Campus Point

Surf Guide

Here lies the famed University of California at Santa Barbara, a combo party school/serious study institution, depending on whom you talk to. Crested on the bluffs overlooking the placid Santa Barbara Channel and various reefs and sandbars, it's not difficult to see why so many academic-minded surfers pick UCSB first over other equally stellar institutions. The college town of Isla Vista was rated in Playboy magazine as one of the top 10 party towns in the nation, and the place can claim many legendary coast side superlatives: legendary girls, legendary parties and legendary hangovers. Unfortunately, the surf usually doesn't quite measure up, but it does have its epic days and is considerably more consistent than the county's more southerly (or easterly) beachbreaks. First up is Campus Point, which is near the Goleta Pier and an authentic member of the Santa Barbara Epic Right Pointbreak Club (SBERP). Problem is, it requires a pretty big swell to reach its potential, and those kinds of swells usually coincide with foul south winds and overall crummy conditions. Nevertheless, Campus Point is a long wave with several sections, including a zippy inside wall during low tide. When it's breaking, it's almost always packed with students due in partly because the UCSB dorms are right across the street from the parking lot.