Westbound Boarder

Downtown Santa Monica.  That’s where I work, and in my opinion I work in one of the best cities on the planet.  I sit in a big office that overlooks the beach and Santa Monica pier (OK, well that might be a bit of a stretch – however, if I stand in the corner of my office by the window and stand on my tippie toes, and look as far as I can to the side and around the corner, I think I can see the top of the ferris wheel…)  But more importantly, when the clock strikes 6, I can grab my board and hit the waves for a whole two hours before my (somewhat) long drive back to Hollywood.

Needless to say, Santa Monica (one of LA’s more touristy areas) is also home to some of LA’s best surf – and along with that comes LA’s best surf shops.  So the other day, in my attempts to uncover some of Santa Monica’s best, I opened up Google and typed in “Santa Monica surf shops.”  And, voila, Santa Monica Surf Shop popped up.  Intriguing. 

I opened up Yelp and read a couple of the reviews, and I was sold.  Reviews like, “This place is great. its like cheers, where everyone know your name” and “You definitely don’t feel like your at a regular old sporting goods store.”  Um, where can I sign up?!

So I headed on over to Santa Monica Surf Shop on my lunch break the other day, and I can definitely see why this place is a local favorite.  I pulled right up, walked in, and (because Yelp reviews don’t lie) was greeted immediately – “Hi, can I help you with anything?”  I looked around – then looked down – and there was a kid looking up at me with a huge smile.  ”Hi, um, do you work here?”  I replied.  ”No, I just come here a lot.”  How cute; loyal customers to the T.      

A few minutes later, Dennis came out from the back and showed me around the shop.  It was pretty small, but had just about everything you’d need for a perfect day at the beach.  They don’t have a ton of boards in stock, but they will custom order any board you’d like.  They also have rentals, so you can try before you buy.

The shop was started in 1989 by pro surfer Shaun Tomson two years before he won the pro title.  He owned the shop or a couple of years before Channel Islands bought it; the company changed hands a few more times before current owner Jon Monroy bought it and changed the name to what it is today.   

One of the things that differentiates this shop from bigger chains like Val’s is that it has a true local vibe.  They have many regulars who come often, and in the summer their business gets a bump from tourists in town for vaca.  They also have a big used boards section, where people can come in and buy and sell used boards which is rad (for your pocket book, of course).  They also have a ton of local clothing in stock, brands such as Freedom Artists and First Light.  

Though this shop might look small from the inside, people come far and wide for their awesome concert series.  On select nights, they’ll clear out the racks and host concerts.  They’ve had artists such as Tom Curren, which attracted more than 80 fans to the little local shop.  

All in all, great city, great shop – if you’re ever in town, stop on by!

Oh, also, Santa Monica Surf Shop was super awesome, and gave us some stickers and wax to give away!  So, the first 5 people to leave a comment below and e-mail us your mailing address at westboundboarder@gmail.com will get a SMSS sticker in the mail; and we’ll do one grand prize drawing for the board wax.  

Today it was 95 in LA, so if that’s not motivation to get your board and head west, I don’t know what is