Jalama Beach
Lompoc / Santa Barbara County · near Lompoc (nearest services) · Central Coast
Surfing · Wind Sports
At a glance
- Skill level
- intermediate
- Best season
- Fall and winter · Summer fog can limit both visibility and enjoyment
- Difficulty
- expert
- Best season
- Spring–fall (spring windiest)
- Water temperature
- Cold (mid-50s°F) — 4/3 + boots
What is here
- Amenities
- Legendary wave-sailing destination · Powerful wind over big swell · Remote county park & camping · For expert riders only
- Best for
- Expert wave sailing in big wind
- Features
- Legendary powerful wave spot · Relentless NW wind · Remote county park camping · Big swell, big conditions
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
- Hazards
- Powerful waves & heavy shore break · Very strong, relentless wind · Remote — no rescue · Rocks, rips & white shark territory
Guides, rentals and operators
- Lessons
- No
Surfing detail
- Break types
- beach
- Swell
- Northwest and west · 3–8ft · Exposed beach picks up solid groundswell
- Tide
- Any tide · Works across most conditions
- Wind
- Wind-exposed — check forecasts carefully. Can be excellent in glassy morning conditions and terrible with afternoon wind swell.
- Crowd
- Dramatically uncrowded. The long ranch road keeps casual visitors away. Surfers here chose to be here specifically — respectful, self-selecting crowd.
- Board
- Mid-length or shortboard for the more powerful sections · Longboard on smaller days
- Wetsuit
- 4/3mm most of year — water is cold and exposed
- Intl tip
- The Jalama Beach Store (the only food option for miles) serves a burger that has achieved near-legendary status among Santa Barbara County surfers and campers. The campground books up weeks in advance during peak season — plan accordingly.
Wind Sports detail
- Discipline
- windsurf · kite · wing
- Conditions
- waves
- Venue
- ocean
- Wind kt
- 25
- Wind
- NW, 20–35 kt — powerful, relentless side/cross-shore over big swell
- Intl tip
- A legendary EXPERT wave-sailing spot — powerful, relentless NW (20–35 kt, spring windiest) over big swell. Heavy shore break, rocks, rips, remote (no quick rescue), white shark territory. Cold water (4/3 + boots). County park camping (and the famous Jalama Burger). For accomplished wave riders ONLY — bring small gear. Wild, beautiful, serious. Respect it fully.
The guide
Getting to Jalama requires commitment: turn off Highway 1 onto a long ranch road that winds through private land for several mi…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Jalama Beach — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.5004, -120.501