Fifty yards offshore, a woman is carving through an overhead set while a family eats lunch on a towel behind her, and nobody involved finds that remarkable. That is the strangest, best thing about this weekend: the largest women's surf contest on earth happens at beach-day distance and costs nothing to watch.
Over a hundred professional surfers compete in a qualifying event while hundreds more athletes fill out ten other sports on the sand — volleyball, soccer, flag football, skateboarding, longboarding, BMX. The village around it runs an all-female DJ showcase, art, panels, roller skating, food tents. What veterans know: claim beach space near the competition zone early, register in advance for the free concerts, and take the Coaster, because parking is gone by mid-morning on Saturday.
Three days at the Oceanside Pier.
Bring a daughter, a niece, a friend. Let them see what a whole beach run by women actually looks like.