Dawn Patrol:

There had been a lot talk about the huge waves in Hawaii and with the news media giving high surf warnings the word was out.

I knew the waves wouldn’t be as big in Southern California and that most of Orange County is shadowed from many winter swells. If I wanted to see some big waves I’d have to travel.

I decided to try Lunada Bay on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Before Maverick’s and Todos Santos were pioneered, Lunada Bay was considered a premier west coast big wave spot and likened to a smaller version of Waimea Bay.

I headed out Thursday morning which was forecast to be the peak of the swell. I drove through San Pedro so I could take the scenic route.

I stopped at an overlook on Point Fermin. The rocky headland looks like it would make a great point break but it doesn’t quite happen. There were three guys out. The waves were head high plus which was a good omen.

There was a lot of kelp that looked like it would hamper surfing, but the guys inside got some pretty good waves.

I kept going north along the bluffs, enjoying the spectacular views.

When I arrived to the cliffs at Lunada Bay I saw a lot of cars and guys watching so I knew it was breaking.

The setup is a right-hand reef-point at the north end of the bay.

It’s a very steep wave that breaks hard, not far outside of some nasty looking exposed rocks.

There were about eight guys in the lineup. The inside waves seemed to have the best shape and I saw some nice long rides.

The set waves didn’t all line up the same so the guys waited for the right ones.

You have to be good to make that vertical drop.

It looked like every takeoff was late and a couple of guys got hammered. The biggest sets looked to be two or three feet overhead. I reminded myself that 100 feet above and a quarter mile away isn’t the same perspective as being on a surfboard at surface level – those waves would command any surfer’s full attention.

I continued north and checked the PV Cove, known as “Paddleboard Cove” in the Tom Blake, redwood days. There were some great waves at the Indicator and the reefs above.

I wasn’t the only one wave watching. One guy I talked with said he had checked Redondo Breakwater and it was about the same size. He thought the swell had been “over-hyped.”

At my last stop at Haggerty’s, where PV ends and the South Bay begins, a woman told me she’d hoped to see bigger waves. She said she’d been in Hawaii last week and tried bodyboarding for the first time. She got a black eye and decided wave riding wasn’t for her.

Though the waves weren’t as big as we had hoped, it was a really nice swell and one that doesn’t come often.

The conditions were perfect, it was such a beautiful day to be in PV and I’d enjoyed experiencing something different.

JOHN BURTON’S surf column appears Fridays. He may be reached by e-mail at hot_dogger@mac.com.