Surf season is here—and also the surf season that never ends in the Central Valley.

Sara Rubin here, ready to go wave watching again as another winter swell comes into Monterey Bay starting tonight. Emphasis on the “watching” for me—as soon as the waves are higher than piddly little 2- to 3-footers, it’s usually too intimidating for me, a perma-beginner. (To any expert surfers out there reading this, I want you to know I have achieved at least intermediate status in staying out of your way.) 

I love getting in the water when conditions are right. At Surf Ranch, located in the Central Valley community of Lemoore (near Fresno), conditions are always right. The famous wave pool designed by pro surfer Kelly Slater is engineered to deliver waves on demand that give surfers a perfect wave every time, on repeat. There are no sandbars ever-shifting, there are no tides to sync up with or sunset that ends your session (thanks to lights). For serious surfers, this is a thrill. 

“It’s like going to Disneyland and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” says Kelly Sorensen, owner of On the Beach Surf Shop in Monterey. “It is the happiest place on Earth.”

Sorensen is a repeat visitor to Surf Ranch, coordinating multiple trips each year. I joined him and a crew of surfers in September to report on Sorensen’s 60th birthday party, held at his happiest place on Earth. He’s now putting finishing touches on a guest list for the weekend of Dec. 6-7. And he’s accepting inquiries for people who want to join on his next confirmed dates, as far out as August 2026. (To inquire, call the shop at (831) 646-9283.)

For the non-surfer or the beginner-level surfer like me, the allure can be hard to relate to. The trips (all-inclusive, yes, with food and drink and optional lodging onsite) are pricey, depending on the date. People are paying for the guarantee of great waves. 

As I learned, the visitors to Surf Ranch are drawn purely to the wave itself—the energy moving through water. It’s physics, not the ambient experiences. I find their sense of thrill extraordinary, if unrelatable. 

I went to Surf Ranch just to observe, not to surf (although I did hang out in the shallow end of the pool with the kids in the group for some boogie boarding on the whitewater). I also got to ride on the back of a jetski that put me right in the action, next to the surfers. 

I asked people on the September trip why they’d come to Surf Ranch when surf tourism around the world is its own thrill. Several who described the uncertainty inherent in conditions—you can take vacation days and book a trip to Mexico or Fiji (or fill-in-the-blank) at great expense, but there’s just no guarantee the wave itself will meet expectations when you arrive. 

For me, part of the fun of ocean activities is the ever-changing conditions, but it’s hard to imagine ever feeling such a pure thrill from the perfect wave that I’d seek it out. There’s something almost philosophical about the sport seen through Sorensen’s eyes, that it is possible to seek—and attain—an idyll.