Wednesday, 21 October 2009

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 some Greek islands and its streets were named for mythological figures. You won't find a Home Depot, McDonald's or shopping mall in Leucadia, but you will still find some of the flower farms that made it the Poinsettia capitol of the world.

Leucadia is home to some of San Diego's finest Italian restaurants, eclectic "head" shops, heated-sauna yoga studios, mysterious palm readers and ultra-hip art galleries. Local hangouts include the very popular Pannikin Coffee & Tea in the old Encinitas train station (very chic); world-famous Lou's Records (home of a huge collection of new and used CDs and records); and Karina's Taco Shop, where you can experience the best Shrimp Burritos ever invented.

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.

You can learn to surf by taking a class at Beacon's Beach from world-famous Kahuna Bob, a Leucadian celebrity. Dolphins and whales are regularly seen, especially from the "high-bluff" beach entrances at Stone Steps and Beacon's. If you're lucky, you'll see the famous "green flash" as the sun takes its final dip into the vast Pacific Ocean.

Leucadia's largest beach, Moonlight Beach, is often called "the beach with everything" because it has lifeguard towers, a big playground for children, roomy parking lots, safe play areas, fire-rings for use after sunset, clean restrooms and showers and a very wide, very sandy beach.

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