El Porto Beach Guía

Despite its many personalities, El Porto is not particularly known for outstanding wave quality. It is, however, a NW swell magnet and it's almost always bigger than any other spot in the South Bay during the winter months. The trick is to find the zone with the "holes," as the locals call them, referring to breaks in the relentless closeouts up and down the beach. With spring sandbars and/or a crossed-up swell, El Porto can get really good, and really crowded. In years past, the area has taken hits from beach nourishment programs, wherein tons of sand were trucked in, turning the place into walled-out closeouts. Nonetheless, El Porto does, at times, get machine-like.