relocating, need surf advice

[Matt518]

To the OP, I'd say just surf them all, or whichever ones you have access to, and see which one gives you the best vibe. I always liked hanging out in OB; it seemed laid back and not too crowded. I hear Black's is pretty good too.

[bowneline]

I also think that sometimes the "locals only" thing gets blown out of proportion.

Like someone eluded to above, who is a "local" in a place the houses millions of people, and probably tens of thousands of surfers -- many (most?) of which were not born and raised at whatever place they currently live and surf.

In my experience, (and I'm in OC, not SD), you can go to the same spot 10 days in a row and see different people out there everyday, and while you might start to recognize some of the faces, many people out there are just strangers, and don't know or care where you live and how long you lived there. I can virtually guarantee that when you paddle out, no one is thinking "who is this girl, and where is she from?" You will just be another random face the crowd.

Of course, there are some exceptions. But, I think the general rule is that as long as you are polite, wait your turn, don't drop in on people and don't hog the waves, everyone is going to be cool, and no one is going to care where you are from.

Localism is probably more prevalent in places that have far fewer total number of truly local surfers (Hawaii, Santa Cruz, Ventura County), or in high profile spots (Trestles, Swamis, 54th Street NB). But, in the vast majority of OC and SD, where there are literally many thousands of surfers, and miles upon miles of decent breaks, your typical peak is going to be a pretty mellow scene.

And, as a side note, I would not call the waters off of Southern California "sharky." That is more central and northern California. I do not believe there has ever been a reported shark attach on a swimmer in OC, and I think only a small handful in SD, and only to people swimming a ways off shore, not surfing. There are probably more shark attacks in Florida in a given summer than there have been in Southern California over the past century.

[RyukyuSpirit]

Hey OP, I don't live in SD yet, but I've been doing some surf-related research too. I found a great site that contains a surf guide and may answer some of your questions. The only drawback is that they seemed to review mostly northern SD (La Jolla and up). But for each beach they have in-depth information ranging from the location to the crowd's temperament (Localism vs. Open-ness)
San_Diego_Surfers_Surf_Guide

[RyukyuSpirit]

Make sure that if you look on that surf guide (^) you follow the links to the "Crowd and Culture" section of each beach. Each of the beaches seem to be comprised of three sections:
1. The beach (facilities, directions, parking, etc.)
2. The surf (best tide, best swell direction, most consistent months, etc.)
3. Crowd and culture (attitude, people, etc.)