"Here's a fun tool for locating secret spots.

"Explore the entire coast of California without ever leaving your chair! Seriously, there are more than a few photos of places going off in here. I'm sending two shots I located through my online surf trip, you may or may not know where these are..."

"Sure, I know about californiacoastline.org; this site was featured in The Surfer's Journal a year ago. Then of course it was in the news big time with the Barbara Streisand lawsuit.

"It can be a good tool, as you describe. But it's a collection of snaps from one moment in time. It doesn't show how a place reacts to tide and swell changes.

"Thanx for a great suggestion and a great email."

"Nice Article Dog Man. I am with you 100%. I admit 99% of all my surf sessions are in thanks to my Dad, a California and Hawaii native, and my friends, who have turned me on to many many spots.

"Funny thing, when I was entering UCSC in 1994 I pulled up to ##### and asked if this was Weasel Reef; they laughed!"

"I too am 100% slug! First moved to SC to go to UCSC, and graduated four years later.

"I have experienced more vibes and hassles at 'Weasel Reef' than at any other single break world wide. And I live here!"

"I imagine an avocation (affliction?) for poetry has got to be one difficult muse to chase. Your remarks stimulate my stoke to continue writing the DogMan columns.

"When next in SC, give a holler. We can meet, maybe share a wave, and perhaps visit a "secret" spot. Better yet, you can show me one of yours. I've only surfed ##### once, and need a guide to return to it."

"Poetry does seem like an affliction at times. Like a rash. I write surfboards a lot better than I ride them. And hell yeah, we'll hit ##### this summer if you're down. ##### is another good "secret spot" that everyone knows about but no one really rides. The pros go there to get barrel photos but it's sort of a nasty barreling shorebreak a lot of the time. I ride it all the time and often get my lunch handed to me. I grew up bodysurfing #### beach and "secret spots" like ##### so getting drilled by shorebreak is somewhat nostalgic for me."

"Flea and girlfriend Tiffany celebrated their second anniversary by drinking kamakazes all night at Garcia's Wasted Inn last Saturday night. Sunday morning Flea drove to Pillar Point where he airdropped into a 150 foot tube at Mavericks riding his 5'8" bonzer. Later he said he'd ridden bigger waves at Cowells..."

"Hey Dogman we go to Maui often in the summer months but I have never seen anything go off in Napilli. Is this a winter only thing? Enjoyed your Maui Sess views. That right you talk about is really a rush, I'm still thinking about that Sess I had there last year."

"There's surf spots in Napilli, one is right in front of a small old-style resort called #####."

"Haven't been to Maui in the summer months, but expect that the NW coast, including Honolua, would shut down for surfing. Da Bay is a primo diving and snorkeling spot when it's flat, and this is primarily during summer.

"NW coast surf breaks are good at picking up NW swell, of which there isn't much during summer. I don't know how well S swell would wrap into them, but I suspect you'd have to be S of Lahaina to get anything substantive.

"Thanx for the email and yes, Honolua is a complete rush."

"Got back from Hawaii last night, stayed in Puamana on the West side of Maui the first week and it was flat as an indoor pool. Last summer I stayed there and surfed six-foot faces by myself every morning for ten days. But that was of course a South swell and the North swell last week just didn't make it down that far. Surfed small Honolua the day before leaving. There were around twenty surfers on one break and six on the other; I went with the path of least resistance and surfed the smaller break. I guess if the surf had been bigger it would have been a lot more crowded so maybe I should be happy for the belly button to chest high waves since I got around eight or so. They were not glassy perfection by any means but I'm pretty stoked to have surfed Honolua. I've snorkeled the bay plenty of times but walking (and slipping) down the trail and paddling out at such a famous spot is just plain great."

"Thought you might enjoy this picture. When I wrote previously, I was calling Honolua head high the day I was out. Maybe it was a little bigger than I thought. That's not me by the way.

"Also surfed ###### on the Big Island twice. It worked out to about $112.50 per wave. I rented a 6'6" shortboard about five minutes after the shop had closed and it turned out to be too small for conditions. I could catch the waves alright if I let it break right behind me but there were a dozen or so people out and all but one had bigger boards than I. Still, I managed two waves.

"I figured I'd get out at sunrise the next day and beat the crowds. Still stuck with the 6-6, I was greeted by every shortboarder's nightmare: fourteen locals on longboards, all who were excellent surfers. I got no waves in about 45 minutes. That's when I noticed my titanium dive watch was no longer on my wrist, must have come off duck diving. I went in and grabbed my snorkeling gear; no one was any too happy about having a head with a mask bobbing around the lineup. So I told a few locals about it and let them know there was a nice dive watch out there somewhere. Hopeful it will make some snorkeler happy one day. Board rental: $25. Lost watch: $200. Surfing in Hawaii: Priceless."

"Sorry about the watch, but the rest of the story is perfect!"

"I'm sure your logical approach to surfing is well underestimated, as well as your logical approach to wearing a little rubber. I've rubbed my thighs raw, my nipples into little bloody knobs and spent a lot of time using my leash to find the surface... but isn't it fun? Now I'd just be happy to surf a wave with respectable size and power, without spending or traveling too far."

"Here's a story: Where were you during the big swell in January? Monday, following work, I paddled out at the river north of Stables, hoping there would be something left. Upon making it out I noticed that it wasn't the C Street I remember. Giant rights, 30 to 40% closed out and the close out would bring a giant bowl wave kinda inside the bump. You could snag a huuuge bowl there and ride it all the way to the parking lot. That day it wasn't happening though.

"Instead, the sets were peeling all the way across, with a man on every wave. It was so big and perfect you could paddle and drop without seeing anything behind you; sure enough some guy is way back there in the pit. I'm not the type to hustle around in giant surf with guys half my age, so I hung way out on the left to wait for some clean up set that I could grab a shoulder. After about three cycles (walk to the river, paddle out, catch three or four monsters to the pier, walk back to the river, do over) my arms were about jello but my adrenalin was pumping.

"I rode a wave past the showers and was able to paddle back just inside the longboarders that sit way outside the hotel. I somehow bagged this really nice 10 footer. It was heaven, carving the biggest lines I've carved in many years. Lo and behold, the wave suddenly jacked up and doubled in size; literally my 10-foot carver turned into a fifteen foot giant! The thing sectioned in front of me, and the wave was so tall I went under it. Under the ball of white water, then out to wide-open green wave, I was riding the fifteen footer carving my way into the pier. Reluctantly, I kicked out about a hundred yards from it. I could have easily ridden that thing longer, but the pier loomed. As I paddled away from it I heard some garbled noise from the lifeguard on the beach. After a couple of minutes of northerly paddling I was tired and swung around to belly a wave to the beach. The lifeguard was pulling off his wetsuit as he told me, "That was the biggest wave I've seen anybody ride into the cove in many years. I thought you were done. If that wasn't the last wave in the set you would've been driven into the pier.

"The rest of the day I had a personal glow, and still snicker about it. By the way, I was riding a 8'6' Patagonia shaped by Dave Johnson, just an oversized shortboard. See you out there this summer."

Hey, what's to respond? Cool wave dude!

"Ola D-O-G Man -

"Just wanted to drop a line to say that today's column made me envious. Haven't surfed much at all lately and I'm starting to feel the jonez, like some kind of withdrawal syndrome. The photos were stokers for sure! Thanks for sharing."

"Muchas gracias mi amigo. One day when you visit the SC area again maybe I can tear away from my life and surf with you at the Playground or another spot that might be breaking.

"I traveled far and wide across DogLand this morning looking for waves before dawn; came up empty. Ended up driving to work early for God's sake! Ocean is sick and the swell ain't much. Is it summer yet? I hope not! Already booked for Mexico this July, and still hoping to travel back to Rio Occulto for Memorial Day. Still got lots of Maui columns and pix from last February. Already talking about returning there next February, and my wife and I are planning to visit (and surf) Western Samoa sometime soon."