Funny you guys list Wadell as a premier break in Santa Cruz the same week of numerous great white sightings out there... good stuff!

Well, i'm glad someone in the mag's finally came out and just said it...LOL, but this article is by no means a invitation to come out to SC and clog up our the lineup!!! Ummm...just keep in mind, the 6 people who were attacked by Great White's, were visiting from somewhere else!

um, can I be the first to nominate huntington beach to take the #1 spot in place of Santa Cruz? It's way too sharky up here, the water's cold, and everyone's mean.

Come on, what about Ventura!

"the average guy here surfs better than a sponsored surfer in almost any other Eastern beach town." Wow, absolutely fucking retarded. Satellite Beach, along with many other towns along the coast will blow smyrna surfers out of the water.

Yeah! Have at it Santa Cruz. Whoo! Yer numero uno. Thank you. I'm sure you'll enjoy what that brings. . . You just had to put San Clemente in the top five. . .DAMN you Lowers. No no no. You don't understand. SC means Santa Cruz not here. They rock! Head NORTH young men. Chicks can stay.

All I'll say is that I have to place my reservation at exactly 9:00.000000000000001 a.m on the first day of the month, 6 months before I want to camp at San Elijo - so it's not much of a secret. Encinitas is the town about which I jones for lottery dough more than any other reason for playing the damn games. Manhattan Giant Pizza soothes this savage breast after a day/week/month of surfing between Moonlight and the San Elijo lagoon.

"AMERICA" IS NOT JUST NORTH AMERICA... BAD TITLE. THE PLACES ARE GOOD, BAW! PEACE. GBU

Malibu.All aspects of it,is still L.A..I have seen 40 year old men YELLING at 16 year old girls.And that is just the tip of the iceburg.Its good.There are lots of spots summer or winter.But not that good..I escaped. Zorg

BLANCO BASURA >>>> white trash heaven, drugs, donkeys and over crowded slopey waves. West side is a punk meth scene with kids heading nowhere. East side has the super obnoxious punks. Manreasa breaks good 40 days a year .... the only real beachy. 4 Mile ... ohhh 4 mile, we all know there names. One word ... sad, but the inside bowl is fun ! My advice ... screw um all. The fruits, the nuts and the veggy droids. Get real ! Wish I could go home ... damn marriage !!!

Don't hate us SoCal because were better than you. Hate us because we will ALWAYS BE better than you.

Hey, y'all stay up north and I'll stay down here. You get the world class winters and we get pretty fun to great summers, all good. Again, not looking to surf Mavs, just rides good waves from peak to beach and live in the best year round climate on the planet. One day, sooner than you think... surfing will no longer define you. You will not earn any money from surfing in any way. You friends nephews and sons (& daughters) will surf better than you. Hopefully you have skills that can provide for your family and if so, you will find happiness that surfing only supplements. Its all about quality of life, where ever that is...

Montauk, medium income $54,000? There is nothing but mansions and state park from there to the long island suburbs.

Encinitas will always be home for me, my family, and my 70+ board quiver (I love garage sales). We can surf a thumping beachbreak in the morning, then open the surf school when the wind comes up. Eat a huge burrito at Juanitas (Leucadia) at lunch, teach the last lesson then head to the reefs for the glass off. Yes, there's a cost... Overpriced gas, food, housing $4 for tomatoes, almost 9% sales tax, overblown home prices despite the economy falling like a frisbee in high winds. All said, it's worth it. We work hard to play harder and pre-work 4am dawn patrols are common with the truly hardcore. But the waves here are worth it. Robbie Nelson, Happy Barrels Surf Instruction www.happybarrelssurfschool.com

I'm surprised I wasn't mentioned in the OCNJ portion. My abilities at Snicklefritz Reef are unmatched. Holler.

honourable mention: Laguna Bch More famous for its arts&gays, has a long tradition of rich surfing culture, once bolstered by legendary Oak St Surf Shop w/amazing art-work, now by Thalia Surf Shop. Breaks over-shadowed by neighbour Newport, you can surf leisurely amidst some of the most awesome scenery in America. As for "Surf City", that song was written about Huntington Bch--a member of the band told me, lon g ago.

Dont forget about all of the trust-a-farians lingering about all over Santa Cruz....the derelicts up there bring Santa Cruz down a few notches. Sick waves, beautiful area, just need to sweep the dirtbags out of town. (Hey Ocean Beach, (San Diego), you guys too!)

Encinitas SUCKS. Everyone do yourselves a favor and do not come here.

2nd that Ginger Figs.. New Smyrna also really SUCKS (actually norht east Fl as a whole sucks). So everyone do yourselves a favor and go elsewhere for vacation

From Ocean Beach to Oceanside a 6 mile stretch of a wave medly menu. Thats surf city. Bird Rock kooks don't surf they drink cuz there fathers raped them.

kill devil hills ha hatty is way better

O'side blows all you wannabes away. 20 minutes to the best waves in Socal any day north or south. Stay away.

Yup, I'm still going with Ventura.

WOW, nice to see that all you surfers are such NICE inviting people. Bunch of *ickes if you ask me. Maybe your board will knock you in the heads and then you understand what surfing is really about. You all need to learn the true aloha spirit.

You got the SC right for the best surftown in the U.S. but to correct the error you need to swap San Clemente with Sant Cruz. Probably the main main mistake in the list was not including Ventura in the top 5 if not the top 2.

Montauk 8th best surf town? you gotta be kidding me... For someone who'se grown up in Montauk, and still lives here, you mite think I'd be stoked for my town to be rated as one of the ten best surf towns. But on the contrary. I know the surf sucks out here, especially in the summer, when the population spikes from 5,000 to 30,000 with tourists. All this attention does more bad than good if you ask me.. I've seen the results of it first hand. I'm no longer a fan of surfer mag. real surfers keep certain good spots under wraps. that's obviously not your policy. i hope ten thousand beginner SUPs invade your homebreak. you'll know where i'm coming from

Encinitas is the worst. Don't go there...go to all the other places people are telling you. We'll be much happier.

Ocean City rules!! Best place to grow up. Lots of memories with Larry and Becky at 7th Street Surf Shop, but I love the warm water in Palm Beach, FL know (35-76 vs. 76-90 degrees)

componet for consideration: a good theater to watch surf premieres makes a great surf town.

dont come too kill devil hills unless u want to surf all day with your boys on some desserted sand bar u happend to find along the 150mi of coast line the outer banks have to offer this place is insane shaks all day,sick sk8 scene the best fishing, warm water 8months out of the year nice layd back island vibes great place to raise a family

10 "Best" Surf Towns??? A list the includes Montauk, NJ and omits perhaps the very personification of the surf town, Santa Barbara, CA??? Are you friggin' kidding me?? A town that boasts Rincon, Sandspit, Hammonds, and a shit ton of other world class breaks, including every break at The Ranch, Tarantula's, and the Channel Islands. Add to that the surf talent that consistently comes out of SB, starting with legendary 3 time world champ Tom Curren and continuing right up to Bobby Martinez and the Coffin groms. A place that Slater and every other pro worth his salt flocks to on every sizeable swell. Add to THAT the sheer culture, setting, and history of the place.A place where Al Merrick cranks out the best, most sought after surfboards in the ENTIRE WORLD,a place that embodies the very essence of surfing culture in every way. In all the 25 years I've been reading your mag I've NEVER seen such a grievous and idiotic omission. Period. All I can say is: WOW. 2 NJ breaks and no SB?? You gu

No really Santa Cruz is better than Haleiwa? Let's name all of the world class waves in SC and then compare them with the 7 mile miracle. Let's make this fair, find one in SC that even touches a middle of the line north shore wave like Lani's.

They probably just put Santa Cruz ahead of Haleiwa because of the people who live up North Shore nowadays-the phoniest place on earth. Definitely not the best surf town around...

Yeah, the surf sucks here, sharks everywhere, angry old men/arrested adolescents, punk kids going nowhere, trustafarians, car break ins up the coast,expensive real estate, no jobs, and all the other bad stuff you get in every other surf town...only worse. Don't come here, you'll hate it. And the water is cold. Good drugs though...and

Welcome to Encinitas. Now go home.

Wow losers, Surfergal (above) was right. I can tell who the real surfers are by their comments, 4 ex...Tim Collins, Robbie Nelson (above) etc. The rest of you are miserable, punk ass, ignorant people, that must not be able to surf, or you wouldn't have so many negative things to say. Any town would suck with you people in it! THIS ISN'T AN ARGUMENT'S FOR REJECTS SITE, IT'S A SURFING SITE! I'm from the mid-west, I'm not a good surfer because I didn't get much of a chance, but I love surfing, skim-boarding, and everything that goes along with it. (Ever surfed off Michigan Lake?...talk about cold!) I'll take almost any waves and beach I can get...consider yourselves lucky. When I visit this site, I want to learn about surfing...not have to filter through a bunch of b.s. Surfer magazine has been part of surf culture for decades now, and should be commented on with a bit more class, prestige, and respect for it, and all of the real surfers of the world! ALO-HA!!!

kill devil hills, give me a break, the outer banks surfing is good, but way to over rated, it's always funky windswell for the most part and there is no income in the winter,. definitely not an epic surf town by any means, the police are nazis, the locals are crazy

articles like this are so stupid!!! who cares about ratings really on anything. who sets these standards in the magazine industry? reader polls, surfing is getting stupid with the commercial crap and spoiled sponsored brats!!! the clothes and things these magazines promote are usually made over seas, exploiting the 3rd world they love to surf and then come home and have a big pro contest for a large purse, no soul in that? the magazines should not set the standard for anything

Hey CM, why don't you get all your great surfers together and come surf in New Smyrna Beach, I will get our team together, which will include the following, Aaron Cormican, Hopper, Eric and Evan Geiselman, Jeremy Johnston, Nils Schweizer, Greg Lewis, and few other bench guys and we will blow your doors, if you rip so hard claim your turf and name, you barney..... Tupat the Ultimate Grueler....

Montauk ML's response is EVERYTHING that's wrong with the current surf generation. I've seen fights over perceived transgressions. Give me a break. It's a GREAT big ocean with lots of room for everyone. Hey ML you were a beginner SUP once too. What ever happened to peace, love and happiness?

Congratulations. Certainly an outstanding area with friendly people and great businesses. The surf speaks for itself and if you ever catch it epic the message is loud and clear. Never under estimate Kill Devil Hills. It can get that good and often times it does.

Santa Cruz number one? I like it, except now we are gonna get more valleys and tourists, whatever tho, it's chill, I'm stoked on SC being number one

Most of those kids dont even surf in Montauk in the wintertime, there in P.R. "JAH TRUSTAFARI"

Came from Cali surfer/boogie boarded nearly everything from Seal Beach and Huntington to LaJolla and Encinitas. Been in the NorthEast since 89 and truly miss the smell. Going to Outer Banks in fall and can't wait to teach my 10 year old. This 49 year old gal still surfs Lake Erie...yeah 2 footers if were lucky but damm it's a wave and yeah it's cold.......but if you are truly a surfer you will teach and share with all!!!!!!!

I thought it was Half Moon Bay, CA for the Mavericks.

Hey guys "AMERICA" is a continent and is not only the us , and surf means surf .....

San Diego California has some of the best breaks which include Swami’s and Black beach. http://www.sdsurfspots.com

Best surf town is Brawley, CA ....very uncrowded lineup. But seriously the "best" has no meaning esp. re. surfing. All socal surfers are pretentious and Norcals are rugged. Give me a break.

I was stationed in So Cal in the early 80's and the spot we held true was the hole T-street vibe. I still have my mags from those days in a bag in my basement. The board, is semi retired. I read the anger and haste, waste and pointless reasons of why and who's. It belongs to none of you. I race to the shore now and thank that I am alive to grasp the entire realm of it all surfing, people giving it the best they can to tame the untamable and walk away saying "alright" Peace All same world all the salt mixes like we all should...

America is a continent, from Ushuaia to Alaska and not just the US - Ten best surf towns in North America would be a better title

how is Santa Barbara/Ventura not on the list? it has over a half dozen solid point breaks that make you cream in your 3/2. from el cap to c-street northern so-cal rocks.

Santa Cruz sucks dont come and surf here, actually come here during the winter and surf Stockton ave and tell how much you like this town...i encourage it

IN MY 35 YEARS OF SURFING EVERY SPOT FROM RINCON TO K-38 ALL I CAN SAY IS THE SWELL OF 83' WAS THE BIGGEST KICK-ASS TIME AND I WISH I GREW UP IN MALIBU IN THE 50'S. BEST SPOT TO LIVE AND SURF SOUL STYLE.....HOSSEGOR TO SAN SEBASTIAN

surfing sucks...don't try it! well maybe in your grandma's swimming pool, but be careful it's dangerous and cold and sharks and well maybe it's best you just don't try it and get your stoke off all the pretty pictures sufermag puts up instead. peace

guys/gals. wtf mate? who gives a flying. just don't be such male chicken suckers and everywhere would be the best. personally, territorial surfers can blow off. as most places around the world would not be big pricks as the USA.

I agree with Surfergal!!!! everyone on this website has lost track of what the point of this blog was....its not to bash everyone elses spot and brag about your own. Its to share INFO about sweet surf spots in different places...so we can all get our ride. ANYWAY....HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!!!! I just moved from Maui:( to West Palm beach FL and I see that smyrna beach, FL is on this list. its a little far north for me i think, but does anyone know of any other surf spots/surf towns near west palm or jupiter area? preferably not a shark infested one! haha TUPAT...maybe you could help me out? THANKS!!!