Located in Northern Orange County, Los Angeles, Southern California, the Santa Ana River Jetties is an excellent river mouth wave that breaks over well-defined sandbars. The waves here are peaky and hollow, as well as quite heavy. They usually offer up shorter barreling rides of about 50 meters. Watch out for heavy pollution, especially after rains.
What are the best surf conditions for Santa Ana River Jetties?
Gets good from waist high to double overhead. A shortboard is the way to go here, although a step up can be helpful on the bigger days. The jetties are best suited to intermediate and advanced surfers. The surf here is not super consistent (4/10) and will be packed if it is on (8/10). The best winds are offshore from the Northeast, the best swells are from the South or Southwest, and the best tide is low.
We recommend wearing a 3/2 wetsuit in the summer when water temperatures rise to 20 degrees. In the winter a 4/3 is the most comfortable in the 15 degree water. See the temperature chart below for more data on this.
