It has been said that surfers are selfish. Having grown up a second-generation Windansea local in La Jolla, and having both married a surfer and raised one, I can say that the oft-whispered slight isn’t true. However, when you mix entitled surf localism with obscene wealth, the result just may look like the decades-long land grab going on in Santa Barbara over 8.5 miles of beach just south of Point Conception — Hollister Ranch.
In my childhood days, localism took the form of guys beating up surfers from out of town, who were often outed by the number of fins on their board or by a comb seen peeking from their back pocket — and then spreading the message that certain surf breaks were for locals only.
At Hollister Ranch — all 22 square miles — some of these same sorts (but this lot is loaded suitcases of cash) have managed to fortress the area and keep the public off what are considered to be the best waves in Southern California for 40 years, despite the fact that state law provides the public beach access to the mean high tide line.