Tag: surf

Storm clouds, surf and light in Imperial Beach!

The views this morning from the Imperial Beach Pier were dramatic!

Stormy weather brought a procession of very dark clouds, through which bright sunshine penetrated. The waves were pretty big, too, as you can see from these photographs!

Yes, some surfers were out. I saw a KEEP OUT OF WATER sign posted on the beach by the County of San Diego. For their sake, I hope those surfers don’t become sick from the rain’s runoff and all that raw sewage coming from the Tijuana River.

Anyway, the storm clouds, light and breaking surf resulted in great photos!

When I arrived on the Imperial Beach Pier, I saw a rainbow!

A few minutes after I left the pier, a big cell arrived and there was a long-lasting downpour. My final photo was taken from the shelter of a bus stop on Seacoast Drive.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Surfing celebrated at Oceanside Museum of Art!

A love of surfing and its lifestyle deeply influences Southern California culture. That love is often expressed in exuberant, very colorful surf art.

Surf Art: Exploring California’s Coastal Culture is an eye-popping exhibition that can now be experienced at the Oceanside Museum of Art. Works by dozens of local artists have been assembled in partnership with Oceanside’s California Surf Museum.

I paid a visit yesterday and look what I found. Stunning pieces in a variety of media created by actual surfers!

I saw bold colors inspired by curling water, warm sand and brilliant sunsets. Powerful images that convey the essence of surfing–a feeling of wild freedom, spirituality or rebellion. Images that can be splashy or surreal, often like psychedelic or pop art.

Turn a corner in the gallery and you’re dazzled once again! Check out the surfboards that have become mind-blowing works of art!

This has got to be one of my favorite exhibitions ever at the Oceanside Museum of Art. The cool thing is, once you finish here you can walk several city blocks over to the California Surf Museum and see even more surf art in an extraordinary dual exhibition!

The surf art exhibition at both museums will continue through February 1, 2026.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

The golden age of surf culture in Oceanside!

Are you old enough to remember the golden age of surf culture? You know–those years when the radio was filled with pop music by The Ventures, Jan and Dean, and The Beach Boys. Back when surfing movies were on the marquee of your local theater, and Gidget was a popular show on television.

If you love nostalgia, the California Surf Museum has a really great exhibit that might tickle your fancy. It might also bring back memories. Star, Cars and Guitars – The Birth of the Modern Surf Era: 1958 to 1965 features photographs, posters, rare artifacts and memorabilia from those days when the surfing subculture sprang forth and quickly took center stage in the popular culture.

I visited the California Surf Museum last Saturday and enjoyed looking at the extensive display.

This era came right before I was born, but in my youth echoes of it still lingered on the radio and on television. I remember I had the incredible Endless Summer album by The Beach Boys which I loved to hear on my scratchy record player. Yes, that was a long time ago!

(How many San Diego area locations are mentioned in The Beach Boys hit song Surfin’ U.S.A.? Well, let’s see: Del Mar, Trestles, Swami’s, San Onofre, and La Jolla!)

The museum exhibit covers those golden days when surfing’s popularity exploded across California, the U.S.A. and the world, including the era’s trailblazers and athletes, surfboards, fashion, cars, popular surf spots and early surfing competitions.

Honestly, all of the exhibits in this one-of-a-kind museum are cool. If you live in Southern California and you’re at all into surfing or the lifestyle, and you haven’t visited the California Surf Museum, you’re really missing out!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Super Girl surfers compete in Oceanside!

A fantastic event is taking place all this weekend by the Oceanside Pier. It’s the annual Super Girl Surf Pro!

I arrived late in the morning to enjoy what is essentially an enormous festival. The theme is female empowerment, and there’s plenty of inspiration and activities for everybody. There are free concerts, fitness camps, a volleyball competition, and, of course, lots of great food!

The main attraction is the surfing competition. The action continues throughout each day, and can be observed from the beach or pier. Amateur and professional female athletes conquer the waves with mind-blowing skill. Many of the world’s top surfers are participating!

Enjoy this collection of photos.

The longboard surfers made the best subjects for my modest camera–they were nearest the pier and illuminated perfectly in the Oceanside sunshine!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Funny sayings on the Imperial Beach Pier!

HAPPINESS COMES IN WAVES

Walk along the Imperial Beach Pier and you’ll find humorous signs at intervals on either railing. Many of the signs, placed by the Port of San Diego and City of Imperial Beach, feature witty sayings and puns that relate to activities on and under the pier.

I asked a friendly lady at the Tin Fish restaurant at the end of the pier when these signs debuted. She told me five or six months ago.

I photographed many of the clever sayings, but not all. You’ll have to wander down the pier to see them all yourself!

EAT. SLEEP. BEACH. REPEAT.

IB FISHIN’

SEA-HABILITATED

DAILY DOSE OF VITAMIN SEA

WE MERMAID FOR EACH OTHER

IB LOUNGIN’

CAST YOUR CARES AWAY

HOOKED ON FISHING

CATCH A WAVE

WAVES FOR DAYS

SEAS THE DAY

BEACH HAIR, DON’T CARE

A REEL EXPERT CAN TACKLE ANYTHING

ENDLESS SUMMER

SURF BEACHES, NOT BROWSERS

HANGING WITH MY GULL FRIENDS

ENJOY LIFE ONE WAVE AT A TIME

RELAX AND STAY AWHILE

SALTY SOUL

EAT. SLEEP. FISH. REPEAT.

HANG TEN, DUDE.

BEACH VIBES EVERY DAY

SAND ON, STRESS OFF

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Stones, water and light at Torrey Pines.

Our recent winter storms in San Diego thrust small stones high up onto the beach in places. At Torrey Pines State Beach, smooth stones covered much of the pedestrian pathway that runs down to and under the bridge near the north parking lot.

The stones, combined with a high tide and descending sun, made for some silvery photographs this afternoon! Bands of reflected light approached the shore with every crashing wave. Newly wetted stones gleamed like magic.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Big crashing waves at Crystal Pier!

Very high surf today, crashing into Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. I wasn’t surprised that the end of the pier was closed.

And I wasn’t surprised that surfers were out this sunny Saturday in droves!

In the distance, near the end of the pier, the largest, most ominous waves formed. And ambitious surfers waited…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Surfing big waves in Imperial Beach!

The waves were larger than usual off San Diego’s beaches today. I believe it had something to do with the hurricane in Mexico.

This morning I headed down to the Imperial Beach Pier to see what I might see.

I discovered a few surfers out attempting to conquer the curling, crashing breakers!

These surfing action photos were taken from the IB Pier…

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Oil painted beauty and a La Jolla walk.

Nature’s beauty between La Jolla Cove and Children’s Pool is stunning. Even on a gray Autumn day.

I walked along the ocean in La Jolla this morning and took photographs of rugged rocks, crashing waves, sea birds, and people quietly gazing toward the horizon.

Once in a great while I will experiment with my images and apply “artistic” filters using my graphics editor. I thought I’d try using the GIMP oilify filter for this batch of photographs.

Here they are…

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Photographs from 2022 Super Girl Pro!

This weekend the 2022 Super Girl Pro event was held next to the Oceanside Pier. A huge crowd of spectators turned out to watch the world’s top women surfers in action.

On Saturday I walked around to check out the many sights. I strolled about the large festival village, walked out onto the pier, paused to listen to a concert, and then headed to the beach.

The theme of Super Girl Pro is female empowerment, and inspiration could be found at every turn. I saw artists, Marines, Air Force pilots, gamers, many striving for health and fitness…

When the surfing superstars came in to the beach after a heat out in the ocean, girls ran to them excitedly to score autographs.

Enjoy these photos…

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!