Hello everyone, my wife and I are going to California in March to see if it's somewhere we would like to move. We are on a one year plan as of now and should be good to go by next summer or earlier. Have any of you lived over there? I'm looking for a town that will have good surf and that will be safe and affordable for me and my family. As a household we will bring in just over 100k to give an idea of our price range. We don't want to live too far from the beach and don't mind apartments or condos either. Even if you have any travel tips would be much appreciated so we can see as much as we can when we head over. Thank you for your time!

 

I live in Oakland right now and have driven from SF south to San Diego a few times. Of all the places, for the price, I like Pismo Beach and Morro Bay. It's a good vibe, no traffic or major scene, and decent waves. Carpintera is nice, too, but pricey.

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http://www.crsurf.com ~ CR Surf Travel Company

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Instagram - @crsurf

While I don't live in Cali I've spent a lot of time out there... I'd say the answer to your question really is a little deeper than just what you wrote - maybe some other factors like skills / carrer. Of course you've got job, income blah blah now but what about tomorrow next year next decade? Housing is fing expensive out there but if you can get in on a 15 year note you'll be able to get past that... So I'd think of place where I could grow in future job but do so without much change- ie within same metropolitan area. 

 

For example if you're innovative tech definitely bay area. I  personally like outer sunset area or down towards Pacifica. But it's crowded and moderately overpriced but I'm a city guy and can see past that. If you like more suburban further down towards San Jose.. Of course for forward thinking a good location might be somewhere with doable commute to Silicone & downtown.

 

BTW yeah the "better" surf is down SoCal but really there's awesome sports all over California...if you've grown up FLa waves you'll be stoked no matter what and besides can make So Cal surfing a little vacation. Sometimes having it right there makes it loose it's amazingness & becomes meh. Having it as adventures keeps it amazing but trust me you'll be stoked no matter what!!! Also bay area is better located for snow if you ever wanna get into boarding or ski and Yosemite wow just wow that place never gets old ( rock climbing is fun to )

 

And last but not least the people are very very different: LA beautiful people but fake...Bay area more melting pot & of course the hippy / environmentalists. I  like San Fran to me it's the city of western US.  (  Oakland  = Brooklyn ,  other parts of East bay = jersey   , peninsula = queens or island  and of course downtown = Manhattan  and San Jose like no place else just so amazing high tech 

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get up early and go surf - it'll make that hangover go away and/or make the workday more tolerable :)

Are you a "Florida Boy"? If so, the one big caveat is Water Temperature. Unless you are "cold hardy", you will be wearing a 3/2 most of the time, and a 4/3 with booties and such in the winter time. I used to travel to Southern California/San Diego County all the time and always wore a 3/2 full suit with booties. Never even gave it a thought to get wet in the winter there, the water was too cold. One time I went to Cardiff and surfed Swamis on a "warm" day when the water had gotten to almost 70. That might have not been too bad if I was used to it but, the surf temp at Cocoa Beach pier the day I left was 85!

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Dora Hates You

It's been a long time since I was out there, but I surfed San Diego and Santa Cruz a decent amount on work trips back in the day.

iirc, there were some not-too-shabby ghetto apartments around Pacific Beach (closer to I-5), but it's been a long time, and prices are exploding everywhere.

Some of my son's friends moved out that way about 10 years ago, and got by with lots of roommates.

Google for "relocation salary calculator" and run your numbers through some of those to get an idea of general cost of living, then the apartment finder / zillow type sites to zero in on the biggest piece of the pie (rent/mortgage). You don't want to be married to debt and too stressed from work to surf, that's for sure!

Stuff gets a lot colder, sharkier, and less crowded north of the Golden Gate Bridge, so there might be less competition for resources in that area.

San Diego county reminds me more of Brevard than the other parts of CA I've visited.


Edited: 02/17/2017 at 11:30 AM by RegularJoe

If it were me, I'd choose the San Diego area. Warmest and so many options. It is expensive though. My sister lives in OB and I like visiting. Good luck. Let us know what you decide.

Lived in lots of places in CA but most familiar with Ventura and area Greg recommended, San Luis Obispo. 

I'd go SLO as super safe for a family, great surf, and beautiful.  Homes are pricey as they would be anywhere in CA where you could access surf.  But less than anyplace from Sanata Barbara south or Santa Cruz to Marin. Maybe homes in North CA like Humboldt area are cheaper?

My job took me to CA back in 2008 and we stayed for litte over a year.  I lived in north San Diego county and also in Orange county.  I had to travel to LA and up to Vandenburg AFB quite a bit so I got to see a lot of the coast.  

I absolutely LOVE California but I would not want to to live there again.  The cost is one thing but if you are good with money you can make $100K work pretty well.  The biggest issue for me is the crowds, not just in the surf but everywhere. Grocery stores, freeways, sidewalks, swap meets, you name it and there are 4 billion people there, even during off hours.

I still travel there often for work and pleasure, in fact my family and I stayed up in Mendocino last summer for a week and are staying in San CLemente this summer for a week.

If you are mobile and can work remotely I would investigate northern CA, somewhere between SF and the OR border.  We loved it up there.

If you need to be close to a city for work I would look into San Clemente, down through Encinitas that general area.  It has a cool, funky vibe to it, not too pretentious and somewhat affordable.  Not to mention tons of great reefs and points.  And you are 2 hrs from LA and less than 1 hr from San Diego.

I have a son in San Diego, whom I visit often. First, you will not have $100,000; you'll have $87,000 after you pay the state tax. So keep that in mind. Second, everything is more expensive, so that $87,000 will get you less than it would here. Third, almost everything there is a bigger pain in the ass than it is here. Dan is right about the crowds - terrible. Hope you love traffic. Fourth, California lies on a fault line and will eventually fall into the ocean. Fifth, it is run by nuts, who seemingly want to ruin the state. They are quickly taking California into bankruptcy. If you nonetheless want to go there, I would not get a job. You will be much better off as a bum. They actually treat bums like royalty there. Check this out for how best get by -

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/08/10/california-scheming-surfer-dude-living-off-food-stamps-81310

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I :heart; Q

San Clemente is by far my favorite place. The edge of where the desert meets the ocean.

+1

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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

100 K sounds like a lot of money in most of CA it is just getting by. You wil be hard pressed to finda home in a beach Town that you could afford.  For The San Diego area you could look around some of the areas like noramal Hieghts and closer to The Univesity. maybe further south in Chula Vista .  For surfing it is paked and you will have to earn a spot and respect at many of the breaks.  I wasa swamies local for 20 years or so.  Great wave but it is now so packed it is hard to see how it can be fun out there.  Of course there is always Mexico for weekends and mid week excapes.  Not as bad as many will tell you.  just be careful. Yes cold water.  East Oceanside might have asome less expensive areas to look into.  Carlsbad is nice but expensive. Same with Encinitas any thing on the coast further south is very expensive Del Mar, LaJolla out of this world Prices.   Go take a looka round Central coast seems nice. you will need some local knowlage to make the best of it. Funny howa little bend in the coast and a slight change in wind direction makes such a big diffrence.  You can drive by a place that never seems to break then one day like magic it is showing a great wave. Then sit for another two years with out a ripple.  I loved my life in in and around San Diego.  

 

You should be able to find a small fixer-upper in North San Diego County, on the east side of I15, for around $700K.

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Dora Hates You

Earthquake risk varies.  San Diego, Morro Bay are not so bad.  

I'm gonna miss what should be an incredible spring in California's grasslands.  Should be poppies and other annual flowers on a huge scale.  LA Times reports that Antelope Valley is expecting only a moderate bloom of California poppies but might have lots of goldfields (that's a flower).  Best time for there and Anza-Borrego will be mid March.  LA is headed into its biggest rainstorm in years.  Dirty water at the beaches.  

Edited: 02/17/2017 at 08:25 PM by ww

From what I have seen of the coast (Ventura on down) I liked north county San Diego. Good waves and not as slummy as LA. $$$$$ for everything though. I would gladly have a home if I made about $500 k there. $100? Not sure it can be done unless you are a filthy miser.

Spent most of my 20's in San Diego and met my wife there.  Live in Indialantic now, which is great too.  We love San Diego and have looked at moving back several times.  Having a family of four changes the equation dramatically, though.  North County San Diego is definitely slower and more family oriented.  We've looked at areas west of El Camino Real...basically Carlsbad and Encinitas.  Good schools and doable commutes depending on where you work.  You might check out San Marcos...not that far from the beach, good schools, and more affordable than coastal San Diego.  We have close friends in Clairemont - very central, close to PB/La Jolla, schools are so so.  Water rarely drops below 58 F, so 3/2 and boots and you're good.  Oceanside has great beach break - spread way out over many peaks.  Water is much colder north of LA.  $100K could be tough, but if you're OK with a condo and a drive to the beach, it might work.

I spent quite a number of years there over the years. Its incredibly expensive first and foremost.
My favorite area is Santa Barbara/Ventura. A gazillion great breaks, and the crowds are less than most of the rest of the state. So many great point breaks, so little time...
If you have the time and schedule not to go at peak times, and the most obvious breaks.
And it's not that much colder than south of there, and 15/20 degrees warmer than Santa Cruz, Morro Bay or, where my brother lives, Monterey. But it's all cold.
Mountains AND the channel islands right there. Fishing, and diving. Lots of tech and aerospace work. Great arts and music town.
Some little losers like this pablo (pigblo) dufus maybe got beat up there, or couldnt get a date. Or behaved like an east coast dweeb.
So they bad mouth the great state of California. I always was welcome and had a lot of fun
Now i enjoy my visits, but Florida is better in nearly every respect

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It's a democratic hoax

 

"Florida is better in nearly every respect"   How so?

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The Dude Abides.

http://www.rollerphotography.com/

Back in 2001, , , , DRS purchased a division of Boeing in Anaheim, and eventually moved the programs to Melbourne.

The Florida based managers were going nuts trying to "communicate" with staff in California. They knew the time difference but were very upset to find that most key personnel in California work from 4am to 1pm California time!!!!!!! All in order to avoid the traffic madness! Even after supposedly knowing this they kept scheduling travel to Anaheim with the intent of getting there and having an afternoon meeting. Stupid is as stupid does.

The other thing, , , , during the time of trying to convince key personnel to relocate to Florida, , , , the wife of a person I knew here did real estate and was talking with one of the guys who had been flown in from California to see if he wanted to relocate to Brevard, , , ,. She asked him what/where he would like to live, , , , his only concern was that he wanted, if at possible, to be able to live within 30 miles of the plant!!!!!!! All he could relate to was California traffic.

Another guy had a decent house on a big lot east of Anaheim. He was worried about what he could afford here; being that his California property was "so far out of town", , , ,. He ended up paying cash for a nice house on a couple acres just south of Grant, and pocketed $435K from the sale of his California place!!!!!

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Dora Hates You

Holy crap everyone! I didn't expect this many people to chime in. My wife and I definitely appreciate all of the info and will look into it all. We go in March so I will give my synopsis when we return. You guys are great! Thank you again!

If you're aerospace, space x launches out of vandenburg afb , again right by where i just described. justup the road is the cool danish town of solvang. the growing areas: gilroy garlic, castroville artichokes. monterey crabs and fish. america's garden: salinas
except no one will be available to work the fields anymore... but other than that...

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It's a democratic hoax

If you get a job at Vandenburg AFB.The base is also home to one of the country club Fed Prisons for white collar and non violent coke dealers. There werea few big name people in the surf business that spent some time there.  They have two really excellent waves On Vandenburg, that are hard to excess, unless you are in The Military or work on base. One is a right point that will hold as big as it gets. The Other is a very shealtered left peak.  The Great white problem in that area is very real.  Cold Water issues are real. summer fog is also an issue.  The Central coast is still very beautiful. great camping, hiking mountain biking.  Diving and other activities outside of summer.  You can Surf in the moring and be skiing in the afternoon if you choose.    

 

 

Another thought is if you do not need to be close to your work and can do it from home. Think about northren Baja asa place to live close to the boarder and so not too far from Home cheaper then living in CA  i will be leaving Florida in about a year or so. looking at diffrnt options Costa Rica, Panamal maybe Puerto Rica.  Then Thought about northren Baja.  Just thinking as I type.  Baja means year around wetsuits.  Tropics does sound better just further from family.

 

 

You must be new, or just unaware. cali vs FL is THE MOST discussed topic on this forum next to local shaper vs popout. IF you do a search (see that search box up there ^^) , better pull up a lawn chair and get a case of popcorn!

 

I'll save you the trouble, and summarize it for ya:

 

Cali - you can't afford it!

I've been on here for years just don't frequent too often. I know people making much less living in decent places making a decent living. As long as you are conscious with your funds you can make it. Watch the movie Minimalism on Netflix, it'll help. At least it helped me. But thanks for the optimism and chiming in! 

The california biathlon: surf in the morning, ski in the afternoon. here i come...

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It's a democratic hoax

life goals

 

Let me summarize it for YOU::

Anybody who'll refer to California as "cali", don't know their right from their left DICK about it. Ignore them mate.

Poway area muchy peligrosa para gringo's in recent years. Ignore that too. 

Rent awhile. Go wherever else you want. You'll do fine, even if you find yourselves equating rent as high as 2/3 monthly bring home for you guys. Ramen- Then,, you'll know what t'do next. Adventure baby!!

 

 

Yeah, the guy across the street from me in Satbe is a California transplant. He bought the Fla. house sight unseen for a bit over $200k. I asked him why he didn't wait to look at it and he told me that it didn't matter as it was practically free relative to home prices in California. Said our houses would be worth millions in California.

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I :heart; Q

Poway Hills? 25 miles from La Jolla. Seemed affordable by California standards travelled around there....do not know much about the community but coming from FL, I like Hills and would not mind living inland and drive 30-45 mins to surf.

Funny and related article:

The 15 Men You Will Meet In San Diego

http://thoughtcatalog.com/mela...ill-meet-in-san-diego/

Wow, ww, gave me a major nostalgia blast. When you drive north from santa barbara to go surf the great waves of jalama beach and the gnarly left tube of tarantulas.(actually a great right, too. on the right swell)
You pass these amazingly colorful banks of multi colored tulips in the town of lompoc.
And as you drive out the road from 101 to jalama. Or the equally amazing drive from the freeway to morro bay and montana de oro park: the flowers....the beautiful golden flowers. and it smells like nowhere on earth
Thank you lord for giving california her rains back. The flowers go nuts. The great sandbar breaks re appear. I can stand under a waterfall at its true potential above ojai where my buddy lives. He shapes for for Roberts Surfboards after 22 years at channel islands.
You can go in the hills above big sur for the waterfalls again. of course, once they clear the landslides...
but, i'll post next why florida is clearly better. But i'll ski in the mountains. And do my high altitude dive again in lake tahoe this spring. and surf lotsa great waves in my beloved california...

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It's a democratic hoax

Hands down the best little surf town in California is Carpinteria.

Close to Rincon and many other spots that I won't mention.

 

If you're making $100k in Florida you'll certainly make more then that in California. Before I moved to SF 4 years ago I was making $60,000/year in Florida. When I moved to California I was making $90,000 to do the same exact job. Rent/owning is crazy expensive, but in my opinion it's totally worth it. You pay for the quality of life. Commodities aren't much more then back in Florida. I say go for it, what's the worst that could happen, you move back in a couple of years? Don't listen to the negative people on here who were to scared to risk it and get the hell out of Florida.

Sure it is a personal choice. My son moved there from Florida and loves it. He's young and more than doubled his salary though. Some of the folks who are providing the perspective that California is not exactly a paradise have lived there, myself included. If the OP only wanted positive reviews he should have said that. But he didn't. Anyway, not scared here, I just know better from personal experience. California is not my kind of place.

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I :heart; Q