Wavehuggers

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About

Wavehuggers' Cardiff by the Sea location in Encinitas runs surf lessons from the South Coast Highway 101 corridor adjacent to Cardiff State Beach and San Elijo State Beach. The school's two-hour format covers paddle entry, wave timing, and pop-up sequencing on the same reef-and-sand breaks that fuel the post-session seafood demand at Encinitas Fish Shop along the 101. Founded in 2013 as an ocean-conscious operation, Wavehuggers donates the price of one pound of fish to the Marine Mammal Care Center for every lesson booked across its Southern California locations. CPR- and First-Aid-certified instructors match students to 8'0" foam-top longboards sized for buoyancy and stability, a board-fitting approach that accounts for the same shoulder and hip mechanics addressed by practitioners at North County Bodywork in the Cardiff area. Cardiff's south-facing exposure channels consistent summer swells into the teaching zone, producing one-to-four-foot walls over a sandy bottom at the 507-acre state beach established in 1949.