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Ever see the movie Harold and Maude? At the end, when Harold drives his hearse off the cliff, that's the north end of Linda Mar. Cool little factoid.
Linda Mar is a mile-long stretch of beach between the north point and Pedro Point. Because this place is somewhat protected from swell and wind, it is a mostly beginner to intermediate wave that has become staggeringly popular with the gentry.
Pedro Point has had a thriving surf scene since the '40s, but things have changed since the balsa days. There was a time when the only surfers in the parking lot at Linda Mar were a couple of guys in cut-off Levis with their boards strapped the wrong way to the roof of a GTO or a Camaro, or going further back, to the roof of a Woody. These days, the parking lot at Linda Mar seems to be full of SUVs and people with surfboards. Many of those people are women. Linda Mar has its epic days, but for the most part, the surf ranges from poor to so-so, and the water is crowded with beginners and intermediate surfers. "It's the poor man's Cowell's," as one local surfer described it.
Linda Mar has a reputation for being gray and gloomy, but even in the thick of the region's summer fog season, there's often an inexplicable donut of sunshine beating down on the place. In the fall and winter and into the spring, it can be a very pretty place: green hills, offshore winds, blue water, nice surf. Linda Mar is at the end of a big valley that funnels south and southwest winds into offshores, and the surf can be cranking there during the winter, when the rest of the coast is blown out. The same condition can exist in the summer, when that valley will turn the onshore fog winds into offshores. Linda Mar can be sunny and nice when Ocean Beach is like Moscow in winter.
From north to south, the first spot at Linda Mar is called Round House. Next is Wander Inn, named for a bar that thrived in the '60s and introduced a lot of young surfers to the evils of drink. South of Wander Inn, there is a parking lot and showers and some of the funkiest toilets in California. This area is called State Park or the Pump House. South of that is the best-looking Taco Bell you'll ever find, then The Creek, where a small, possibly toxic creek comes out to sea. At the south end of Linda Mar, The Boatdocks are lefts that break along the point in front of Dick Keating's house.
-- Ben Marcus
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High and incoming
W, NW, N
small to double overhead
S or E (good place to go when the south winds blow)
6
sand
beginner to board to advanced
surfboard and wetsuit and best pick-up line
fall, winter, spring
easy parking in the lot
crowded sometimes, but mostly beginner to intermediate surfers
pleasant, mostly
4
8 in front of the creek, 5 over the rest of the beach.
crummy weather, boredom, poundings possible on big days.
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The fast food place just south of the parking lot at Linda Mar used to be an A and W and it was probably a few other things before its current incarnation as a Taco Bell. If you're hungry after a few hours in the water along here, this is a scenic place to get a bite. Kerry's Coffee Shop and the coffee bar and deli next to the NorCal Shop are local food hangouts. La Playa Mexican food (650-738-2247) next to NorCal is also good.
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Most likely you'll be passing by Pacifica between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, but if you like the place, you have a choice between staying along Pacifica or at Rockaway Beach.
The Sea View Motor Lodge is located about a mile north of Rockaway Beach on Francisco Boulevard. The famous Pacifica Pier is a short two-block stroll from the Motor Lodge. After visiting the pier, continue your walk south down Sharp Park Beach to the Mori Point Headlands, where you can enjoy views of the golf course, beaches to the north and the Marin Headlands more than 30 miles away. For reservations, call 650- 359-9494.
The Marine View Motel is located just north of the Sea View Motor Lodge. This hotel offers weekly and monthly rates and is usually occupied by visitors with extended stays. Even though there are often no vacancies for overnight stays, it is always worth a try in the event of an opening. For reservations, call 650-355-2543.
The Days Inn at Rockaway Beach is only half of a block from the beach. It currently has 31 rooms and will be completing construction of 12 more rooms by the spring of 1999. Some of its rooms have views of the Pacifica Ocean, Rockaway Beach and Quarry Cove. For reservations, call 650-359-7700.
The Seabreeze Motel at Rockaway Beach has only 20 rooms and no phones, but has ocean views. There is complimentary coffee and tea in the mornings with its famous sugar cookies. For reservations, call 650-359-3903.
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Go bowling at the Sea Bowl up Rockaway. Go fishing for leopard shark and striper and salmon off the Sharp Park Pier. Hang in the Linda Mar parking lot and try to chat up females.
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NorCal Surf Shop is in the little mall just past the parking lot. Co-owner Shawn Rhodes is a Maverick's guy and a longtime Pacifica surfer. Be nice to him and maybe he'll fill you in. NorCal Surf Shop: 5460 Cabrillo Hwy, Pacifica, 650-738-9283.
Sonlight Surf Shop is at 575 Crespi Dr., Pacifica, 650-359-0353.
The recently opened Log Shop caters to longboarders. It's on Palmetto Ave off Highway 1 at the north end of town. Phone is 650-738-5664.
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