| Windansea Beach | |
|---|---|
| Location | San Diego County, California |
| Nearest city | La Jolla |
Windansea Beach is stretch of coastline located in La Jolla, a community of San Diego, California. The neighborhood adjacent to the beach is named Windansea after the beach. It is named after an oceanfront hotel that burned down in the late 1940s. Geographically, it is defined by the beachfront extending north of Palomar Avenue and south of Westbourne Street.
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The main peak at Windansea is a reef break. During the winter months, Windansea can have six-to-eight foot surf. Other breaks in the vicinity of Windansea include Middles, Turtles, and Simmons, named after Bob Simmons (who died at that break in 1954), and Big Rock.
A palm-covered shack was originally constructed in 1946 by Woody Ekstrom, Fred Kenyon and Don Okey. "The Surf Shack at Windansea Beach" was designated as an historical landmark by the San Diego Historical Resources Board on May 27, 1998.[1]
The parking lot offers just a few spaces and there are no drinking fountains, showers or public restrooms.
Windansea has served as home break to Pat Curren, Mike Diffenderfer, Chris O'Rourke, Joey Cabell, Mickey Munoz and Butch Van Artsdalen. Steve Pezman, former publisher of Surfer magazine and current publisher of The Surfer's Journal, called Windansea locals in the early 1960s "the heaviest surf crew ever."
The Windansea Surf Club featured was founded by Chuck Hasley in 1962, and included members such as The Endless Summer star and first Vice President Mike Hynson, Skip Frye, Joey Cabell, Del Cannon, Mike Purpus and Rusty Miller, Andy Tyler, Tom Ortner, Brew Briggs, Chris O'Rourke, Richard Kenvin, Miko Fleming, Debbie Beacham, Peter King, Saxon Boucher, Karl Engstrom, Randy Lind, "Big Steve" Jones, Ian Rotgans, "Big George" Felactu & Longboard Larry.
In 1963, Michael Dormer and Lee Teacher built a six foot, 400 pound version of their Hot Curl cartoon character out of cement, iron, a mop, a light bulb, and a beer can. The statue appeared on the rocks over Windansea beach in La Jolla, holding a beer in one hand while gazing out over the ocean in search of the perfect wave.[2] In 1964 Hot Curl was the inspiration for a string of "Beach Party" movies, including "Muscle Beach Party" starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Buddy Hackett, and Don Rickles.[3]
The title article in Tom Wolfe's book of essays, The Pump House Gang, is about a group of surfers from Windansea Beach who "attended the Watts riots as if it were the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena." [4]
| To the North: Marine Street Beach |
California State Beaches | To the South La Jolla Strand Park |