Swimming in Malibu

Water temperatures this weekend are 59 degrees Fahrenheit, according to watchthewater.org. I really wish that site also covered Ventura County. I have to make due with the Nicholas Canyon numbers.

I wanted to go to Malibu to lap swim, actually, so I headed out at 10:30am or so. When I got there, however, the pool was full of guys renovating it. Later, I saw that it will be closed till the end of June. There was no water. Plan B I thought was going to be Calabasas (they have an awfully nice pool).

But instead, I drove a bit further south and saw what I could see. What I saw was scattered waders in the water with no wetsuits. I saw folks with dogs:

I drove south and kept stopping at likely spots. I found a spot with the right mix of lack of people, good parking, good waves. The place I picked is here:

I went in, there were maybe 4 other people sort of playing in the surf. I initially went in with no goggles, but I kept feeling big nasty rocks to scrape my feet, shins, knees with, and figured it would be good if i could see what was under me. So I grabbed my lap goggles and tried again.

Now, I’ve been whining about the water temperature for a while, and wondering if I could get in and enjoy it, rather than simply freezing. Turns out, 59 is not too bad. Considering the air temperature was in the mid-to-high 80s there in Malibu I think that differential must be a sweet spot. When the air temperature was in the sixties and seventies and I put my feet in there was simply no way to get in there. I’m not going to turn polar bear any time soon.

I had a good swim. I swam a little under a mile, exploring the area from rocky point to rocky point. Not much to see in the surfy area. I think much of what I saw were rocks deposited there to prevent erosion. It’s more common, and probably good that they are protecting the shore like that, but I so prefer a big sloping beach with a nice break for bodysurfing, and little to no rocks.

Here’s looking left:

And here’s looking right:

And here’s me, after swimming all the way left, then about half way all the way right, to where the houses were:

It was a nice surprise. I’m sore, a little sunburned, and I think I need a shave.