Located on the north end of Manhattan Beach, just south of El Segundo sits the surf spot called El Porto.  El Porto loves the northwest swell and tends to fire best in fall and winter when the Aleutians are churning up storms in the Pacific.  If the swell hits big in LA and the South Bay, it is almost always biggest at El Porto. Further, El Porto has parking right on the beach and the meters don’t go into effect until 9am, so you can really stretch out that morning session when it is pumping.  But easy parking and great waves can often lead to huge crowds in the line up, so there is the trade off.  And fair warning: El Porto is known to have poor water quality, but that really doesn’t seem to stop anyone from paddling out. (Poor water quality in LA? No way!).

When firing, the El Porto wave tends to be a steeper face with a fast line.  Generally it is best to tackle this with a fish or shortboard. (But on days where it is under 3-4 feet, a longboard can make for a fun session as well.)  Also on the bigger days the break can be a bit farther out, so be diligent in timing your paddle out to minimize arm fatigue.  Don’t run out of gas in the drop zone, you will get pounded.  (This is generally a good game plan anywhere, but especially at El Porto.)  Best tide time at El Porto is usually mid-tide.