A letter from a local
Cold water, warm everything else.
I check the surf from the cliff on my way to work, and some mornings I just... don't make it past the cliff. Steamer Lane is a city park. The Hook lights up on south swells. Yes the water's cold — that's what keeps it ours.
The redwoods start where the beach ends: forty minutes of climbing on the road bike puts you under three-hundred-foot trees, and the mountain bike trails in the Santa Cruz Mountains are the reason half the bike industry lives here. Foggy mornings, golden evenings, eucalyptus and salt all the way home.
Career-wise you're covered — the university, biotech, robotics, and Silicon Valley over the hill when you want its paycheck without its zip code. Plenty of people here take the over-the-hill salary and surf before standup.
Come on an October evening when the fog stays offshore and the Lane is head-high and glassy at sunset. Bring a 4/3. Keep the wetsuit. Stay.
— Mel