By Nobody , 02-01-2004

It isn't worth it! - Here is a quick word on Vandenberg, it isn't worth it. It cost me a board and a $300 fine! That was on a Thursday afternoon. They have helecoptors flying all around the base. If anyone has surfed Jalama regularly you have probably seen them. They call the base cops as soon as they see anything suspicious (like guys surfing with no cars parked in the right parking areas). My friend Jeff even works on the base and tried to score a couple good peaks one afternoon and he was full on arrested. The guy had his car impounded! It cost him a ton to get his car back, and he almost lost his job. I'm waiting to see if I get audited this next tax year. It's not worth it.

By anonymous , 05-12-2003

Pt. Sal - Last time I was there, that was 14 years ago, I remember driving a small dirt road all the way to the top of the hill and partially down toward the ocean. It couldn't have been more than a 30 min hike down the hill. But the road may have washed out...any one know if Pt sal gets good??

By die trying , 03-12-2003

government shacks - Is there a better way to surf pt sal than parking at the gate and hiking the 7 miles over the hill? And, once you get down the "hill" where is the break?

By anonymous , 17-11-2003

g - NW swell work at boathouse or purisima? Went on a south it was OK.

By TR , 20-10-2003

Walking from Jalama - I've walked north from Jalama Creek, for maybe what seemed like 40 mins. lots of little points and such. Seemed like there could be surf there but it was summer, and kind of small, so nothing was going on. Anyways I didn't see a soul and the small cliffs sort of blocked view down on me. How far is the boathouse??

By anonymous , 15-10-2003

no title - first Dude you have provided a wealth of knowledge to people, so thanks. I posted the "difficult access" comments a few months back and have never gotten around to posting again. After a few months of quite a few expeditions on base here are my findings...

At the very north end of base there are series of fun reefs south of pt sal all the way to minuteman beach. These generally need a lot of swell to work. if you have a military id this is a pretty doable area to go to and ive never seen surfclub memebers here to bug you about not having the surf pass. walking in from the north is also doable but is an INCREDIBLY long walk..... It should be noted that although it is mostly "doable" it is still illegal. Unlike the rest of california rules which states that you can basically walk below the high tide line because its public, this DOES NOT apply to military land. I know this because i have been arrested on a different base (with equally good surf) walking in - i have since looked it up and the mean high tide line rule does not apply for bases...as for boating into this region this is probably doable but this is a REALLy long boat trip from gaviota and is probably most doable from avila but then you'll be fighting the wind.
Going south there are a number of good but slightly fickle reefs between purismo point proper and wall beach. this area doesn't need a lot of swell to get going (although obviously flat won't work) and is usually quite a bit bigger than it looks. If you are on the base legally but dont have a surf club pass than you can get by surfing here in the weekdays but usually not on the weekends (ive been told by members to get out of the water twice). The cliffs to park on all have signs that say surf club members with permits only. Boating in is not a very good idea as this is really close to sensitve areas and unlike regular waters, the base "owns" up to a few miles of the water off there perimeters. A good boating chart will show you these restricted zones. I wouldn't push it in this area so deep into base. Also its to far into base to walk in from either direction
South of wall beach is surf beach and any one can get in. From point arguella to surf beach i didn't find any good surf, but that doesnt mean there isn't any, but the base road is pretty high up on the cliff usually and a those are really exposed waters (to wind and swell) to try to have a boat hanging around looking for surf. Plus this is a pretty sensitive area on base too so not a good area for boats to hang around. And again this is to far to walk in. South of point arguella has some darn good breaks, namely boathouse but others too. For this area, you are generally okay to surf on the weekdays when noones around if you have a military id, but on the weekends there again will be surf club memembers so you probably will be asked to leave. I am not positive about the boating possibilities in this region due to it's proximity of the base boat house. My gut feeling after being there a bit is you probably can boat to the spots before boathouse, but you could be getting into trouble trying to go to boathouse or north. The base has a diving club as well that uses the boat house so there can be quite a bit of activity over there for a civilian boat to be pulling up to.. As for walking in the base line starts at the creek in jalama so if you tried to walk into this areas you are pretty quickly on base land. The road on base ends just south of boathouse so walking in can be pretty easy to do without being spotted but as before this is still technically illegal. Also as before it's a pretty darn long walk. If you do try it you are better off stopping and surfing before boathouse, as boathouse will likely have people who will ask you to walk your ass back to jalama. There are a few surfable spots south of boathouse though, so given the right conditions that may be a more doable trip if you are a civilian.

....Have Fun....

By dude , 15-10-2003

know before you go - ... and don't forget to check out the launch schedule before you go. If you go during a launch period you WILL be kicked out ... or worse! Go here: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp/vafbsked.htm ==or==
http://mocc.vandenberg.af.mil/launchsched.asp

By dude , 15-10-2003

Scoop or no scoop - Silly boy, we've all known that for years. it's basically "always" been that way. Apparently you haven't been on base or you'd quickly realize how isolated you are at most of the spots. Who's going to catch you when you reel in a quickie? Here's the deal: Come by boat, surf where you want. You can also walk in below high tide line and surf where you want, at least at the exteme north & south ends of the base. Just don't tell anyone that it was me who told you.

By SDSurferStuckInLA , 15-10-2003

No Dice - Heres the scoop, official word from VAFB:
No surfing anywhere on base except Wall Beach
Unless ...
You are a member of the VAFB surf club. How do I become a member? Good luck. You have to be either in the Military, a dependent, or a civillian working on VAFB. You have to go to the meetings and all that good stuff, and participate. Have fun kids.

By anonymous , 26-09-2003

Secret - Ssh don't tell anyone. Gimme a break, like anyone here has the fuel capacity to get to north of conception anyway. IF you are going to make that kind of distance, the channel islands are way better.