From: marka@SSD.CSD.HARRIS.COM (Mark Ashley)
Newsgroups: alt.california
Subject: Re: Snow covered mountains from a hot beach
Date: 15 Sep 92 19:13:35 GMT
Organization: Harris Computers Systems Division, Fort Lauderdale,FL

In article <1992Sep15.121430.23041@klaava.Helsinki.FI> klemets@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Tim S Klemets) writes:
>>>Where else in the world can you sit on a hot beach in February and look
>>>up at snow covered mountains?
>
>Sounds nice, but what's the point with a hot beach, if the water is too
>cold to swim in?  Are there many places in Southern California where
>the sea is swimmable throughout the year?  I once visited Venice Beach
>and Santa Monica - nice beaches but horrible water (compared to
>Florida).  I took for granted the situation in San Diego (a city I
>*love*) was the same, so I didn't bother to have a look at its shore.
>However, somebody told me that SD is really nice in this sense too
>(clear water etc).  True?

Mexico dumps sewage into the Pacific and it drifts northward to
San Ysidro and neighboring beaches. SD's sewage system is 
overflowing so once in a while the area around Mission Bay/Sea World
gets icky, too. But I haven't been disappointed at La Jolla and
Oceanside.

Even if the water is warm it seems like a lot of people actually
just go to the beach for a tan. In south Florida the heat is too
much to bear (for me) for even 15 minutes. In Newport Beach, La Jolla, 
Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara I stayed for 3 hours at a time and only 
would go because I had things to do rather than because I'm toasted.

Florida's warm waters seem to be a fertile ground of hurricanes.
At least from what I understand how hurricanes just keep on growing
as they approach the south east coast. Feel free to correct me.
There's also sea lice (yeah, up your trunks or bikinis) around
Palm Beach and sometimes in Cocoa Beach. Getting out of the water,
a typical victim will have pink welts. Scratch. scratch...

Monterey's waters seem to be always too cold for my bones. 
But a wet suit and a filled O2 tank takes me places such
that I don't mind the cold. The above-water views are great, too.

Florida's style of taking care of the Everglades apparently is such
that the swamps have high levels of mercury. The swamps drain into the 
Gulf of Mexico and you get a nasty picture... Probably just as bad
as Santa Monica where you can fish but the fish isn't safe to eat.
The signs actually set a small number that you can eat every week.

South Florida winters are nice. Kinda like San Diego 10 or 11 months
of the year.

Lotsa beaches, so little time... 8-)
BTW I don't claim to be an expert on toxins and meteorology and such.
I just know what I read on the local papers and what I see on the
beach and feel on my skin. 8-) Yes, I've been in all the above places.


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Mark Ashley                        |DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed
marka@gcx1.ssd.csd.harris.com      |here are my own; they do not
..!uunet!gcx1!marka               |reflect the opinion or policies
The Lost Los Angelino              |of Harris Corporation.
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