My son got into UC Santa Barbara and UCSD and needs to choose. We live in San Diiego so the bias is for Santa Barbara. How cold is the water compared to San Diego. Will try and take him up this weekend to surf and sse the campus. Assuming he goes there will have to hook him up with a new board for the waves up there. I always thought that due to the EPA Santa Barbara was the dividing line for the better resin, Southern California had to use a slightly different resin for pollution control so the boards would be a little stronger. Is that a myth? Any infor on Santa Barbara would be helpful. As to surfing colleges, I live within walking distance of Point Loma Nazarene and there is no way he will live at home for his college experience. Never surfed at Deveraux’s but I assume you just park as far north and walk down the cliff to wherever looks good and wear booties. Santa Barbara seems like a good school.
Darn cool Dad, you…
2 good choices, and where you live isn't too bad....I stayed at CalWestern for 3 semesters back in early '70s.
Most boards made in SD anyways, but a new board is always nice.
SB, quality over quantity. Sheer # of rideable days, I’d favor your home.
Hope he’s going for academics also, as for sure, he’s a smart kid.
Your son is a very lucky dude. I was rejected from UCSB but I sent in a letter of appeal, so hopefully I will be admitted for fall of 2005. As for the surf, it is actually quite fun. The campus boasts a right hand point break known as campus point, with a fun spot called depressions around the corner. Rincon and sandspit are within striking distance and the school is really good as is the vibe of SB. Congradulate him.
My dad never learned to swim. I would have loved it if he asked me where I would have liked to surf and go to school.
In my opinion, your son should go to UCSB. It’s not a better school academically than UCSD (in my view), but it sure is pretty good. SB has plenty of great winter spots, but SD is just as good, if not better, since it breaks year round. Your son could come back to SD and surf in the sumer when SB goes flat. Water temps always 5-8 degrees colder up north. Good social aspects for your son at UCSB and Isla Vista. Plus, he’s not so far away that you can’t keep track of him.
The wild Central CA is just a drive away. Good Luck.
ucsb-a great cultural, social, political, musical, athletic and academic environment(and good surf surrounding the campus)drop in at the beach house on state street to get hooked up with the proper boards for the area/yes, what a cool dad and fortunate son…
I’m a UCSB grad ('91) and there are lots of surf options. Within 5min bike ride from campus dorms or isla vista slumlord rental places he can find surf that faces west, south, and east! Sands is the beach break on the west end of Isla Vista (feels like the north end because we’re used to the ocean being to our west but the water is basically to the south at ucsb). It’ll always have something to surf out there and can even be good occasionally. Then right on that corner point to the south is Deveraux/Coal-oil Point. Then along the stretch of Isla Vista there are sometimes beach break waves and if the swell is big enough it’ll break on the outer reef which is like 1/4 mile paddle out there but gives reallly long waves on the right swell. Then 5min down on the other side campus is campus point breaking round that corner. (if he lives in the campus dorms he can walk right down to it).
BTW, there is nowhere to park out at Deveraux or Sands without a permit or risking a ticket but one can park at the end of isla vista and walk/bike a few minutes to get there. Even if he rode a bike from the campus dorms to sands, he’d be there in probably 5-10 minutes depending on how many friends he stopped to talk to along the way.
There are lots of other spots to the north and several point breaks within short driving distance towards santa barbara proper, and more south of SB, leading to Rincon of course.
If he stays in santa barbara during the summer he’ll have to go south to ventura or north to jalama to get waves because the islands really block out sb. Or he can go home to san diego to visit. I don’t think the water temps are all that different in winter but maybe san diego is probably warmer in summer.
As far as academics go, it really depends on what he wants to study. UCSB is very highly ranked now in several engineering programs (top ten nationally) and of course any marine related science would be a great choice because of the location and facilities. If he’s the liberal arts type like myself (Philosophy) he’ll still get a great education so no worries there.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d chose UCSB again over any other school in the country. It was just such a perfect mix of life and school. But I’m sure there are UCSD grads out there who will say the same thing.
When there’s a big west swell in the Santa Barbara channel, Campus Pt. can have some fun waves. Sunday was one of those days where the wind had blown out most spots but Campus was clean and fun, a little like #3’s w/ some 200 yard rides.
Oh, it was spring break too. no Sudents!
UCSB is a great university with a wide variety of options for graduates and surfers. The campus is beautiful and perfectly located for beach/ocean oriented students. I still have family and friends that work there and they wouldn’t leave for anything.
Surf ranges from mediocre to excellent, often times the difference is only a one hour drive North or South. There are many breaks between Carpinteria and Gaviota that remain relatively low key and produce top notch surf. The key is to learn about the breaks and the people that surf them. I’ve been surfing this section of coastline since 1978 and believe me, it’s worth it. Hammond’s Reef, Seals, and Hazards are few of the more well known breaks. People have already mentioned Rincon, Campus Point, Devereaux and Sands. There are many more…
Water temps range about 5 degrees cooler sometimes more, sometimes less. Booties in the winter at the rocky points and reefs. Squid lids are good when the icy offshores blow down out of the local mountains.
Some of highest quality boards on the planet are made in the area as well. Hawkenson (sp?), Clyde Beatty Jr., Rennie & Lauran Yater and lets not forget the mega-surf star supporter Al Merrick. Ventura has a large shaping populace as well with people like Spencer Kellogg, Robert Weiner, Casey McCrystal, Sam Cammack, Stan Fuji, Malcolm Campbell and the list goes on…
If the kid grew up in S.D. I say, send him up North. The people are friendly, the surf is great and the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed. What’s better than getting a great education and being able to surf new spots with new friends? Besides, he can always go home for those warm summer days in sunny S.D. right?
Sr Pato
nothing against UCSB as Santa Barbara is one best towns I’ve ever visted but UCSD is bounds ahead of it in academic terms. 4-5 years ago UCSD was a very tough school to get into and it’s academics is almost on par or better than UCLA in a few departments.
I’m not sure how the year round surf in SB is as I’ve heard you do need to do some driving to get some quality waves consistently. SD well you already know. Anyways you are a cool cat and though no one wants to live at home during those years the Point Loma area is also gorgeous.
nothing against UCSB as Santa Barbara is one best towns I've ever visted but UCSD is bounds ahead of it in academic terms.
I think if you went and took a look at the US News & World Reports rankings, you’d find that statement to be false. It will depend a lot on the field of study but in several cases, UCSB is ranked much higher than UCSD.
and when it really gets big rides to the pier inside of campus point(a rare happening)i dig that point-a pretty spot for sure…
I’d send him to SB. He’ll be away from all his bro’s who can be a major distraction when he’s trying to study. Forget about the new board. He won’t have time to surf. Study, study, study. Mike
SB is great, just make sure you have a real talk to your son about using condoms when he is getting barelled, STD college capital of the world!
I’m from San Diego, and after high school a bunch of friends moved up to SB, so I’ve spent alot of time at both places. I was actually planning on moving to SB myself, but when it came down to it, I was hard for me to leave San Diego.
Santa Barbara is an awsome place, it’s a welcomed change from San Diego and it’s beautiful up there.
The only downside of going to Santa Barbara is it can be very easy to get side tracked. Isla Vista, the little community right by UCSB where most of the students live gets CRAZY. I’ve never seen such a concentrated party spot in my life. It’s alot of fun, but people get carried away. Alot of my friends ended up having to leave SB to refocus on school and get things done.
The surf:
Santa Barbara seems like it can be little more fikle, but most of the times I’ve gone up there we’ve found some waves, and there can be some REALLY REALLY fun waves up there. These spots were metioned before, but real close to campus is Sands, which is a SUPER fun beach break. Supposedly it’s really fickle, but the 5 or 6 times I’ve gone there it’s always been really fun. Then theres all the spots in the local area like Sandspit (which I’ve never actually seen break) and all the points (Rincon, etc…). Definately more point breaks around than San Diego.
San Diego you have Blacks, Scripps, and all the La Jolla reef breaks real close to campus, plus all the north county spots, blah blah blah. San Diego has a pretty good number and variety of surf spots, but you probably already know all this.
I am officially making myself available for adoption.
Though not from the area, I have a good friend who went to UCSB and has nothing but the highest praise for it. He never surfed till he got to college. Now he surfs pretty good, and has a very good career as well.
Drew
If your son is already prone to partying beware of UCSB. Kegs are flowing every day in IV. The girls are unbelievable too. SB surf isn’t that great, he will not need a new board unless he doesn’t have a long board yet. If he has his head straight I’d definitely recommend SB though. There’s only been a few other places I have ever been that I would rather live (all in Hawaii).
There’s only been a few other places I have ever been that I would rather live
I’ll agree to that.
To me the water feels cooler year around - more so than SD. Being from SD but living in the SF area I know what the water feels like and I think a San Diegan wouldn’t be that comfortable trunking it in SB. In some places like the ranch the water is very cold like up in SF. Here are the temps:
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/spac.html
I think last summer and up until Oct it was like 72 in the water at SanO and Doheny.
Study is the point of going to college. Choose a place that doesn’t have any surf as a distraction. Work on getting the necessary degree or degrees that will provide him a satisfying career and give him an income that’ll let him be able to pay the rent or a mortgage in 10 years. Choose a school that has a good program for spending a full year abroad. He can surf when he goes home to visit.
I can’t believe I just read a post advocating that we make our kids stop surfing and join the rat race!
Life is about balance. Best to start learning at a young age how to balance study/work and investment in one’s future with things that bring us pleasure right here and now. UCSB is a great place to figure all that out.
I just don’t think someone could just surf part time–don’t ignore it --surf it-if you chose to miss it you will lose it-$ can help-but the feeling does it! Get educated and have fun, because what options do we have? In the end you best have had the best experience!!
LIFE!