Surf: The westernmost and windiest area in California — very sharky, wild, and desolate. If you don’t live here, you probably won’t score it. Access is arduous along twisting Mattole Road from Ferndale, but once you reach the coast, the ocean is easily accessed from the road. Clearly visible as you drive is Sandbox, a wide, flat beachbreak with boulders offshore. Can be good on any tide with a small swell and zero wind. North wind is sideshore. Just before the road heads inland is McNutt Gulch, a punchy beachbreak surfable on small swells and medium-low tide. Must be windless or offshore and clean. Quick, wedgy, shifting peaks; some rocks. Semi-steep beach slope.