There are three primary popular surf spots that you will find within 20 minutes of the San Francisco area. In San Francisco you will find Ocean Beach. In Pacifica you will find Linda Mar. Finally, in Half Moon Bay you will find the Half Moon Bay Jetty.
Ocean Beach in San Francisco is capable of being truly unbelievable but it goes both ways - It can be unbelievably perfect some days and unbelievably bad on others. The Ocean Beach offers miles and miles of beach break and the swell is capable of being quite brutal. Some days it's impossible just to make the paddle out. Other times you can spend your entire session scoring really excellent waves. Ocean Beach is really exposed and so it picks up all of the swell and all the wind really well. The sandbars tend to be great and there is plenty of surfing to be had at any tide. It might be best for you to leave the bigger days for the better surfers and just stick to the small and the clean days until you get a handle on the surf here.
Another name for Linda Mar is the Pacifica State Beach. This place is crowded and really popular. The best time to find surf is at high tide on most days. The waves can easily go as high as 7 feet. There is a Taco Bell directly on the beach here, and that is not something you find in many places. On its best days, this beach is still not quite as good as Ocean Beach, but it is still worth visiting if you are looking for a busy beach with plenty of surfing to be explored and enjoyed. On the rainy days where the winds are rough, this is probably the only place that you are going to find surfing in town.
In the spring, the jetty at Half Moon Bay is the favorite option among many surfers. This is especially true when the northwest winds are blowing side shore, and absolutely everything else is simply blown out. It can get relatively crowded here, so keep that in mind when you come out to get some surfing in. The peak can generally get packed up with good surfers pretty quick. If this is the case, try paddling south where the competition changes a bit and you end up with a lot less competition and more space for some good old freestyle surfing.
There are definitely other popular San Francisco surf spots, but these three are absolutely worth checking out when you are looking for a good surf and plenty of fun competition and experiences to be had. If you're looking for good San Francisco Bay area surfing, these spots are where it's at.
Photo Credits: William Holtkamp
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