While most people were getting water and supplies sorted to be prepared for the hurricane storm, surfers were waxing their boards and buzzing with excitement about what the tropical swell would bring to the beach.
Conquering such a fickle swell can be like solving a complex puzzle, requiring charts and forecasts as the changing storm approaches to know the best spots, reading winds and tides that could make or break a session and having a wave-riding skill experienced enough to tackle the powerful hurricane energy.
And, it takes a bit of luck to score just the right window, at just the right time, to make it all worth it.
Hurricane Hilary started showing its energy as early as Saturday night in the ocean, with a few solid set waves giving a taste of what was to come and a stunning sunset to add to the dramatic scene from the sea.
By Sunday, the energy was full force at some Southern California surf spots and for a few hours in the morning, before the heavy downpours, the wind whipped offshore and groomed the waves perfectly, conditions typical of fall when the Santa Ana winds hit.
Some areas in northern Orange County were seeing solid overhead sets. Beaches shut down by the state were still packed, with determined surfers finding ways to breach the closures. Even Long Beach, known for its flat, lake-like conditions, got a few novelty waves.
Other places, including the South Bay, got totally skunked due to the steep angle of the swell.
While it was no Hurricane Marie – a 2014 hurricane swell that is still talked about nearly a decade later as the pinnacle of dreamy, big-wave conditions, Hilary had her moments.
And a handful of dedicated surf photographers braved the rains, winds and elements, capturing some pretty epic shots as the hurricane roared into Southern California.
Newport Beach
While the Wedge is usually the summer-time hot spot, this swell was a bit too steep for just north of the Newport Beach Harbor entrance, though there were a few big set waves that rolled through.
It was further up the Newport Beach coast where the real action was, with a crowd showing up early morning south of the Newport Pier to see if it was going to break anything like it did when Hurricane Marie brought bombing barrels to the area.
The front of the storm brought big waves starting Saturday night, with a sunset brightening the sky as a picture-perfect backdrop.
“It was insane,” said photographer Tom Cozad, who has shot the coastal town’s surf scene for nearly three decades.
The morning started off slow, but by 9:30 a.m., the wind turned offshore and the swell picked up.
“It was nothing like Marie. It wasn’t even one of the biggest hurricane swells,” Cozad said. But what made this storm special was a hurricane swell that combined with offshore winds, a surfer’s dream that grooms the wave’s shape just perfectly.
“It was the best conditions you could have for a hurricane swell,” Cozad said.
Waves were mostly 6- to 8-feet, with some overhead sets, he said. Adding to the excitement were the people who came down to gawk in awe.
“The crowd was monstrous,” he said. “There were a lot of people out there who who didn’t even surf. Everyone wants to see the big waves.”
He shot at that surf spot for about five hours in the rain, he said. “Not once was I able to put down my umbrella. It just kept dumping, it just would not stop.”
Huntington Beach
Photographer Michael Latham woke up at 9 a.m. after getting home just three hours earlier from his night job as a hospital respiratory therapist.
“I saw it was howling offshore and it wasn’t raining,” he said.
Jumping out of bed, he headed to Newport Beach, but then he saw waves from Pacific Coast Highway at the Huntington Beach Pier. He didn’t need to go anywhere else, it was “absolutely amazing.”
Then, the rain hit and it started pouring. Even though he was under the pier, Latham said he had to shoot one handed, his other hand clutching his umbrella.
“A lot of photos are totally grainy and textured because it’s just downpour,” he said. “I got a couple cool shots just to document the hurricane.”
Dana Point/Doheny
The state beaches might have been closed, but surfers found a way to paddle out at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point as the swell brought big waves to the stretch of beach.
While Doheny is a beginner’s playground most days, it’s one of the only spots that can hold a big south swell when everything else is closed out.
So the crowds showed up in force.
Local surfer David Olive got video of big set waves rolling in, the crowds scrambling to either make it over or paddle into the waves, trying to weave around the big crowds.
“It wasn’t as big as I thought it was going to be,” OIive said, “but it was pumping.”
Seal Beach/Long Beach
Photographer Tom Dumont showed up to north Seal Beach, just south of Long Beach’s border, to find a big crowd of surfers gathered between the two rock jetties.
“There was so many people out,” he said. “It was exciting … it looked fun and big and powerful and there were so many people out.”
When the rain started dumping, Dumont said he was ready to call it quits but a friend called to say waves were showing up in Long Beach – a novelty surf break that only fires at just the right swell angle, usually during a hurricane.
“It was smaller, but the conditions were glassy. It was super unusual,” Dumont said. “Surfing Long Beach on a hurricane wave is part of the novelty of it, I suppose. People were having fun out there.”
South Bay
South Bay Boardriders Club’s Derek Levy explains why the South Bay got skunked.
“Often times, when it’s that close to Baja, it’s so tight the swell is southeast and we’re west-facing and it misses us,” he said, noting waves were in the 1- to 2-foot range, though clean due to the offshore wind.
“It was clean and glassy,” he said, “and very small.”
