Windansea Beach is a stretch of coastline located in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, a community of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The neighborhood adjacent to the beach is named Windansea after the beach. It is named after the 1909 oceanfront Strand Hotel that was renamed "Windansea" Hotel in 1919 after the owner Arthur Snell ran a "naming contest". The Windansea Hotel which was located on Neptune Avenue between Playa del Sur and Playa del Norte burned down in 1943. Geographically, it is defined by the beachfront extending north of Palomar Avenue and south of Westbourne Street.

Surf breaks

The main peak at Windansea is a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

break with surf that breaks at the

shore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

line. During the winter months, Windansea can have six-to-eight foot surf. Other breaks in the vicinity of Windansea include Middles, Turtles, Simmons (named after Bob Simmons who died at that break in 1954) and Big Rock.

The Windansea Shack

The distinguishing landmark at Windansea is a palm-covered shack that was originally constructed in 1947 by Woody Ekstrom, Fred Kenyon, Don Okey and a few others. It was constructed as a shady area to prevent the wax from melting off surfers’ boards and to protect their families from the sun. At first, it was made with small

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

branches gathered from the old

Scripps Health Scripps Health is a nonprofit health care system based in San Diego, California. The system includes five hospitals and 19 outpatient facilities, and treats a half-million patients annually through 2,600 affiliated physicians. The system also inc ...

and then in 1950 bigger branches gathered from

Camp Matthews Camp Calvin B. Matthews or Marine Corps Rifle Range Camp Matthews or Marine Corps Rifle Range, La Jolla (prior to World War II) or more simply Camp Matthews was a United States Marine Corps military base from 1917 until 1964, when the base was d ...

, (which later became

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

) and palm fronds, despite eucalyptus’ instability as a construction material. It was moved inland about 2 feet in 2003 when it was rebuilt after a major storm, and over the years the palm fronds replaced but its orientation has remained the same. "The Surf Shack at Windansea Beach" was designated as an historical landmark by the San Diego Historical Resources Board on May 27, 1998. The shack was struck down by a large storm in 2003, rebuilt, and large waves knocked it down again during a high tide on December 24, 2015, but it was once again rebuilt by locals in June 2016. In 2017, a plaque was attached to the shack that reads: “Historical Landmark 358, The Surf Shack WindanSea Beach built by returning World War II surfers in 1947 for shade and aloha.”

Parking lot and public facilities

The Windansea parking lot is located along Neptune Place, between Nautilus and Bonair Streets. Although recently upgraded by the City of San Diego, it offers a limited number of parking spaces. Street parking is typically widely available. There are no drinking fountains, showers or public restrooms available.

Surfing history

Windansea enjoys a storied reputation as a surfbreak, and has served as home break to many notable surfers, including

Mickey Munoz Mickey Munoz, nicknamed "The Mongoose", is an early surfing pioneer and surfboard shaper. He was featured in the 2004 surfing documentary '' Riding Giants''. He currently resides in Capistrano Beach, California and designs boards for Surftech, ...

and Butch Van Artsdalen. Steve Pezman, former publisher of Surfer magazine and current publisher of '' The Surfer's Journal'', called Windansea locals in the early 1960s "the heaviest surf crew ever." The Windansea Surf and Ski Club was founded in 1947 but did not exist for long. In 1960, following city-wide strife between homeowners and surfers, Windansea was designated as one of the six official “surfing beaches” in San Diego. Further ordinances restricting surfing to specific beaches were dropped by 1961. The Windansea Surf Club was founded by Chuck Hasley in the summer of 1963 in preparation for the Malibu International surf competition. Founding members such as ''

The Endless Summer ''The Endless Summer'' is a 1966 American surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the world. Despite the balmy mediterrane ...

'' star and first Vice President

Mike Hynson This is a list of people associated with surfing or surf culture. A *Reno Abellira (1950– ) (Haw) Smirnoff World Pro/Am winner in 1974 * Megan Abubo (1978– ) (Haw) * Eddie Aikau (1946–1978) (Haw) Award-winning surfer and lifeguard *Lis ...

and Skip Frye. In 1963, Michael Dormer and Lee Teacher built a six foot, 400 pound version of their Hot Curl cartoon character out of cement, iron, a mop, a light bulb, and a beer can. The statue appeared on the rocks over Windansea beach in La Jolla, holding a beer in one hand while gazing out over the ocean in search of the perfect wave. In 1964 Hot Curl was featured in " Muscle Beach Party" starring

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" an ...

, Annette Funicello,

Buddy Hackett Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American actor, comedian and singer. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ''The Music Man'' (1962), Benjy Benjamin in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wo ...

, and

Don Rickles Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958) with Clark Gable, Carl Reiner's ''Enter La ...

. For many years, the break was notoriously exclusive, with non-locals or younger surfers facing harassment, intimidation, or violence, but by the 1990s, this had decreased.

In literature

The title article in

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

's book of essays, ''

The Pump House Gang ''The Pump House Gang'' is a 1968 collection of essays and journalism by Tom Wolfe. The stories in the book explored various aspects of the counterculture of the 1960s. The most famous story in the collection, from which the book takes its nam ...

'', is about a group of surfers from Windansea Beach who "attended the Watts riots as if it were the Rose Bowl game in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

."Pump House Gang
Random House

References