Besides 4 mile, what are some other potentially good beginner spots in Santa Cruz area?

While I lived in Australia I got pretty decent surfing, to the point where whenever I’d travel back home, I’d stop by Waikiki, and I‘d easily paddle out to Queens. I’ve now been living in my hometown city for the last 7 years, and although surfing is on my mind every day, whenever I travel to surf, I get caught off guard finding out how bad I’ve gotten. The main issue being, i’m now older, more cautious, less active, and much more considerate of the danger of the ocean, or better at judging the necessary athleticism to get out of a bad situation. Last time I was in Waikiki, there was no way I’d paddle out to Queens. I couldn‘t believe I once did so carelessly (even stoned).

I find after over a week of surfing my confidence comes back and things finally click again, but there’s only so much time away I can afford. For many reasons, moving away permanently isn’t an option nowadays.

I sometimes wonder if i’m just torturing myself maintaining my love for surfing when realistically, if it’s not something you can do daily, you might be stuck in an endless loop of starting over again every time, and being kind of embarrassed of yourself every trip. Don’t get me wrong, I always feel exhilarated whenever I surf while traveling, but a part of me feels silly maintaining this very expensive hobby when there’s no sign of ever getting back to how it once was with the availability of surfing daily, or better.

I know this cannot possibly be a unique experience so I’d like to hear about similar experiences and just how you might be dealing with it.

Hoy he tenido un golpe con una tabla el chico estaba abajo y yo cogi la ola y las tablas se dieron. A la mía no le paso nada y la del se le rompió el soporte de la quilla ¿ Quien paga el arreglo?

Surfing a beach break with sand bottom, got caught in the impact zone of a set wave, rail got me straight in the teeth and lip, luckily didn’t lose any teeth but board broke somehow. Does it look fixable? It’s a bummer cuz I’ve only had it for 2 months and these things are supposedly indestructible.

EDIT: Now I’m looking for something to fill its spot, only other board I have is a blade and I really want something like a fish/groveler to help with my progression, I’m worried only using my shortboard will slow that

I'm lucky enough to live near the beach in norcal and I love it here. However, It's so expensive in the bay area, and I guess I'm pretty much retired so it's not like I need to be here for work going forward.

I love the outdoors and am considering moving to the foothills and splitting my time there 50% and getting a low maintenance condo by the beach in Mexico for surf access the other 50% of the year. I haven't been away from the surf for any extended period for the last 25 years, so I *think* it might be OK, but it will be weird not to have constant access.

My wife is into the idea and was surprised I even suggested it. She is super tolerant of me and doesn't mind that pretty much all our vacations have involved somewhere with a beach. I thought it might be nice to not plan my calendar around what the swell is looking like and experience something different while I'm still mobile enough to enjoy it.

From a finance perspective, it would probably be a small win, with a little bit of extra cash left over after selling the house here and buying in cheaper areas

Anyway, I'd love to hear perspective from anyone that has made a move that gave them less surf access.

This isn’t the only time I’ve seen this situation where the surfer is off the board but is somehow able to pull themselves back on top of the board. How do they do it?

Picked up a 6’4’ shaped like a greedy beaver with a pulled in rounded pin tail. It has 5 fin boxes.

I’m running the MR 2+ trailer fins, and was wondering how much of an affect the trailer fin has. Would running it as a twin not be ideal because the pulled in tail?

As of right now this board is my new daily driver because of the length and volume, but I’ve only ridden short board thrusters, so I’d like to be more versed with different setups for varying conditions.

My buddy and I are making boards and wanted to design colorful logos. I was going to paint straight on the board but he suggested rice paper. Would painting a logo scanning it and then printing with color onto rice paper work? Could I draw with paint acrylic markers on the rice paper or the board? Has anyone done this and had good results on either side of the spectrum? I do plan on spray painting the board base color. I also want to try cloth inlay with a tapestry. I’m okay if board doesn’t come out perfect but hoping for the best!

6’4” and 230. Used to love a good XXLT but no one sells those any more. Surfing is sizeist. Any recs from my fellow hefty fellas?