San Diego Windsurfing Association

The SCRA Sailboard Fleet

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The information in this document was compiled by Rolf Schreiber and is not guaranteed to be up to date or completely accurate. As I have more time, this document will be made much more comprehensive and much more accurate.

The SDWA Webmaster, Rolf Schreiber, thanks you for your patience! Check back again as I improve the information content of this document.

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Some useful phone #'s: 
	Beach/wind/surf report:   619-221-8824
	North County Windtalker:  760-754-WIND
	Lake Hodges wind line:    858-756-8221
	Lake Morena rangers:      619-478-5473

The weather in San Diego is pretty nice most of the year. It rains at
times from December until about March, with water temps about 58
degrees in winter and 70 degrees in summer and early fall. Try to avoid
a trip from mid-May to the end of June, as we suffer from a heavy
marine layer (dismal gray skies) that only lets the sun out for a
couple of hours in the afternoon (if that).  IMHO, the best time to be
here is late September/early October when the weather is absolutley
it's best (70-80 degrees and cloudless sunny days).  Plus, the crowds
have all gone back to Arizona and the locals come out to play. We have
a ton of great beaches for anything from surfing to beach volleyball,
lots of restaurants and happening places with happy hours. I'm tellin'
ya this so you know why I live here instead of somewhere with real
wind. :-)

Despite the lack of wind, San Diego does have a lot of windsurfing
activity.  It's a great place to learn to sail, it only gets
frustrating when you start getting into short boards.  The most popular
sailing spots are on Mission Bay - the northwest portion (Sail Bay,
adjacent to the Sailing Center) and the east side adjacent to the
Hilton Hotel (Interstate 5, Mission Bay Drive exit). Typical sail sizes
are 7.0 to 12.5 and 8-12 knot winds. Lots of nice grass rigging area,
but watch out for small rocks in the water, especially at low tide.
Mission Bay has no chop or swell to speak of except when the wind is
*really* cranking, which is almost never. :-( San Diego Bay also has
sailing sites at J Street in Chula Vista, and on the Silver Strand on
Coronado Island.

San Diego rarely gets any real wind (probably less than 15 days a
year), but on occasion a storm will bring 5.0 weather to us. If the
wind is out of the northwest (typically clearing winds after a Gulf
of Alaska storm has passed through), you can get in some fun surf-sailing
at Tourmaline Surf Park, right on the border of Pacific Beach and La
Jolla. This break is really consistent thanks to a very long reef,
although not particularly powerful.  Another potential time for good
sailing is during the Santa Ana winds that often come in the fall,
bringing 15-20 knot east winds to the inland lakes such as
Lake Perris. Thanks to the rains last year, Lake Morena is open
for windsurfing again, but I'm not sure if it's open during the winter.
This lake is tucked up in the mountain passes on I-8 about an hour east
of San Diego. It's been known to really crank up there... listen for
"gusty winds in the mountains and deserts" on the weather radio.

Now, about spots on the Baja pacific coast:

Occasionally, the wind blows at Raul's which is at K-44 on the "free
road" (Libre) - you get off the toll road (Cuota) at Puerto Nuevo and
keep going south. I believe you can camp there now. It is past Rosarito
on the coast (about a half hour drive from the US/Mexico border). If
you're lucky, you might even get some surf. I sailed it once a while
ago and found it to be pretty fun.

Another place to go is Punto San Carlos, south of El Rosario. It is
about an 8 hour drive from downtown San Diego. However, you really need
a truck (preferably a 4WD) to get down the last 40 miles of washed out
dirt road to get there. The wind is usually pretty good in the
spring/summer - I've been down there several years during May/June and got
lots of 4.0-4.5 surf sailing in. The surf can be anywhere from flat to
mast high, but it's a reef break so the shape usually is pretty good.
It's not unusual to see people like Ian Boyd there throwing forwards
and just shredding in general.  Bring your windbreakers/sweaters -
there are precious few places to camp out of the wind, which seems to
go non-stop all day and night.  Another thing to consider is that there
are absolutely *NO* amenities of any sort, and the nearest store is a
in El Rosario, which is generally a good 2 hour drive back down the
dirt road. That means you better be self-sufficient for the entire
duration of your trip - i.e. water, food, spare parts and more importantly,
toilet paper! :-)