, 2018, 01:36:10 PM »
Is Swami's always like this?  Seems like the shoulder hoppers got the best waves because they burned somebody behind them.   Never surfed there, but geeze!

https://youtu.be/g1d_P-n5i50
8'6 Soul Compass
9'1 Sunova Creek
9'6 WaveStorm SUP
9'8 Starboard Element

Califoilia

  • Axis Demo Rep
  • Teahupoo Status
  • ******
  • Posts: 1510
  • San Clemente
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2018, 01:58:07 PM »
Not a break I've surfed but once, and not on a very good day, so can't say what the normal SOPs are out there, but did find the 2:19 mark humorous with the commentary off camera of..."Yeah, my claim to fame is, I'm told I used to babysit Laird Hamilton". LOL!!  ;D ;D

What I can tell you though...SUPs are not welcomed there at all, but the next break to the north "Boneyards" is just as fun, open to all, and can get a bit looney with surfers, SUP, surfskis, and kayaks all dropping in on each other on occasion when it's gets a decent swell, and the crowds are out. But if you're goofy-footed like I am, paddling even a little further north usually leaves the crowds behind, and it just as fun a wave if you want to go left 90% of the time. =)
Me: 6'1"/185...(2) 5'1" Kings Foil/Wing Boards...7'10 Kings DW Board...9'6" Bob Pearson "Laird Noserider"...14' Lahui Kai "Manta"...8'0" WaveStorm if/when the proning urges still hit.

surfercook

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 2273
  • Jersey Shore
    • View Profile
    • My YouTube
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2018, 06:50:41 PM »
I witnessed Swamis on a good day and passed. Too many on it. I did paddle through the lineup a coupla times from Moonlight Beach  on my sup commuting to the breaks to the south. Like Sano says, plenty of good waves in that area, no need to bother w/Swamis.

Swamis zoomed in from about a mile to the south.
P1130863 by surfercook, on Flickr

View from Swamis parking lot, zoomed in to the south at Cardiff Reef.
P1140103 by surfercook, on Flickr
One could go into a mall in Kansas and ask a teenager "What is a surfer looking for?, and the answer will always be, "The perfect wave"
9'11" PSH Hull Ripper-145 ltr    
9'3" PSH  Hull Ripper- 130ltr 
8'0" Corevac Assassin -127 ltr   
Paddles- Carbonerro PRO SERIES 85 & Riviera Camo at 70"

Zooport

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 3533
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2018, 08:17:26 PM »
But if you're goofy-footed like I am, paddling even a little further north usually leaves the crowds behind, and it just as fun a wave if you want to go left 90% of the time. =)

Sounds like my dream come true.
8'6 Soul Compass
9'1 Sunova Creek
9'6 WaveStorm SUP
9'8 Starboard Element

supthecreek

  • Guest
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2018, 02:01:54 AM »
Actually, that didn't look too bad. It gets a LOT worse.

I used to surf there every day... the crowd was similar even in the early 70's, but it is possible to get some really sweet rides. Price you pay for a big open face to work  ;D



surf4food

  • Teahupoo Status
  • ******
  • Posts: 1746
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2018, 06:23:25 AM »
Is Swami's always like this?  Seems like the shoulder hoppers got the best waves because they burned somebody behind them.   Never surfed there, but geeze!

Swamis is notorious for that.  It's gets very crowded and localism is an issue there (tho nothing as bad as Lunada Bay).  And SanoSup is correct.  Don't even think about taking a SUP out there.  There are other breaks closer by that are more SUP tolerant.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2018, 06:26:22 AM by surf4food »

PonoBill

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 25864
    • View Profile
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2018, 12:43:54 PM »
I've surfed Swarmy on my SUP, yup, lots of shit, who cares. It's a nice break, but too many people. The surprising part is how many of them suck. I don't mean suck a little, like they aren't Kelly Slater, I mean suck out loud, as in can't catch a waves and if they catch one, can't ride it. There's some decent surfers, but a LOT of kooks. If they tolerate them, then all bets are off. Which is pretty much what I told a nice guy who came up politely and told me SUPs weren't cool there but if I moved a hundred yards either way I'd be fine. I pointed to a guy on a longboard, trying to drop in on a decent surfer. The dropper actually made it to his feet--and then went straight.

I did move down a bit, since he asked me politely, and got a lot more nice waves and rides than anyone in the swarm-i's.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

SlatchJim

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 2614
    • View Profile
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2018, 01:42:08 PM »
Just got back from 5 days at San Elijo and Encinitas. There are dozens of much less crowded waves nearby that offer a great ride without the obvious drawbacks of surfing with 300 of your closest friends.  Had fun but it got blown out by 10:30 each day.  That's spring in San Diego...

Zooport

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 3533
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2018, 02:14:24 PM »
Just got back from 5 days at San Elijo and Encinitas. There are dozens of much less crowded waves nearby that offer a great ride without the obvious drawbacks of surfing with 300 of your closest friends.  Had fun but it got blown out by 10:30 each day.  That's spring in San Diego...

I really like the wave just off the San Elijo campground.  Hope I can make the drive down there a few times this summer.
8'6 Soul Compass
9'1 Sunova Creek
9'6 WaveStorm SUP
9'8 Starboard Element

NorthJerzSurfer

  • Peahi Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 714
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2018, 04:40:08 PM »
this is why my investment in a top of the line 5/4/3 with a hood and a tolerance for being a little chilly lets me surf a similar wave on the east coast with about 5 friends all winter.

xoxoxoxox NJS







I witnessed Swamis on a good day and passed. Too many on it. I did paddle through the lineup a coupla times from Moonlight Beach  on my sup commuting to the breaks to the south. Like Sano says, plenty of good waves in that area, no need to bother w/Swamis.

Swamis zoomed in from about a mile to the south.
P1130863 by surfercook, on Flickr

View from Swamis parking lot, zoomed in to the south at Cardiff Reef.
P1140103 by surfercook, on Flickr

Weasels wake

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 3013
    • View Profile
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2018, 11:15:18 AM »
Actually, that didn't look too bad. It gets a LOT worse.

I used to surf there every day... the crowd was similar even in the early 70's, but it is possible to get some really sweet rides. Price you pay for a big open face to work  ;D
Agree 100%, used to be one of my home break from '66 to '71, no leashes, and it didn't make any difference, a total snake pit, one of several reasons I moved about 300 miles north in the summer of '71, and never returned.  But what a great wave if you could get out there at the crack of dawn.
It takes a quiver to do that.

eastbound

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 2995
    • View Profile
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2018, 11:18:57 AM »
that's amazing--jam packed in late 60's--wow--there werent even quicksilver stores in the malls back then!!
Portal Barra 8'4"
Sunova Creek 8'7"
Starboard Pro Blue Carbon  8'10"
KeNalu Mana 82, xTuf, ergoT

Zooport

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 3533
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2018, 12:21:59 PM »
Here's what confuses me, Lowers and HB Pier seem to be as crowded as Swami's, but I don't see people getting away with shoulder hopping like they do at Swami's.  You might see a shoulder hop on occasion at HB or Lowers, but nothing on the scale as I see in the vids of Swami's.  It's like people drop in with impunity and surf without looking back.  WUWT?


.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2018, 12:59:19 PM by Zooport »
8'6 Soul Compass
9'1 Sunova Creek
9'6 WaveStorm SUP
9'8 Starboard Element

eastbound

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 2995
    • View Profile
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #13 on: May 23, 2018, 12:33:07 PM »
for a NE guy who hears that CA is surf capital of the world, i was shocked at the plethora of brazen dropins---and no fistfights, at least that we could see

i mean given the vid, why ever drop the peak there? either it closes, or you get dropped
Portal Barra 8'4"
Sunova Creek 8'7"
Starboard Pro Blue Carbon  8'10"
KeNalu Mana 82, xTuf, ergoT

1tuberider

  • Teahupoo Status
  • ******
  • Posts: 1005
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Swami's: I've not seen so many burns and shoulder hoppers
« Reply #14 on: May 23, 2018, 01:55:43 PM »
I have seen worse at Swarmis.

I used to surf there before leashes and up to the late 70's. Every swell I would go to the Swamis. I may have surfed with Creek and Weasel as I used to surf there a lot and the other great breaks in Cardiff.   In the mid 60's it was not so crowded. With the rock outcrop in front of the break it would ding lost boards, so usually the kooks stayed away. After  kook straps the place became swarmis.

Point breaks have shoulder hoppers. Pretty common problem. Beach breaks do also but points tend to
have a smaller take off zones and therefore a big pile on the peak. Swami's does have an inside section that
walls and on a big day, peaks can swing wide spreading the crowd a little.

Pretty sure I got my first ding at swamis, my first tube there and my first attempted bust there. SD cops back then
were pretty gnarly and surf kids gotta be up to no good.



 




 


SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal