SAN DIEGO — Blake Cole, 19, of Redondo Beach emerged from the surf yesterday morning, longboard under his arm, and professed himself satisfied.

"Having fun and doing science," he said. "That's what it's all about."

Indeed, the essence of the Physics of Surfing, a 1-unit course for freshmen at the University of California, San Diego, is to mix physical exertion and intellectual rigor.

As Cole surfed near Scripps Pier in La Jolla, a global-positioning system and an accelerometer taped to his board collected data about the speed, direction and acceleration of the waves.

Later, Cole and his classmates will analyze the data to calculate the relationship between the surfer and the surf in catching the perfect wave — all under the tutelage of David Sandwell, professor of geophysics at UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Sandwell spends his weekdays teaching graduate students at Scripps. He finds the surfing class a good way to end the week and hook some freshmen on the romance of scientific inquiry.

Today's surfers, he figures, may be tomorrow's doctoral candidates. Besides, he's a surfer himself and has been known to ride a wave as part of the class. "It's fun," he said.

The surfing class — co-taught by Stefan Llewellyn Smith, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering — meets weekly, with lectures and laboratory experiments.

One lecture covers the fluid dynamics of the surfboard. Another explores what makes Black's Beach — just down the coast from Scripps Pier — one of the top surf breaks in the world. Short answer: It's the canyon on the ocean floor.

The class is part of a program started at UC campuses in 2003, 1-unit classes exclusively for freshmen. And the classes are pass/no pass — to eliminate the pressure of grades.

Among the freshmen seminars offered at UCSD for the spring quarter are Urban Agriculture; Crime Scene Investigations; Cult Films of the 1950s-2000s; Art, Language and Culture of Flamenco; Math in the Movies; and Beginning Ukulele ("prior experience not needed but should not be afraid of singing").