The Magic of Trestles (And A Brief History)

A bit of surfing, a bit of history, this short will give you the overview of what makes Trestles so special.

[adhndrsn]

Enjoyed this video very much. Here’s a little personal historic Trestles surf story for you all. Throughout my surfing life Trestles was my favorite spot, though I lived further north. One early morning in Fall 1969 three friends and I went down south for a day at Trestles. I was 16 years old at the time. Back then we had to climb down a steep cliff face near the south end of San Clemente to get to Trestles. The only way down was hanging on to your board with one hand and a garden hose, insecurely attached at the top, with the other hand. We made it down and started walking south on the beach. Got it to Cotton’s where there was a nice house. (Surf trivia: The actor James Arness’ son Rolf, nicknamed Rolfie, lived in that house at the time. Rolfie was an excellent surfer). Just south of Cotten’s we crossed over into the Camp Pendleton stretch of beach. We changed course slightly and walked on the smooth rocks, ankle deep. This was so we could quickly run out and get on our boards if Marines came after us. It was common knowledge among surfers that they couldn’t do anything to people if they were actually in the ocean. Unfortunately for us there was a fairly steep sand ridge at the shore which we couldn’t see over. Suddenly, between Uppers and Lowers, a half dozen Marines came charging down the sand with 45’s pointed directly at us screaming “stop right there motherf*ckers”. No chance to get out into the water. They marched us up to a couple vehicles and off we went to Camp Pendleton. The Marines confiscated our boards and left us at the Oceanside base gate. I think we pooled our money for a taxi back to San Clemente, though I’m hazy on that part. In the end they held our boards for thirty days and charged us a fine to get them back. Not the best surf trip ever. Still, once we had our boards we were surfing Trestles that day. Thanks for posting the video. Reminded me of one of my favorite surf stories.

[camaroness]

Love when he says some of the best surfers in the world and Zeke comes into frame at 1:09..OTC

[sdoc]

I grew up in SC and surfed Trestles basically every day for over 20 years. I've moved away since then but miss it greatly. It's magic, probably my favorite place in this world. Fortunately not much has changed. Great vid.

[josephsterling]

I first surfed Trestles in 1969…it was very un crowded…got to enjoy those waves till 1974…when I moved to Hawaii…one of my favorite fun waves!

[philliplaplante]

My Trestles surf story from a Newport local: Back in April 2004 in the middle of the week, the first significant south swell of the season popped up. I had a new board I was eager to try, so I made the trip down to Trestles by late
morning. It was sunny, glassy, well overhead and pumping. Much to my shock, there were just a handful of guys in the water. Then, the reigning World Champion at the time, Andy Irons paddled out with former World Champion Sunny Garcia. We exchanged a few waves and I was impressed by their surfing. Then, sitting next to Andy, a nice set wave came in and I had the inside position on the peak. I turned and took off. Andy hopped me and off we both went on a long glassy wall, with him just a few feet ahead of me. Andy turned hard off the bottom and went up the face and got stuck on the lip as he hit the top and fell right in front of me. I had to take evasive action to avoid running him over as I continued my ride for a few more turns. I decided not to hassle Andy and cut him some slack for hopping and falling in front of me. Sadly, neither one of those former World Champions are surfing any longer. Andy was dead 2 years later and Sunny is no longer able to surf after a failed suicide attempt.

[SatoriStudios_]

Very much enjoyed this. Great video. Need more videos and history about Southern California

[packinghousetuesdaynightme]

From Surfer Magazine:

Prior to an early 1980s storm, Trestles was exclusively a right-hander. It was only after massive squalls moved the sand that the point was transformed into the A-frame we know today. "On the cover of Surfing in 1983 there was a shot of Mike Crookshenk on the Trestles left, " recalls Sam George. "After that it was discovered. In the afternoon, the left is perfectly front-lit. It became the premiere surf studio of Southern California in the 80's."

[lukevicelja]

Thank you for the killer dana video! I am a dana point local and you it is always amazing seeing stories about our past surf history

[kfame]

Hey man your videos are awesome!! I hope to see more from you. I really love learning about the history of California surf. Your work on trestles and killer dana are really cherished here.

[michaelfarar]

When surfers call Rincon the Queen of the coast....i think a lotof people see Trestles as the King. But theres so many spots in So Cal that are just as good. Im from Venice and beyond and we surfed Lowers 7 8 times and it was always epic. 1 time we got it double overhead plus and it was so good. My cousins grew up in San Clemente so i met the entire crew going back to the 70s 80s. Real beach people...unlike what Malibu has become.

[johnmanning]

I surfed back in the mid to late '70s. Never got past grom stage, but I've known about Trestles all these years and it looks like a wave that maybe an old dude like me (now) on a long board could handle.

[slyder-tv]

In 1977 Michael Ho squeaked by aussi PT to walk away with $3, 000. and 1st place during the Sutherland Pro. 108 invited surfers from around the world surfed in the first ever contest at Trestles for an entire week. Lowers was firing and the boys now Legends made history.

[Slashingtons]

I've had some of my best waves at Lowers. One particularly great memory when we snagged a lucky evening session, when an arriving swell started to fill in early, before the next day crowd expected it to hit. Seems more crowded now than ever. Last week I counted 64 surfers out at Lowers, on the web cam view. So packed for one-ish peak!!! But it looked like there were a lot of great waves pumping through if one was willing to weave through the encumbering swarm of bodies. Not sure if this is a correction or not, but I've always heard the break labeled "Church" in this video as "Churches".

[calsurflance]

Great research .
Loved the old photos.
Nicely done!👌🏄‍♂️🏄‍♂️

[Underoverrated]

Great video! Would love to see a San O one

[Thurston.Howell.the.rd]

Nice to see a video refer to Church by its proper name. Cheers !

[speed_of_a_human]

Nice video. At 5:09 - just an FYI that it's not pronounced Marine "Corp" it's pronounced Marine "Core"

[philruitcel]

Prior to surfline and iphone alerts I caught lowers with maybe a dozen surfers out during a combo NZ/ Mexican hurricane swell. I think it was '73? Solid consistent waves with five wave dbl overhead sets. I remember it was early fall, with Santa Ana winds blowing There was a huge fire on camp Pendelton and the sky was really eerie. On the return to Laguna we surfed second reef Brooks St. sheet glass/ light offshore. No leash's...no crowds, no kooks

[J_Smith]

Great history review. Same with the Killer Dana video. No doubt one of the most brutal environmental losses- as you put it many breaks "vaporized." The loss of marine life also massive. The quote from Chris Aarons is also quite heavy. Adding this story and lesson to another documentary covering more beach losses would be great- many areas of the world to review with ports and breaks wall destroying other breaks, beaches and marine life.

Now we just need a billionaire to buy out the marina and tenants, and remove the killer dana break wall. Or change it to the Ron Drummin plan- do we know what he pitched to the county director of harbor and beaches? Is there a map?

[robertcleveland]

Was great to See old photos of Dear Friends Hobie and Mickey 👍❤️👍❤️