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A Frames, United States

No town nearby. No bookable town within 50 km: the nearest, Rancho Palos Verdes, is 95 km away. Nearest airport: SNA (SNA), 106 km.

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About A Frames

Facing, offshore wind, exposure, level and swell range are estimated. Facts: verified, surf details estimated.

The spot faces SW (241°), so it takes swell from the SW. The wind blows offshore from the NE (61°). It is exposed to the open swell. It suits intermediate surfers and up. It works in 2–8 ft of swell. The sea floor shelves steeply: 10 m deep about 150 m out (1 in 14). On a typical 5 ft, 11 s swell the waves here would break hollow. The sea is about 15°C in January, its coldest month (4/3 wetsuit and boots), and 21°C in August, its warmest (2 mm shorty). For intermediate surfers the best month is usually November, with about 4 good days in 7; in March, April and August, about 2. From the weather of past years. No town nearby. No bookable town within 50 km: the nearest, Rancho Palos Verdes, is 95 km away. Nearest airport: SNA (SNA), 106 km.

Water about 20°C: 2 mm shorty. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

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From Chicago: about 8 h 15 door to door, one way. An estimate; the journey never changes the score.

  1. Fly. Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) to Long Beach International Airport (LGB), direct.

    See flights MDW → LGB · Skyscanner from about £215 returnAd
  2. Getting there. 2 h 10 from the airport to A Frames.

  3. Accommodation.

    No town nearby

    No bookable town within 50 km: the nearest, Rancho Palos Verdes, is 95 km away. Nearest airport: SNA (SNA), 106 km.

  4. Hire and lessons.

Everything else for the trip

Where it is

Surf spot

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Forecast

The score for experts, coloured as on the area pages:GoodFairPoorToo bigToo small

Forecast and score for expert surfers at A Frames, each day
DayScore for expertsSwellEnergyWindTemp
Sun 18Oct29, too small4 ft13 shollow492kJwind from the north-west, 4 knots22°C
Mon 19Oct27, too small4 ft13 shollow568kJwind from the west, 6 knots20°C
Tue 20Oct23, too small4 ft10 shollow334kJwind from the north-west, 7 knots20°C
Wed 21Oct29, too small4 ft11 shollow310kJwind from the north-east, 9 knots, offshore19°C
Thu 22Oct13, too small3 ft10 shollow162kJwind from the west-north-west, 7 knots20°C
Fri 23Oct19, too small5 ft6 smushy137kJwind from the north-north-west, 9 knots20°C
Sat 24Oct18, too small4 ft6 smushy77kJwind from the north-west, 2 knots20°C
Sun 25Oct11, too small3 ft7 shollow58kJwind from the south-west, 4 knots20°C
Mon 26Oct5, too small2 ft11 shollow74kJwind from the west, 8 knots20°C
Tue 27Oct7, too small3 ft6 shollow54kJwind from the north-west, 13 knots18°C

Day scores here are the conditions out of 80; a trip's score on the results is the same conditions out of 100. The journey never scores. The forecast reaches about 10 days. Energy is the swell's power in kJ per metre of wave, from its height and interval: it grows with the square of each, so a long-period swell hits far harder than a short one the same size. The word under the swell is the wave's shape, our estimate from the sea floor. Wind is in knots: 10 kn is about 19 km/h. The arrow points where the wind blows to; offshore wind, blowing from the land out to sea, is green and says so.

Your trip, day by day

6 nights from Mon 19 Oct, leaving from Chicago, for expert surfers. Change dates

  1. Mon 19 Oct
    Travel out

    Direct flight MDW to LGB, then 2h 10 by road. About 8h 15 door to door

  2. Tue 20 Oct
    Rest day

    Too small: 4 ft at best.

  3. Wed 21 Oct
    Rest day

    Too small: 4 ft at best.

  4. Thu 22 Oct
    Rest day

    Too small: 3 ft at best.

  5. Fri 23 Oct
    Rest day

    Nothing worth paddling out for: the best window scores 28 of 80.

  6. Sat 24 Oct
    Rest day

    Too small: 4 ft at best.

  7. Sun 25 Oct
    Travel home

    Direct flight MDW to LGB, then 2h 10 by road. About 8h 15 door to door

Rough cost

About £740–£1,375 each for 6 nights, 2 people sharing a room. A guide from typical prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book. No town nearby, so no stay is in it.

Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to LGB, estimated from distance and season, 1 airline on the route, with a hold bag£215–£450
To the UK airportparking or the train, there and back£35–£65
Hire car6 days, shared£115–£190
Food7 days eating out£260–£480
Board and wetsuit5 days, or about £85 to fly your own£115–£190
Total£740–£1,375

Prices from public sources, checked in 2026: where they come from. Lessons, lift-pass deals and insurance are extra.

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