Silver Strand Sandwiched between the Channel Islands Harbor to the north, and the Port Hueneme military complex to the south, you'd think that Silver Strand's abundant arsenal of seawalls and jetties would restrict its ability to draw in swell activity. On the contrary, this mile of sand is often Ventura County's premiere wave during the winter months. And much like Point Mugu to the south, we've got an underwater anomaly to thank for this. The Hueneme Deepwater Canyon resides just offshore here, and refracts in swell energy of a northwesterly origin with machine-like precision. That's why if you stand on the beach during a blast of Aleutian juice, it'll look like some of the lines are actually coming from the south. You're not hallucinating. That's just the offshore canyon doing its thing. Boasting a longer, more drawn out jetty break at the north end of the beach, a couple wedging jetty bowls at the south end, a heaving peak in the middle, and scattered pits in between -- it's no wonder Silver Strand has developed the reputation for being one of California's finer sandbars. Come back in summer, and the place looks like a pond compared to the winter season. Note to self: winter break only. The beach here has a tendency to be pretty steep and thus requires a low or mid tide. Unless the surf is absolutely gargantuan, high tides flood the sandbars and hardly produce surf comparable to the same conditions on a low or medium tide. Couple Santa Ana winds with an overhead northwest swell ... and you'll think you've died and gone to a cold water Puerto Escondido. Keep your eyes on the horizon, sleeper sets are common here and have been known to catch many surfers snoozing.