It’s a 15-minute drive through Los Osos to Montana de Oro State Park, a beautiful recreation area that bolsters some of the county’s most beautiful scenery. The park, however, is not just a hiking paradise; it is also home to some of the largest waves on the Central Coast at Spooners Cove.
Over this past weekend, I had the opportunity to check out these waves first-hand and feel the awesome power of some of the largest waves around.
The clouds were dark and ominous, barely letting the light of day shine through its sheath of grey and black. A light gust of wind blew west ruffling the waist-high scrub brush and occasionally stirring a bird from its nesting area.
The dirt path leading to a vantage point over the entire area was covered with a light talcum, which lofted into the air with each step covering our shoes in a thin layer of brown.
The path ran along a cliff denoted as sheer and dangerous, according to a sign at the path’s entrance. The edge of the cliff was lined from time to time with wooden make-shift rails placed with the intention of keeping onlookers from falling into the rocky, rough seas below.
It really is a good thing that the rails are there, because like this last weekend, Spooners as well as other breaks within Montana de Oro, can get HUGE.
Walking along the cliff up to the break, which is at the left end of the cove, allows one to see the breaks within the cove as well as waves breaking in the distance. To be completely honest, when you first see them, they are completely ridiculous. I am talking large.
That is until you reach the end of the bluff and are able to look out over the Spooners Break.
Unbelievable.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know how many times I have looked at big waves online and thought about how amazing they were. Well, pictures do not do this place justice.
The break is just off of the cliffs where two rocky arms extend into the water, receding below the surface enough to not be noticed at first glace, but shallow enough to allow the rocky bottom to be exposed as the water recedes with each wave.
The wave itself breaks around these two arms and runs into the cove breaking to the left. It is pretty amazing to think that some people actually attempt to surf this area. It is without a doubt a life or death situation. If you fall at Spooners, there is a good chance that you’re going to be hitting some jagged rock or thrusted into one of many caves at the base of the cliff above the break.
Unfortunately, I did not get to see anyone attempt to surf the big waves of Spooners Cove on Sunday, but it would have been amazing. If you are lucky and you go out on a big day with the right swell, you may just see some insane local balancing on the edge of life and death on a wave the size of a two-story house.
Yup, that’s right. A two-story house and it will blow your mind.
Chris Gunn is a journalism senior and assistant sports editor. You can e-mail him at cgunn@calpoly.edu.