This Side of Paradise

L.A.’s beaches are a feature of life on the West Coast that has long been romanticized — and every bit of it is deserved. John Dorsey, who likely knows the beaches and coastal waters as well as anyone in the county, grew up in Long Beach, and he’s surfed here for more than 50 years. Now retired, he taught “Surf ’n’ Science,” a popular marine biology course that covered basic oceanography, meteorology, wave production, and pollution. We asked Dorsey to rank the best L.A. County beaches. —The Editor

1 El Segundo
Just south of the Chevron Jetty
My main surf break: ride my bike from my home in El Segundo and surf in front of the power plants at one of about three spots. Mellow, light crowd with a few old dogs like me in the lineup.

2 El Porto
Northern Manhattan Beach
My other favorite spot at the end of the lot by Rosecrans. Surf with my crew coined “The Wall Benders” by one of the lifeguard deputy chiefs. After surfing, we sit on the parking lot retaining wall to watch and comment on the mayhem in the water.

3 PV Cove
Palos Verdes Peninsula
My “go-to” spot when it’s too big and crazy at El Segundo or El Porto. Once helped a lifeguard save a surfer who lost his board and was being sucked to sea in a massive rip current. That guard later told me we got to the guy just in time — he was ready to check out due to exhaustion. Eighteen-to-20-foot waves that day with just a few surfers out!

4 Westward Beach
Very pretty beach. No ridable surf, but nice dune plants and shore birds. At the south end is the Point Dume cliff that you see in lots of movies and commercials.

5 Venice Beach Pier-area boardwalk
Great place to watch all the street performers and hucksters, and buy interesting t-shirts! I take all my foreign visitors here rather than the too-expensive Disneyland — good entertainment.

6 Nicholas Canyon
Another pretty, out-of-the-way beach with a good left reef break.

7 El Pescador State Beach
Close to Nicholas Canyon, a hidden beach with a reef break that works on a winter west swell. Had a great session there years ago with LMU’s Dr. Jose Saez, who taught civil engineering classes.

8 Hermosa Beach
South of the pier
Nice open beach break with some cool shorebirds. Got a great photo one morning of a snowy plover, one of our threatened species in Santa Monica Bay.

9 Redondo Beach Breakwater
Adjacent north side of King Harbor
Big left break during winter west swells. Great place to watch surfers charge waves while dining at the beachside Chart House overlooking the break.

10 Long Beach
72nd Place at end of Belmont Shore peninsula
Where I learned to surf as a grom (little kid). Summer south and southwest swells would wrap around the Alamitos Bay jetties to sneak into the beach. I used to rickshaw my board to this beach at sunrise, to either surf small waves there or paddle across the jetties (while dodging boats in the main channel) to surf Seal Beach breaks. Oh, to be young again with lots of energy!

John Dorsey is professor emeritus in the LMU Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering, where he taught environmental, marine, and climate science. For two years, he was the advisor of the LMU Surf Club. A story about the LMU Surf Club, “Reading the Waters” featuring Dorsey and members of the club, appeared in the inaugural issue of LMU Magazine (Summer 2010).