SUP La Jolla, San Diego, CA

I hit the open seas for the first time on my SUP. There were 2 foot waves, and they were surprisingly easy to paddle out through. The board punched through the breaks with ease. The white wash wasn't as unstable as I expected.

Jeff and I paddled for about an hour and a bit over 2 miles.



The sea caves look a lot better from the water level. Some of the caves would have been more inviting if I was in a kayak and not on my SUP. I am not willing to risk dings in my board. Unfortunately there was nowhere to cliff jump in La Jolla, at least not without risking a $890.00 fine. Next time I will bring a mask to swim around.

When we got back to La Jolla Shores Park, we surfed the waves for a bit. I defiantly prefer surfing on a stand up to a long board. The perspective is just better. Jeff even managed to get a video of us both on the same wave. Not my best ride of the day.

-James

Lele Kawa

SUP with seals on Mission Bay, San Diego

For my first real SUP (stand up paddleboarding) experiance, if you don't count my ten minute demo in Oregon over a year ago, I joined Mr. Lele Kawa himself for about 2.5 miles around Mission Bay.

On a previous trip to San Diego, the owner of Wind and Sea surf shop in Mission Beach, offered me an unbeatable deal on a SUP package. I finally made my way back there to take the offer.

Sunday morning we hit the water starting from Fanuel Street Park. As the two of us Paddled our way across the Sail Bay, we were joined by a seal. He shadowed us as we paddled, often following just behind the tail of our boards. He would bump the boards and nibbled on my leash. We stopped for a while before crossing under the Ingraham bridge. As we sat on our boards the seal played around us. He could surface along side our boards and look at us, and then swim off a bit to splash around in the water.

View Mission bay SUP in a larger map
When we grew board of our seal friend we headed under the bridge. There were a group of outrigger canoes gettign ready to start a regata. Along with them was a single SUP rider. She told us she was the only SUP rider for the race, and tried to talking us into joining her. We declined and headed back to Fanuel Street Park. The way back got tiring because the wind made it so you could only paddle on one side to keep your line.

Swing flipping in the park

-James

Lele Kawa

La Jolla Cove

The day after Christmas I made my way over to La Jolla Cove outside of San Diego, CA. It was pretty crowded and parking was a premium. I was lucky and found a spot right next to this little beach that was covered in seals.

 Looking down from where I parked

 View down on the beach with the sea cliffs in the distance

As we walked down towards the cove there was this single seal on this rock. It was still for a while and almost looked like a statue.

 There were plenty of pelicans, seals and some crazy people in and around the water. Some people had full wet suits, while others were in just bikinis. I did not get in the water on this trip. 58 degrees is a little cold for me, and I did not come prepared.

We turned around at "Sunny Jim" cave. It looks like an inviting cliff jump, enough so that they have a sign forbidding it. No Lele Kawa on this trip.

-James

Lele Kawa