Red Tide

The first rain of the season has unfortunately come at the same time of a brief windswell hitting the south bay.

Rain can mean two things when there is a swell. Some consider it a blessing, frequently referring to rain during a swell as "crowd control." Oth

ers who don't feel like contracting hepatitis think of avoiding Red Tide.

While rain can be good for the LA basin (i.e. - provides clean air, mudslides, and legitimate reasons to be late/skip work or school), it brings on the burden of red tide.

For those unfamiliar, red tide is the product of living in a beach town on the border of one of

the largest and most populated urban areas in the world. When it rains, fresh water runoff to the ocean brings non-natural nutrients and fresh water algae to the ocean, resulting in large algae blooms that appear from a range of colors, from green to red.

As a general rule, wait 1-3 days after it stops raining to go back into the water. Obviously this is flexible, so for example, 2 days of light rain, 1-2 days is sufficient; whereas a heavy week-long storm may be reason to stay out for more than that.

Usually not a major concern at the major breaks in the south bay, such as

Porto, piers, breakwater, RAT, Hags, things get downright hairy in Malibu after a heavy storm. A couple years ago, a heavy storm broke the sandbar between the algae-filled lagoon and the point.

Malibu Destroyed --->

Stay loose,

Chairseo