Outside Magazine is a mixed bag of outdoorsiness and yuppiness, all packaged in a publication aimed for middle-aged men trying to hold on to whatever remnants of youth they still encompass. I don’t want to completely bag on them – their writers do produce quality content from time to time, and fans of Jon Krakauer will forever owe their gratitude for exposing the talent behind the writer. Unfortunately, they miss the mark nine times out of ten, and that one time when they do come up with something worthwhile, it never involves surfing. Case in point: Their selection of Tofino, British Columbia as “The best surf town in North America.”

The statement by the editors of Outside Magazine is bold; North America is a vast continent, with coastlines of pristine surf and accompanying cities and towns stretching for approximately 6,000 miles just on the Pacific side.

Don’t get me wrong; I really dig Tofino. This past summer, I spent two months living just south of the picturesque town on Vancouver Island. If you missed it, I wrote a comprehensive guide detailing nearly all of Vancouver Island’s different surf locations. It’s a great place to surf – for maybe four months out of the year.

The remaining eight? Stormy weather, closeouts, and never-ending sets mixed in with one-second intervals. Think San Francisco’s Ocean Beach on steroids. Does that sound like the best surf town in North America to you?

Here are some more reasons why Tofino shouldn’t have been selected by the editors of Outside Magazine:

- It rains. A lot. And surfing in the rain blows.

- When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, it’s really bad. This is typically the case at most surf breaks around the world. This is not the case at the really good surf breaks around the world. It rarely gets bad in Santa Cruz, CA. Nor does it get bad very often at various breaks near San Diego, CA, where the warm water and pleasant weather can make up for a lack of good swell.

- Tofino is a very small town. During the summer months, when the weather’s nice enough to go surf, the town becomes extremely congested with stereotypically-annoying tourists. They can often-times reduce the feel of isolation or connection one should experience with Vancouver Island’s wilderness.

- Tofino is also a very expensive town, in addition to its affluent nature. Bill Gates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and John Travolta (among many opulent individuals) own vacation homes here. The cost of living is sky-high.

- None of the surf breaks near Tofino are within walking distance to anything except a few high-end resorts. Without a car, you can’t walk or ride a bike to the nearest break. Not convenient.

You're probably asking yourself, "OK then, what city should be named 'The Best Surf Town in North America?'" In this humble writer's opinion, Santa Cruz, CA wins hands-down. I'll quote myself from a passage I wrote about Santa Cruz in the recently published book, The Great Book of San Francisco Bay Area Sports Lists:

"During the summer the weather is outstanding. And after the morning marine layers burn away, even the winter can provide sunshine and warmth for everyone. Yet the weather isn’t the reason why Santa Cruz (is the best surf town in North America). It’s the world-class surf. In fact, the city of Santa Cruz is embattled to this day with Huntington Beach, CA over the label “Surf City” because of the quality of surf, and the numerous different breaks surfers can choose from. If you want some of the most ridiculously perfect waves, you can go to the west side and surf Steamer’s Lane, or head east and ride the appropriately-named Pleasure Point. The local temperament isn’t what one should be worried about when you’re in the water: It’s trying to actually catch waves. The locals are just that good, so much so that the challenge is simply paddling hard enough to get proper positioning. And if you’re a beginner, Cowell’s is one of the premier beginner spots, with long, gentle waves anyone can catch."

I would even select Encinitas, CA or San Diego, CA ahead of Tofino as the best surf town in North America. Not only do Santa Cruz, Encinitas and San Diego (not to mention countless Central American towns) have better surf and warmer weather, but you can get a delicious breakfast burrito in any of these three towns for half the price one would pay in Tofino. As a surfer, the breakfast burrito factor is extremely important when choosing a favorite surf town.

Keep in mind that this is the same Outside Magazine that named a certain east coast lawyer as one of their “Adventure Entrepreneurs.” The same east coast lawyer who kicked out the Godfather of Mavericks, Jeff Clark, as the Contest Director of the Mavericks Surf Contest. Outside Magazine even drew an artist’s rendering of the east coast lawyer, bordering worship status. So while it isn’t surprising that Outside Magazine botched yet another surf story, it is disappointing that a publication with 600,000 subscribers continues to provide extremely poor surf coverage to their readers.