page_title: Mavericks, California
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Mavericks, California / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Bathymetry off Half Moon Bay, California. Rectangle indicates the location of the Mavericks surf break. The narrow ramp leading up from the west causes the big waves.
context_page_description: Mavericks is a surfing location in northern California outside Pillar Point Harbor, just north of the town of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-by-the-Sea. After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely crest at over 8 m and top out at over 18 m. Routinely, waves that break can be recorded on seismometers. The break is caused by an unusually shaped underwater rock formation.
  Mavericks is a winter destination for some of the world's best big wave surfers. From 1999 to 2016, an invitation-only contest was held there most winters, when the waves are sufficient.
caption: A long ramp slopes up toward the surface at Mavericks
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