While the name might not sound very appealing, don’t let that deter you from visiting Garbage Beach & AB’s, in Sunset Cliffs, if you’re looking for incredible reef breaks without big crowds.
Only experienced surfers should be renting boards and testing their skills at Garbage Beach, but if you’re not quite there yet, you can still have lots of fun watching others at these secluded beaches. The waves here are so high-quality that the beach is host to multiple regional and local surfing championships every year.
Surfing at AB’s can be a little more challenging and risky. This is because it’s a reef break, so it’s better to only try surfing here if you know what you’re doing, and if you have a friend or two on standby just in case you wipe out. Avoid high tide here, but rising low and mid tides provide much more amenable conditions.
The coast is somewhat rocky but with plenty of sand, which makes it an equally ideal spot for sunbathing, looking at tide pools, and walking up the bluffs just in time to catch the sunset as it reflects on the water.
There are few better photo opportunities in San Diego than those found in and around Sunset Cliffs National Park, and Garbage Beach is no exception.