One of the Natural Wonders of Surf City is West Cliff Drive. Just walk, jog, skate, bike or ride along it at the right time, and you'll see what I mean. Wall to wall surf breaks grace the short stretch of road that divides the Pacific Ocean from the Rich Peoples' Homes. This column is a photo essay of a west side surf break, one morning in late January, 2003. I had just gotten out of the water at Gazebos, following a stellar session there at dawn. I drove back to town and along West Cliff Drive, enjoying the morning, the waves, the sights.

Traditionally, the city of Santa Cruz has been divided into two parts for surfing purposes: east side and west side. Roughly speaking these territories correspond to two ocean hugging roads, East Cliff Drive and West Cliff Drive. In the past there were rivalries between the surfers from these two parts of town. Mostly though, that's a thing of the past. However, my bud Doctor J likes to say "Friends don't let friends surf the east side." He's kidding of course.... Aren't you kidding J? And being a west side surfer myself, I do have an Arrow T shirt that proudly proclaims that fact.

Many days a casual observer would never guess at the rich surf possibilities along West Cliff Drive. It doesn't fire consistently, so don't be planning a vacation here just to "steal" the locals' waves. And if you do, don't be telling them the DogMan said it was OK.

But in the right conditions, even Ray Charles would be able to tell the waves are something special in this part of town. What are the right conditions? Well I better stop short of giving away the recipe. On the day I took these pix the "secret sauce" was in full bloom, with happy surfers riding wave after wave at each and every spot.

Speaking of spots, there's so many potential breaks along West Cliff that it's hard to count them all. You can walk along the promenade hanging over the ocean, and proceed from peak to peak. Not all will break on the same swell, same conditions, but the locals have them all wired. We can basically check the indicators, and head to a choice wave within minutes. Even if we are wrong in our assessment, it's not far at all to a break that is going off.

You'll notice these pix are lacking in clarity and color. Since the coast runs east/west in town, and the sun is low in the southern sky in winter, you have to shoot directly into the sun to capture the action. It takes a clever lens snapper to make it work, apparently more clever than DogMan! In addition this particular morning hosted a diffuse mist on the ocean, making the lighting even more challenging. The pix that look black and white are just as they entered my lens and tickled my CCD's. I didn't have to desaturate them a bit to get that lack-o'-color look. And no, I'm not going for some weird style with the hazy indistinct and sillouette-laden images.

I did work over time on the overview shot looking down the coast toward the lighthouse to get some color and contrast into the pic. It was tough, but was it worth it? You tell me!

CU Out There,

DogMan