cardiff-by-the-sea

21 March 2013 | Surf Town Magazine

Cardiff-by-the-Sea, usually re-ferred to as Cardiff, is a beach community located in Encinitas, bordering Solana Beach to the south in San Diego County, Cali-fornia. The Pacific Ocean is to the west of Cardiff, Encinitas on its east and north, and a beach and la-goon on its south. With a population of under 12,000, Cardiff-by-the-Sea operates as part of the city of En-cinitas, but unlike the other commu-nities that comprise Encinitas, has its own ZIP code (92007).In 1911, this former farming com-munity began to develop Cardiff, when developer J. Frank Cullen broke ground to build new homes.[2] It is reported by the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce that it was Frank Cullen’s wife, a native of Car-diff, Wales, who persuaded him to name the community, “Cardiff”.

Cardiff-By-The-

SeaThe town within a town

that has it all.

Surf Town Magazine | March 2013 22

Cardiff-By-The-Sea


Cardiff-By-The-Sea

Surf City

Swami’s Beach is located in Cardiff-by-the-sea, Caifornia. Cardiff is about 30 Minutes north of San Diego.

Swami’s, also known as “Swami’s Reef” and “Swamis”, is an internationally known surf-ing spot, a point break located in Encinitas, California. Swami’s was named after Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, because the grounds and hermitage of the Self-Realiza-tion Fellowship ashram, built in 1937, over-look this reef point.Access to Swami’s is primarily by way of a small but well-appointed cliff top park, which has bathrooms, a water fountain, benches, picnic tables and a lawn under shade trees, as well as a small parking lot. Most importantly, it also has a long wooden staircase leading down beside the cliff to a sand beach, which has a lifeguard station. The rocky point is a couple of hundred yards north of that station.Originally, “Swami’s” was an unofficial nickname that surfers gave to the break here, but the name was eventually adopted

Cardiff is home to many famous surf spots. People from all over San Diego travel to these beaches to catch the best waves.

officially, and became the name of the cliff top park, which was previously known as “Seacliff

Roadside Park”. Swami’s is a major surfing destination, espe-

cially during good swells in the winter months, because of its standout right point break, as

well as fun reef breaks, and beach breaks. The number of surfers out can be very consider-

able when conditions are good. Surfing at this location is ideal with a low to mid tide, W or NW

swell direction, and calm or E wind.Swami’s allows all level of surfers, but is well known as a high-performance wave for both

longboard and shortboard surfers. Bodysurfing and bodyboarding are a rarity due to the highly

competitive nature of the crowd to catch and ride the limited number of waves that come in

sets every few minutes.Swami’s is also known as challenging spot to

paddle, requiring a level of fitness above what other breaks demand.

Max, Sam, and Eric begin their early morning paddle out to the perfect waves at


Cardiff-By-The-Sea

The Kook

The Magic Carpet Ride is the of-ficial name of a 16-foot (4.9 m) high bronze statue of a surfer in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, that locals have nicknamed The Cardiff Kook, a name by which it has come to be known. The statue was com-missioned by the Cardiff Botanical Society, and created by artist Mat-thew Antichevich, who is an Encinitas surfer and a teacher at Mount San Jacinto College, at a cost of approxi-mately $120,000. It is mounted on a granite pedestal and stands by the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, next to the San Elijo State Beach campground.The $92,000 construc-tion costs of the statue were raised by the Botanical Society, with the $30,000 installation costs met by the city of Encinitas. On the statue base are plaques upon which are record-ed the names of the major donors

who contributed to the Botanical Society for the erection of the statue, including Marion Ross.The statue was intended to depict a surfer performing a “(backside) float-er”, but the Botanical Society ran out of money, and thus the statue is miss-ing any actual surf. Antichevich was chosen from more than 50 bidders on the commission. His original design was in fact to be a female surfer on a breaking wave, but there was not the money for that, either, and the Botani-cal Society opted for a male surfer on a granite plinth, halving the amount of bronze required. Other proposed de-signs that were discussed with the Bo-tanical Society included the figure of professional surfer Rob Machado and a surfer on a longboard. The Kook is intended, according to the artist and to Michael Ames Clark, the then chairman of the Botanical Society’s selection committee, to represent the joy and awkwardness of a boy novice learning how to surf, in acknowledge-ment of the area’s attraction for nov-ice surfers.

The Kook has become a popular way for locals to celebrate or show their support for major events in the town and around the world. Shown above is support for 9/11 victims and their families, Susan G. Ko-men Breast Cancer Walk, and a Happy Halloween.


Cardiff-By-The-Sea

The Surfing Madonna mosaic seeks to remind people that we need to take care of the ocean. It is essential to us, and espe-cially in the town of Car-diff, a sight to see.

The Surfing Madonna is a 10 by 10 foot (3 by 3 m) mosaic of the Virgen de Guadalupe created by artist Mark Patterson. It was covertly installed in Encinitas, California. The piece was installed on a 10 square-foot concrete wall on a rail bridge in the City of Encinitas. Dressed as con-struction workers, Mark Patterson and a colleague installed the mosaic clandestinely in about two hours on the afternoon of April 22, 2011 (Earth Day/Good Friday).The mosaic features the Virgin of Guadelupe on a white surfboard, hands in prayer with her green cloak waving in the wind. The words “Save the Ocean” are displayed vertically to her left.As the piece was installed without pri-or permission, the piece was consid-ered to be graffiti. $2,000 was spent by officials for an art consultant to

review how best to remove it without destroying it. During that process, they discovered - underneath the glass - part of Mark Patterson’s name. He soon came forward and admitted to being the mosaic’s creator.Patterson was fined $500 by the City, and at the City’s demand, paid ap-proximately $6,000 to a local contrac-tor to remove the mosaic from the train bridge wall. The mosaic came down in about 90 minutes, with mini-mal damage.The City allowed Pat-terson to reclaim the mosaic. While some members of the Catholic and Latino communities found it offen-sive, others identify with it as symbol

of their Mexican heritage.[6] The local Catholic priest was fond of the artwork, and even asked that a local church be able to display it.[6]News of the mosaic went viral on the internet. Benefactors in other cities, including Solana Beach and Imperial Beach, of-fered to take the mosaic and install it in their locales. While the mosaic was still up, local merchants in downtown En-cinitas reported a 20% spike in revenues due to the number of visitors to the City coming specifically to see the mosaic.

Sights of the 101

The Surfing Madonna is an artisitic and controversial reminder to take care of the ocean.


Cardiff-By-The-Sea

After driving by the Surfing Madon-na, it’s appropriate to view the beach that it is trying to save. Moonlight State Beach is a state beach in Encini-tas, California. Located at the ter-minus of Encinitas Boulevard, it has been called the center of recreation and social life in the town. It is appro-priate for both children’s and adults’ recreation. It is popular with both tourists and residents, and it is one of the most visited beaches in Encinitas.This sand beach is used for surfing, swimming, surf fishing, beach volley-ball, and bonfires.Moonlight State Beach hosts many annual town events, including The Wavecrest Woodie Meet. This event takes place once a year on the third Saturday of September at Moonlight State Beach. It is the largest rally of wooden bodied vehicles in the world and it is free to the public and to par-ticipants.

While driving down the 101 through Car-diff, there are many beaches, works of art, and jaw-dropping cars that are sure to keep you entertained.

Another beach that is prominent in the Cardiff community is the Car-diff Reef.Cardiff Reef (“The Reef”) is a pop-ular surf spot in Cardiff that pro-duces waves both professional and novice surfers enjoy year round. Surfing at The Reef has progressed from just a few surfers in the 1950s to become one of the most popular surfing spots in San Diego County. Cardiff Reef and nearby surf spot, Pipes, are famous for their smooth and consistent wave shape.When the tide is low, a flat rock reef is revealed that extends 50 yards from shore. Exploring these tide pools is a popular activity for visi-tors of Cardiff.

-all text from Wikipedia

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