We Love Long Beach

Photo by Jared Fuller

“If you would have told me I was going to get the best barrel of my life in front of my house in Long Beach, well, I would have called you a liar,” says investor and entrepreneur Josh Fuller. “Long Beach breaks only a couple times a year—if you are lucky. However, during El Niño, there were so many storms that Long Beach broke a half-dozen times. It was as good as I have ever seen it.”

A Long Beach native, Fuller grew up by the beach. He cites this—as well as his older brother, who also surfs—as a source of his passion for the ocean. But he also realizes Long Beach isn’t a prime destination for surfing. “As much fun as it is to surf Long Beach, it’s also kind of depressing, in a way,” says Fuller, who, due to the city’s polluted and often waveless water, heads regularly to Huntington and Newport Beaches.

While making a Public Service Announcement for the Surfrider Foundation, Fuller came across some old photos of Long Beach at the Historical Society. He says he was both shocked and amazed at what the beaches looked like when the Long Beach coastline was in its heyday. “The beach was covered with thousands of people. There were roller-coasters, beauty pageants, games, restaurants, nice waves and tons of life. It looked like such a fun time to be alive,” Fuller says.

As the support for reconfiguring the breakwater grows, Fuller hopes Long Beach will one day realize the power that waves can bring to this great city. He just hopes that this day is sooner rather than later. // NATE BROWN