David
02-13-2005, 08:09 PM
Did any of you ever surf Cortez Bank?
The world's best surfers called it "Surfers' Paradise," but the rest of the surfing world would probably call it hell. It's an area located about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. At the sea floor is a seamount, or underwater mountain, which is about 17 miles in length. Some peaks on this seamount are so high that their tops lie just 3 or 4 feet beneath the ocean surface.
It's very windy out there, which whips up big waves -- hollow, barreling waves. The seamount makes the waves curl & break . . . 100 miles out to sea! In the fall & winter, the waves can be anywhere from 15 feet to 70 feet high.
The current is too powerful to paddle out to catch the wave; you have to be jetskied into the swell. All but the most expert surfers are strongly discouraged from attempting to surf Cortez Bank. You're 100 miles out at sea, so if you wipe out, it could easily be your funeral.
I have fished the Bank during the summer, when waves are much smaller. Fishing is renowned in the area; you can sign aboard charter fishing boats out of San Diego Port.
http://motosurf.com/images/cortez_bank/IMG_0158.jpg
http://motosurf.com/images/cortez_bank/IMG_0170.jpg
http://motosurf.com/images/cortez_bank/IMG_0262.jpg
The world's best surfers called it "Surfers' Paradise," but the rest of the surfing world would probably call it hell. It's an area located about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. At the sea floor is a seamount, or underwater mountain, which is about 17 miles in length. Some peaks on this seamount are so high that their tops lie just 3 or 4 feet beneath the ocean surface.
It's very windy out there, which whips up big waves -- hollow, barreling waves. The seamount makes the waves curl & break . . . 100 miles out to sea! In the fall & winter, the waves can be anywhere from 15 feet to 70 feet high.
The current is too powerful to paddle out to catch the wave; you have to be jetskied into the swell. All but the most expert surfers are strongly discouraged from attempting to surf Cortez Bank. You're 100 miles out at sea, so if you wipe out, it could easily be your funeral.
I have fished the Bank during the summer, when waves are much smaller. Fishing is renowned in the area; you can sign aboard charter fishing boats out of San Diego Port.
http://motosurf.com/images/cortez_bank/IMG_0158.jpg
http://motosurf.com/images/cortez_bank/IMG_0170.jpg
http://motosurf.com/images/cortez_bank/IMG_0262.jpg