The Brief

The 2028 Olympic surfing competition will be held at a famed break south of San Clemente, according to an announcement came with the reveal of nearly all of the remaining Olympic venues earlier this week.

Organizers chose Lower Trestles over Huntington Beach — literally trademarked Surf City USA — to host the sport’s third Olympic appearance. But why? Let's explore.

A 'surf jewel' for nearly 100 years

Lower Trestles, or Lowers, is one of several surf breaks at San Onofre State Beach, which stretches from Orange County’s San Clemente into north San Diego County.

The land is the ancestral home of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation and a site that marks the village Panhe is about 2 miles from the shore.

The name refers to a nearby former wooden bridge (it’s now concrete) south of the break that carries the Amtrak Surfliner train.

One of Trestles Beach's defining features are the cobblestones that help maintain the shore and create a distinct A-frame wave. Here a surfer enters the water prior to the start of the 2023 Rip Curl WSL Finals in 2023.

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The cobblestone reef offshore helps create consistent waves that have drawn locals and competitors alike to the “surf jewel” since the 1930s. The spot was once off-limits to the public because of the nearby U.S. Marine Corps training facility Camp Pendleton, but California has had a long term lease to operate the park since 1971.

“It is considered one of the best surfing destinations,” said State Park Superintendent Kevin Pearsall. “There are kids and there are people that travel from around the world to here to experience that and hoping for the best break they can.”

San Onofre State Beach shares its name with a now-decommissioned nuclear generating station that sits south of the surf breaks, seen here in the background on Sept. 19, 2012.

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Mark Boster

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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While Huntington Beach had lobbied for years to host Olympic surfing, Brian Brower, director of administrative services for the city of San Clemente, said the city wasn’t involved in any pitch for the surfing event to be held at Trestles, which sits just outside of city limits on State Parks land.

Pearsall said the World Surf League, which regularly hosts contests at Trestles, submitted a bid to host the Olympics on the State Parks' behalf. We reached out to the organization for comment, but have not heard back.

Still, Brower, who’s a surfer, said the city would “embrace” an Olympic surfing event at Trestles. “It’s one of the more coveted surf spots in Southern California, especially in the summer months,” he said. “I think the majority of surfers, if polled, would prefer to surf Trestles.”

Largely untouched, widely respected

The break is beloved for its waves and natural beauty and short on man-made amenities — even the nonprofit that supports the state park describes the beach itself as “a bit sparse and difficult to access.”

Surfers (and spectators) have to hoof it about a mile down from a parking lot south of a Carl’s Jr. or park at the main San Onofre State Beach lot (Old Man’s) to the south and walk from there.

“You don't see hotels and residents and things like that,” Pearsall said. “It is a true dynamic of untouched, park-protected area.”

Surfers walk and bike on the path to Lower Trestles on July 18, 2024.

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Allen J. Schaben

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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Fans gather to watch the Rip Curl World Surf League Final at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California on September 14, 2021.

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Apu Gomes

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AFP via Getty Images

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The lack of infrastructure hasn’t hampered surf contests. The State Parks reports the first one was held at San Onofre in 1938. Then-teen Kelly Slater won his first pro contest at Lowers in 1990 and in recent years it's been an annual stop for World Surf League competitions — the next one will be held June 9-17.

Ahead of the 2024 Olympic surfing contest in Tahiti, Teahupo'o residents and surfers protested the construction of an aluminum judging tower and pushed back on proposals for large-scale construction projects.

Whereas the reef that creates Teahupo'o’s “wall of skulls” is made of living coral, Lowers break is shaped by cobblestones and boulders.

Pearsall said part of the agreement to host the Games was that the area would be returned “back as it was presented.”

What makes a good wave?

There are as many answers as there are surfers.

“That's the beautiful part of surfing,” said Peter Belden, founder of a Newport Beach surf club. “It's all up to the individual. Some people love a slow, cruisy, small wave, some love big scary waves.”

Belden, who’s surfed in about 30 countries, considers himself in the latter category.

A-frame waves, like this one at Lowers on September 14, 2016 during a surfing competition, offer surfers the option of going left or right.

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Joe Scarnici

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Cathy Young, who leads the Wahine Kai Women’s Surf Club from Huntington Beach, prefers to make her turns on a gentler swell.

“Some people want overhead, they want it fast, they wanna be flying down the wave and they don't care about getting pummeled,” Young said. “I'm 62 years of age and I don't want to be pummeled anymore.”

But in general, Young and Belden said, here are a few of the characteristics surfers of all types look for:

• Consistency: LA28 called Lowers waves the “best and most consistent waves for competition” in Southern California. 
• Face: The unbroken surfable part of the wave, not the whitewater that follows after a wave crashes down.
• Shape: For example, A-frame waves break in the middle and allow surfers to go left or right. A barreling wave creates a tunnel that surfers, with the right skills, can glide through.
• The right wind: An offshore breeze that blows from sea to land can smooth the face of a wave, whereas onshore wind that blows from the sea to the land makes the water choppier and flattens the waves.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.