T Street

Surf Guide

T Street is known primarily for one thing -- consistency. The entire West Coast from Jordan River to Cabo could be flat, and T Street, the central hub for San Clemente's finest, would manage to cough up a wave or two that would make some surfer happy. There are a lot of things that help T Street break: sandbars, reefs, rocks and odd seaweed gardens all contribute to the wave's quirky behavior, which can only be described as schizophrenic. It'll transform from San O' to mini-Backdoor in the time it takes to do a bottom turn. Although the T Street fanatics have a million different names for every hole in the reef, the break can best be divided into three spots: the Reef, Cropley's and Beach House. If you park your car at the base of Trafalgar Street and look straight out from the overpass you will see the main reef. On a strong south swell, lefts hit the outside reef, break slowly, then peel over the inside rock shelf, bowling in a fast down-the-line section. On winter swells, you get the opposite: long, workable rights off the reef ending in a collapsing shorebreak. Cropley's is strictly a winter break. Named after the owner of a tasty hamburger stand that no longer exists, Cropley's provides fast, zippy right-hand peaks just north of the snack bar. Some swear it's T Street's best wave when it's on -- which isn't very often. It takes just the right swell direction from the northwest. South of the overpass, there's a sandbar that old-time locals call the "Beach House." It's named after a candy shack that once stood more than two decades ago. On medium-size swells, you can catch some wedgy lefts and rights that are often less crowded and more geared toward shortboards and, yes, sponges. T Street is a haven for bodyboarders. For the past 30 years, the beach has been blackballed during summer to allow the boogie crew to spin to their hearts' content. As a result, T Street has produced a number of good professional bodyboarders who can often be found out in the lineup. Once fall arrives, most of the bodyboarders leave and in comes the San Clemente locals. Thanks to Martin Potter's summer stays in the area in the early to mid-'80s, T Street is So Cal's Fertile Crescent for the aerial. From Matt Archbold to the Fletchers to the Beschens to the Wards to Michael Losness, a whole army of light-footed surfers have honed their launches off the inside bowls that bend and warp and scream, "Spank me!"