Surfing forecasts with a free spirit

SwellMagnet.com is aimed at locals grubbing for the best places to surf in Southern California. Phoning in reports from the beach, contributors to the website deliver dawn patrol surf reports at prime spots from Ventura to San Diego.

Of the half a dozen surfing websites that offer local forecasts, SwellMagnet has the most reports available for free. (The most comprehensive site for surf forecasts, Surfline.com, charges up to $9.95 a month for “premium” content.)

Although the reports have the advantage of providing first-hand information in real time, the credibility of the reports is sometimes undermined by their irreverence and optimism. The same spirit surfaces in the site’s many video clips, which showcase hotshots, wipeouts and “Snake of the Week” -- where surfers who steal waves from others are named and roasted.

Seemingly well-established for a new site, SwellMagnet actually is the expanded successor replacing ElPorto.com, launched four years ago by Mike Durand. It’s worth a visit, if only to scan for cheap surfboards or gear via the site’s SeaCycler classifieds.

-- Emmett Berg