Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz in all its glory (the epicenter, Steamer Lane, seen at the top of the point). Photo: Jeremiah Klein

The long-running dispute between Santa Cruz and Huntington Beach over the title “Surf City” still rages on. (Although HB secured the trademark in 2008, before making the questionable change to “The Soul of SoCal”). Regardless, both towns stake a claim to the title, while Santa Cruz arguably has the upper hand when it comes to quality of surf. With spots like Steamer Lane, Pleasure Point, and a few others that shall remain unnamed, Santa Cruz’s surf is leaps and bounds better than HB. Add that to the stacked Santa Cruz surfing yearbook – from Jack O’Neill to Jason “Ratboy” Collins, Richard Schmidt to Nat Young, and many more – and the place lives and breathes surf town.