Surfers are out trying to find waves early this morning on the south side of the Huntington Beach, with the anticipated swell showing just slightly.

There are long lulls between waves, but a few different swells in the water are making nice peaks for surfers to pick off. The skies are cloudy, and crowds still thin, but the die-hard fans have picked a spot to watch from the sand.

Three-time U.S. champ Rob Machado has already battled it out against Mick Fanning, both taking the top two spots to continue in the contest.

If you plan to come down, parking shouldn’t be as bad as it will be during the weekend. And if we get lucky, the big waves everyone is talking about should start to show later today.

Hurley has set up live streaming of the contest starting today, if you can’t leave the office, check it out. And for up-to-the minute blogs and photos, check out OrangeCounty.com/beaches.

Here’s a look at what to expect for the day:

Festival: On the sand area south of the pier, there’s a ton of booths to stop by and check out. See the Nike 6.0 BMX get underway at 3 p.m. Concerts at the Hurley Microphone for Youth Stage today by Nick “I” Hernandez (4 p.m.), longboard surfer Josh Mohr (4:45 p.m.), and Sashamon (5:45 p.m.)
Surfing Walk of Fame: Kicks off at 10 a.m., with surfers recognized in front of Jack’s Surfboard on Main and Pacific Coast Highway. Also see the OC Surfers of the Year – Brett Simpson, Courtney Conlogue, Joe Aaron and Andrew Doheny – recognized for being the 2009 voter’s choice.

Surfing:

Men’s: Kicked off this morning at 7:30 a.m. San Clemente’s Tanner Gudauskas surfs this morning, with his brother Patrick surfing at about 10:10 a.m. Local boys are going up against some serious competition later today, with Mike Losness up against three-time world champion Andy Irons, and Brad Ettinger up against nine-time world champ Kelly Slater later today.
Women’s surfing: Gets underway at about 1:45 p.m. with round 24, heats 1 – 6. Defending junior’s champ will go up against defending women’s champ Manuel Malia in the first heat. Santa Ana’s Courtney Conlogue will surf in the last women’s heat of the day against Sally Fitzgibbons.

Junior Men’s: starts at about 4:15 p.m.

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