Ever since The Beach Boys’ happy-go-lucky tunes ingrained the laid-back, beach-loving spirit of California into Americans’ collective consciousness, surfing has been a hallmark of the Golden State’s cultural myth. Many still picture the archetypal California scene as a sun-kissed person biking out to the ocean to catch some waves under impeccable weather.
Any Californian can attest that life, even on the South Coast, isn’t quite that idyllic every moment in every locale, but this surfing reverie comes closest to reality in, of all places, a shabby student enclave.
“Literally, 30 seconds and you’re in the water,” said Byron Roos-Collins, director of the Excursion Club at UCSB, an extremely popular local outdoor adventure organization. “This kind of access to waves for an entire community is pretty unparalleled for most of California.”