Look away. We dare you. Photo: Mike Moir

"It was one of the heaviest swells I've ever surfed at Wedge," said Bobby Okvist (pictured). "It was actually pretty walled, too. The closeouts were like Hawaii shorebreak. That's what I'd compare it to." Photo: Tom Cozad

"Lowers is so rippable," Caio Ibelli said. "It's the only place I can always try new stuff. The lip is not the strongest so you can boost big airs or do big carves or do both on the same wave." Sequence: Billy Watts

NC's Brett Barley almost flew back home for Arthur, but ended up battling the crowds at Lowers for the first couple days of the swell. The third day, he went elsewhere. "We scored some incredible wedges at this beachbreak, but unfortunately the wind was onshore during low tide, and then the tide got too high when the wind went offshore. There were some good ones if you were patient enough, but the backwash was next-level if you were unlucky." Photo/Video: Nick Green/Oneill.com

"Sunday night I got worked on a bunch," said Okvist (pictured). "The weirdest, heaviest closeouts I've seen in a long time. Monday morning I got one wave the entire session -- the big, blue-kinda-looking wave. That was the best wave; it had a peak and a corner." Photo: Joe Foster

Matt McCabe, finding a nook that wasn't Lowers or Wedge somewhere north of LA. Photo: Justin Mehren

Who needs J-Bay when you have a steep south swell at Lowers? Here's a thigh-burner by Jake Davis.

"The medium-sized ones, the 12-footers, were actually worse and more closed-out than the big ones or the inside ones," Okvist said. Here's Max Russell, wishing he'd waited for a set. (And hoping there's not one behind it.) Photo: Peter Brouillet

"Hey, uh, shouldn't you be at J-Bay?" Photo: Jack McDaniel

"Kelly just showed up at Lowers, got in and got out, just like that," Griffin Colapinto said. "He was on every good wave that came in." Photo: Jack McDaniel

"Dan Hughes (pictured) was definitely charging," Okvist said. "He can actually get into waves so early; he catches waves easier than anyone. And he was getting the best rides out there, made almost every drop." Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg/Driftwood Foto

"Look, it's two free surfboards!" The Wedge'll do that to ya. Photo: Tom Cozad

Granger Larsen just got back from Ballito -- and into classic Lowers. "My first session was so fun," he said. "I stayed down there for like seven hours. Marathon session, super sunburnt. That swell direction was as good as it gets." Photo: Billy Watts; Video: Taylor Ivison

Chad Wensel caught mid-motion north of LA. Photo: Chris DeLorenzo

Tyler Gunter is 14 years old and was one of the standouts of the swell at Wedge on his 5'5" stepup. "It's a really unique wave and it's right in my backyard," he explained. "I wanted to see if I could handle it. I like bigger waves and the feeling of the drop." Photo: Tom Cozad

"I surfed Lowers three days in a row, it was so good," said Griffin Colapinto. "The sets were a bit too big on the biggest day, but if you picked off a medium one, it was so fun. And when it was low tide, it was pretty spread out." Sequence: Billy Watts

It's no secret that Santa Cruz actually really likes south swells, but this last one was accompanied by nagging fog and onshores at many places. Here's a pretty fine moment at the Lane, though. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

"Stephan Figueiredo (pictured) got the best barrel I saw on the swell," Okvist said. "It was one of the few medium/inside ones that didn't close out. He got lucky; anyone could've been on that wave. You can't tell how they're gonna be until you get up on the sider." (Note to non-Wedge surfers: "sider" is the side wave that slingshots one into the peak.) Photo: Luke Forgay

Matt McCabe, not wanting to deal with death-defying mutants at the Wedge or crowded perfection at Lowers opted for this ramp somewhere north of Orange County. Photo: Robb Wilson

Lakey Peterson has been surfing Lowers since she was a wee NSSA grom, and it shows. Being from Santa Barbara doesn't hurt one's style, either. Photo: Billy Watts / Video: Taylor Ivison

Ever wondered what was on the other side of the jetty? Photo: Mike Moir

Nick Rosza pops one off a few days after the Fourth of July. Video: Chris Papaleo/Saltybeards.com

"The swell angle was good but the sand was weird," Okvist said. "There was a weird berm and it filled up into a big pool; the sand's really straight. There's usually that moon-shaped sandbar by Cylinders, but on the first few days of the swell, it was a straight beach." Photo: Tom Cozad

Malibu is many things to many, many people. Thelen McKinna Warrell here sees left ramps all over the place where most people see only super-crowded right pointbreaks. Photo: Trevor Pikhart