Surf Forecast Steamer Lane – Indicators
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Steamer Lane – Indicators surfspot characteristics
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Further inside the headland, the next peak is the heavily surfed Indicators. When swell and tide are perfect, it’s a long, classic righthand point wave with a gaggle of speed sections and lips ripe for shortboard tricks, as seen in surf publications and films worldwide. Best with a lined-up W-NW swell and medium-low tide. A great hotdog wave.
On a great day and a great swell, local heroes have been known to rip a few single mythical waves from the Point, through Middles, through Indicators, through Cowells to the shorebreak at Santa Cruz Municipal Pier. On those days you’ll see stoked surfers, dripping wet, boards under their arms, jogging back up West Cliff Drive towards the Lane. It’s the consistency and sheltered aspect that makes Steamer Lane an extremely crowded proposition with all kinds of wavecraft and talent levels. Wildlife is abundant, and you might find yourself paddling out through the kelp beside a sea otter or seal. There’s parking all along the point and out at the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse, which doubles as the Lighthouse Surf Museum.