Surf Break Maps: HB - South City Beach and HB State Beach

South City Beach and HB State Beach are another couple of solid workhorse beaches. South City Beach stretches from south of the pier to about Beach Blvd. HB State Beach runs from Beach Blvd to the Brookhurst out-flow. Even though they are divided into 2 different areas thanks to City and State jurisdiction they are pretty much the same beach.



The beach itself slowly curves back so that the shoreline faces more SW’er as you move south toward Brookhurst. At the same time you also move a little bit more into an open SW facing swell window, which allows for a little bit more SW southern hemi energy to filter in.

In general the wave is fun and playful with a few scattered sandbars here and there to give it a faster and more hollow section on the right swell and tide. Like the rest of HB the combo of S and WNW swells are what really light this beach up…it tends to like more S swell and less W swell in the mix but it does pretty good with any sort of mixture of the two. These beaches are only “ok” with windswell on a lower tide…at high tide it is pretty much only shorebreak.

Spot details:
Best swell direction: SE-SW (160-210) and W-NW (260-290)
Best Wind: N-NE-E, light-moderate Santa Ana winds are the best.
Sea Floor: Sand
Best Season: Summer is ok but it is really best through Fall and Winter
Crowds: Weekends can be crowded…but on an average day you can find plenty of room.