San Onofre
Mile-long cobblestone beachbreak with multiple peaks across the cove inside San Onofre State Park. South and southwest swell window. The longboard-culture seat of Orange County.
Spot intel
Parking
$15 day-use at the San Onofre State Park entrance off the 5 at the Basilone Road exit. The lot runs along the bluff; spaces are walk-down to the sand. Lot fills early on south-swell weekends.
Crowd
Thick on south-swell days. Longboard presence runs generational. Surf-school clusters and family camps spread along the cove.
Beginner-friendly?
Depends.
Wave shape is approachable on the smaller days, but the cove runs at longboard-festival density and the priority hierarchy at the main takeoff zones is locally rotated. Not a wave to learn the lineup at.
Lineup etiquette
At a longboard-heavy point cove, priority extends further back along the shoulder than at a shortboard break. Dropping in on a wave already taken from the peak is the standard call-out.
When it's on
South through southwest groundswell with light offshore wind from the northeast through east. Mid-tide window.
When beginners can paddle out
Knee-high to chest-high on a mid-tide window with light morning wind, off the side peaks where the longboard rotation is lighter.
Where it breaks
- Coordinates
- 33.3760, -117.5640
- Shore faces
- SW
- Region
- South OC, California
Launching summer 2026.
Six-tier verdicts for every California break, calibrated to swell, period, direction, tide, and wind. One email when San Onofre ships in the app.
Other South OC spots
- Lowers · Famous spot
- Doheny · Famous + beginner-friendly
- T-Street · Famous spot
- Salt Creek · Famous spot