Sunday, March 31, 2013

Leucadia - Where Surfers and Business People Meet

By Carlos Hunnefeld


Leucadia is an eclectic little community on the Pacific Ocean. It once was a mecca for hippies and surfers - remnants of those 1960s days can be seen throughout this north San Diego community. Here you will find palm trees, wooden cigar store Indians, tie-dyed T-shirts and blue jeans, barefoot kids playing in the streets, funky lawn art and glowing beads.

Settled by English spiritualists in 1870, Leucadia was named after a Greek island. Its streets are named after mythological figures. Not too many years ago Leucadia was primarily agricultural; today, many of the wholesale flower-growing businesses are gone, replaced by homes.

Leucadia is home to Italian restaurants, funky shops, yoga studios, palm readers and cool art galleries. Local hangouts include Pannikin Coffee & Tea, a former 1880s train station much favored by the arts crowd; world-famous Lou's Records housing an enormous collection of new and used CDs and records; and Karina's Taco Shop, home of the best Shrimp Burritos on earth.

Leucadia's residents say that the best thing that ever happened to Leucadia was that nothing ever happened to it. Leucadia's beaches are lost in the 1960s and are old neighborhood surf breaks where hundreds of Leucadian's have been surfing for thirty or more years. There are four especially popular surf beaches - Moonlight, Grandview, Beacon's and Stone Steps - all are hidden treasures.

Fitness enthusiasts will get a great workout at Stone Steps Beach. These killer stairs lead down from the bluffs to the ocean offer incredible views while you huff and puff. At high tide the ocean beats at the bottom of the stairs, at low tide, the beach is wide and sandy.

Surf lessons are given year around at Beacon's Beach from the world-famous Kahuna Bob - a champion surfer and highly popular celebrity in Leucadia. You can see Bottlenose Dolphins and Gray Whales from the high-bluff beach entrances at Stone Steps, Grandview and Beacon's Beaches. Look carefully to see the "green flash" (something most people have NEVER seen) as the sun dips behind the vast Pacific Ocean.

Moonlight Beach is a Leucadian treasure - often called "the beach with everything" because it has lifeguard stations all year long, a big new playground for children, multiple spacious parking lots, fire-rings, restrooms with clean showers, beach rentals and a wide sandy beach.




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