Nestled just north of Santa Monica, California, the sleepy community of Topanga has a budding new reputation as home to the angriest surf spot in Los Angeles.
The titular Topanga wave – in plain view along Pacific Coast Highway, and right where the canyon community extends westward to meet the ocean – has come under the microscope lately for surf localism, lack of surf etiquette, and fist fights over waves.
It’s even got a new nickname: Topangry .
So, when the best and biggest swell of the season so far slammed the California coast, Topanga, which likes the northwesterly energy typical of Pacific Ocean wintertime swell patterns, was of course a crowded mess of surfing chaos.
Drop-ins, collisions, all-out mayhem.
Historically, Topanga has been known as a hippie enclave. It was once a hangout for (and home to) artists, counterculture heroes, rockstars – like Neil Young and Jim Morrison. The Topanga Days festival, which is still running today, exhibits that carefree, bohemian, eccentric lifestyle that Topanga has become an emblem of over the decades.