Huntingdon Beach



What surfing pages would be complete without Huntington Beach? Say what you like about the place but the surf is consistent.  There are always good riders in the water usually very young and up-and-coming. The irony was not lost on me when I saw the statue of Duke Kahanamoku surrounded by rails and racks of cheap surf clothing . There is a certain ugly commercialism surrounding “Surf City”. If you scrape all that away and just get down to the shoreline and out in the water, it is a great place to be.  On my recent visit, there was a surf contest sponsored, to its credit by one of the big corner shops next to the pier. These events happen on one side of the pier while normal surfing continues on the other side. It is a good mix and I didn’t know which way to point my camera. It was like a tennis match between the two.






USA Team Rider Bella Kenworthy

Contest Competitors


My wife and I went back the next day to do some more but we were confronted by lots of satellite dish TV trucks in the car park and bad news. After we left at dusk the previous evening a coyote had picked off a child on the beach and badly mauled the kid . The animal was isolated by the cops and shot dead. This spooked my wife and we left early. My return in October was greeted with good surf again. I wanted a different approach this time so spent most of my time shooting down off the pier for a different angle on the waves below. 

















Crumple Car 2 H.B. Model T Tour Bus


I’m quite pleased with the results it is close up and personal. Standing on the pier with my camera, bound around my wrist and hanging on for dear life, next to the fisherman with their flying casting hooks, the smell of bait, which they cut up on the conveniently placed metal trays, bolted all along the handrail and the holidaymakers with ice creams and milkshakes. It certainly made for a different atmosphere. Love it or Loath it HB is here to stay, Quintessential Californian.  


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