Surf: Easily one of the best spots north of San Francisco, found off Port Road at the south end of the Point Arena township. When conditions are prime on the north side of the pier, you’ll find a steep, hollow, ledging righthander with a thick wall roaring into the deep channel. Beware of the rusted ship’s boiler on the inside during low tide. Needs at least a clean, head high swell (the bigger the better) to break, with an incoming tide. When it’s smaller, the wave peels dangerously close to the inside ledge. The paddle-out is through a keyhole in the rock ledges near shore. There’s also a good left breaking to the south of the pier, best at about head high and offering some punchy sections in front of the exposed rock shelf. N wind blows sideshore/offshore at both the point and the left, but forget about it on a S wind. Environment: The waves and the crowds are consistent. Ditto for white sharks. Surf: General: On a solid W or NW swell, the point on the north side of the pier is a steep, bowly takeoff followed by a fast, powerful right that eventually backs off into the deep channel or pushes you inside over the sharp rock shelf. This right point needs a little bigger swell in the six-foot-plus range to break. The left that breaks on the south side of the pier on the other side of the Cove is more exposed to the northwesterly winds and is best when it's overhead and clean, and it will also break on solid S swells. This area offers decent protection from the normal northwesterly winds for the right, and N winds blow sideshore at both the right and the left. Tides: Medium Size: Head high-2X overhead Wind: NE to E, but semi clean sideshore on northerly winds Swell: W, S Bottom: Rock with nasty dry rocks on inside. Paddling: Not too bad. Spot Rating: Good. Access: From Highway 1, head west onto Port Road. Crowds: Crowd Factor: The point does get packed with surly locals who greatly dislike unfamiliar surfers in the lineup. Local Vibe: Icy and threatening. Don't even think about disclosing your residency if you're from anywhere south. Environment: Clean. Hazards: Land locals, also white sharks that adore Point Arena, but there hasn't been a shark attack...yet. Season: September-November