Located in Oceanside to Encinitas, San Diego County, Stone Steps (named for the entryway) is a fun, fickle, and changeable beach break that offers up fun zippy barrels when the conditions line up. It can be mushy and closing out, rippy and bowly, or perfect and tubing. Very difficult to predict, but this leads to a lack of crowds. The waves here can be tricky to surf and break for up to 100 meters over a rock and sand bottom.
What are the best surf conditions for Stone Steps?
Gets good between waist-high and overhead. We recommend riding a longboard here if smaller and a shortboard as the size picks up. this break is suitable for all levels of surfer. The surf here is pretty consistent (6/10) and will have a crew but a small friendly one (5/10). The best winds are from the East. The best swells are from the Southwest and clean. Works on a mid-tide best.
We recommend wearing a 3/2 in the summer when water temperatures rise to 20 degrees. In winter we recommend wearing a 4/3 when water temperatures drop to 15 degrees. See the temperature chart below for more data on this.
