page_title: Swami's
section_title: Surfing
hierarchical_section_title: Swami's / Activities / Surfing
caption_attribution_description: English: The main peak at the Southern California surf spot known as Swami's — in Encinitas, San Diego County, California. Taken in September of 2011 on a rare strong summer swell. Swami's is primarily a winter surf spot, but this particular swell was very large (up to twelve feet) in most locations, creating unridable conditions at all but a few spots.
context_page_description: Swami's is an area in San Diego County that contains Swami's Beach and other local attractions. The beach, also known as "Swami’s Reef'" and "Swamis", is an internationally known surfing spot, a point break located in Encinitas, San Diego County, California. Swami's was named after Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, because the grounds and hermitage of the Self-Realization Fellowship ashram, built in 1937, overlook this reef point. The name "Swami's" is also given to the sand beach that extends south from the point to the next beach access point, which is next to the San Elijo State Beach camping area; this more southerly surf spot often goes by the name "Pipes".
  Originally the name "Swami's" was an unofficial nickname that surfers had given to the point break, but eventually the name was adopted officially, and also used as the name of the cliff-top park, which was previously known as "Seacliff Roadside Park".
context_section_description: Swami's is a major surfing destination, especially 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 considerable when conditions are good. Surfing at this location is ideal with a low to mid tide, W or NW swell direction, and calm or East wind.
  Swami's allows all levels of surfers, but is well known as a high-performance wave for both longboard and shortboard surfers. Bodysurfing and bodyboarding are rare 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. This is primarily due to the distance from the beach to the main peak several hundred yards from shore. As the waves become larger this distance increases, and after long rides the paddle back to the main peak can take several minutes. For this reason many surfers will choose to end their rides before the wave reaches the beach.
  There are primarily two ways in which surfers initially paddle out to the main peak. The more common way is to approach from south of the break (directly in front of the lifeguard tower) and paddle around the break through the deep water (known as the channel). The other method of paddling out is to walk north two hundred yards and approach the main peak by means of a rougher, more turbulent shortcut. While riskier (due to the rough nature of the waves in this zone), it can be a significantly quicker route to the main peak.  This is often known as "paddling out through the back door." Most novice surfers will avoid this method as it requires greater skill and fitness.
  Swami's is a common surfing ground for local professional surfers, including Rob Machado, and Taylor Knox.
caption: The main peak at Swamis, on a rare strong summer swell.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS REBEL T2i", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "350", "Image YResolution": "350", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2013:02:17 19:10:20", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "248", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1074", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "1518", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:09:02 10:03:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:09:02 10:03:57", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "77/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "135", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2148", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "848", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2592", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "848", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "924", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}