Mavericks / California / United States

This spot is actually at Pillar Point, just to the north of the popular Half Moon Bay, but it couldn’t be more different to the Bay. It is a place for the bold and the brave only, experienced surfers who know how to handle big waves.

The beach here is sandy and small, but never crowded. To reach it you can either take a boat from Princeton Harbor or you can park south of Pillar Point and walk over the hill for ten minutes or so.

You want an east wind here, working with a northwest swell. The swell starts working at 2.5m and holds up to 5m or more. It’s a reef spot, right hand only, and the waves are very powerful and ledgey. They are also long, giving up to 300m even on normal days, and it works well on both rising and falling tides. The take off is pretty hollow and right in front of some big boulders, and it finishes in a deep channel so tow-ins are popular. The water here is cold, as you’d expect from the deepwater currents swirling round the point.

Half Moon Bay is the nearest town and has a decent infrastructure that caters to surfers and other tourists. Although only a small town it has a good range of choices for accommodation, eating an entertainment, as well as its own airport.

This is a big, heavy wave and it can easily pound you into the coral and rocks if you don’t know what you are doing. As usual for this area, keep your eyes open for sharks.