Cerritos Beach Is Baja's Next Surf Escape
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Tucked away an hour up the coastline from, the party capital of the world, Cabo San Lucas, is the growing surf destination of Cerritos Beach. Some may call this cove with a point break and beach break hidden, but others have known about it for years. I started surfing it back in 2001 when there was only an open beach and the big yellow hotel on the point. Now, Cerritos Beach is on the radar, Surfline has a cam and the development is booming. But, that doesn't mean the line-up is getting worse, surprisingly.
If you stack your surfboards on top of your car and take the toll road from the San Jose del Cabo Airport, you'll turn off the highway and be bumping down the road to Cerritos Beach in about 90 minutes. Sadly, you can't sleep on the beach anymore, but there are plenty of vacation rentals to pick from (this one has been my favorite because you can see the breaks from the rooftop deck and it's a 5-minute walk) and a growing infrastructure to support RV and van life rigs. Making Cerritos Beach a perfect place to post up if you are road-tripping the Baja Peninsula.
Enough about driving and places to stay, let's talk surf.
What Are Cerritos Waves Like?
Cerritos Beach in Baja has two waves; a point and a beach break. The point break is friendly until low tide or big swell. The beach break is where most intermediate surfers will head in search of barrels.
The Point
For most of the year, this is a long-boarding surf spot. The waves are friendly rollers with an easy takeoff. Most of the time you can stand up and hit the nose, but an inside rock that is occasionally pocking through on low tide can make the wave mushy on high tides. A quick note, this rock is easily avoidable, don't worry about it!
If you are looking for surf lessons in Cerritos reach out to CRT Surf School for lessons, they are the best on the beach and act as lifeguards, giving back to the community. When booking a surf lesson, you will learn to surf on the inside of this point.
During the winter months, however, the point is the takeoff zone for the 20-foot bombs that come through the area. I am not lying to you. If Mavericks breaks up in Half Moon Bay, three to four days later, Cerritos Beach will be pumping. I've seen and surfed several days with stand-up barrels off the point.
The Beach Break
The beach break is a fun, and sometimes tricky, spot to surf depending on the sand. Also, the lineup is mixed with locals and tourists. The locals are friendly, but the occasional OC surfer, with a chip on their shoulder, will probably start yelling at some point. Don't mind them. Just find the sandbar and decide if you want to go right, or left, and try to tuck into the barrel.
On big days, this beach break is your obstacle to push through when paddling out to the point. Be safe and fight hard, it's similar to a big day at Ocean Beach.
