A strand of kelp tumbles in a backlit wave.

A surfer is silhouetted heading out for a late afternoon session at Steamer Lane.

A backlit wave at Steamer Lane highlights a surfer riding a glassy face as the Monterey Bay stretches out to the south. Late afternoon winter light combined with large translucent waves have been creating magical moments at Santa Cruz County surf breaks over recent weeks. Santa Cruz Sentinel Sports Editor Jim Seimas in 2018 wrote, “During a winter storm in the late 1930s, big sets of waves were rolling through, prompting Claude ‘Duke’ Horan to tell a group of surfers gathered around a beach fire, ‘My God, look outside, they’re breaking clean out in the steamer lane,’ referring to the route steamboats would take to the Santa Cruz Wharf.” The name stuck and in December, Surfer Magazine ranked Steamer Lane the third best California surf spot after Malibu and Mavericks.

A Steamer Lane surfer tames a large wave during a late afternoon session.

Hometown hero Nat Young cuts across a wave face in the high contrast light toward the end of day.