Surfing Waves

Whats up guys quick background story. I live in south san diego where the waves are typically 1-3 feet somtimes 4 depending on the beach. Out the back on good days are usually 3 ft. Anyways my grandpa always had this old school encinitas shortboard lots of volume very thick, 5"10 board. I only started surfing about 3 months ago and was able to stand my first try with some other begginer friends. I have skated all my life and just quit a few years ago, im 17 so this makes the standing up part of the surf really easily. Anyways, with this old encinitas board as a begginer, i am only able to surf directly toward the beach and just started catching open faced waves at about neck height. I have only surfed down the line a couple of times however have an easy time turning and stuff due to my past skating experience.

So as a fast learner i went out to go buy a used board the other day when this guy at the store approchaed me very kindly and helped me out with tips of buying a board. I had my mind on a thinner longer shortboard just because my board right now is really old and needs minor repairs. However the guy told me i really shouldnt buy a thin surfboard for several reasons and when i look back it kind of makes sense because the surf here is only 1-5 ft at the highest on normal days and plus, i didnt realize how much harder thinner boards are.

With this in mind i dont know what type of board i should go for. With a surf like san diego, on average everyday conditions, would a 6ft thinner type short board just not be any fun for me? I learned extremley fast on my thick encinitas but still havent managed surfing the back, (usually just get crushed or ride it out on my belly) however i know within no time i will be able to ride out the back and go down the line.

I am not againts longboards either and open to trying to them, but i feel as a fast learner that a longboard would even be harder to control and manuever in the back because of how heavy it is. Also ive tried longboards of my friends at about chest high and that is a blast but i know it will get old and will lead me to wanting to surf in the back.

Fishboard?


Funboard?


Whats the best for san diego conditions year round for somone who is going to learn fast?

Sandie go surf! your name makes two lots of sense.
At 17 you will learn fast and a bigger board won't hinder you.
I've moved your post to surfboard advice , have a read of all the posts available here.
If you can't figure it out from that tell us your weight and height and that will help

jaffa1949 wrote:Sandie go surf! your name makes two lots of sense.
At 17 you will learn fast and a bigger board won't hinder you.
I've moved your post to surfboard advice , have a read of all the posts available here.
If you can't figure it out from that tell us your weight and height and that will help

My bad did not see the surfboard advice thread, i will check it out

I am 5"6 140 pounds.

Will be gaining around 10-20 pounds this year though, (powerlifter) not trying to brag just saying i will be putting on weight for sure in the near future.

A new board won't fix your problems. I say fix the old one and stick with it for a while. As I understand it and I may be wrong but with that board you can catch the waves and stand up but can't get onto the unbroken face of the wave? If that is what you are saying you still have a bit of learning to do before you decide on another board. The bigger the board the easier it will be to catch waves that are unbroken...or even the ones that broke already. This will help with your problem of getting onto the unbroken face. You can turn big boards they just turn differently and take more effort to turn but less effort to catch and ride a wave. However if you don't get discouraged and stick with your current board you will be able to ride it down the line. Whatever board you have it won't make you an instant surfer. It takes some time. So are you paddling and catching the wave or is the wave breaking and catching you? Are any of your friends good surfers? They might be able to help you get going. You probably need to work at catching the waves and popping up before they break.

oldmansurfer wrote:A new board won't fix your problems. I say fix the old one and stick with it for a while. As I understand it and I may be wrong but with that board you can catch the waves and stand up but can't get onto the unbroken face of the wave? If that is what you are saying you still have a bit of learning to do before you decide on another board. The bigger the board the easier it will be to catch waves that are unbroken...or even the ones that broke already. This will help with your problem of getting onto the unbroken face. You can turn big boards they just turn differently and take more effort to turn but less effort to catch and ride a wave. However if you don't get discouraged and stick with your current board you will be able to ride it down the line. Whatever board you have it won't make you an instant surfer. It takes some time. So are you paddling and catching the wave or is the wave breaking and catching you? Are any of your friends good surfers? They might be able to help you get going. You probably need to work at catching the waves and popping up before they break.

Thanks for the advice i will probably stick with this board for a while. I am able to paddle and catch open faced waves in the shallower area that are around 2 feet. But when i go out the back, almost all the waves here in san diego are closeouts so i either paddle and get pearled, catch it then ride it on my stomach untill its already broken then ride the white wash in, or attempt to stand up but nose dive.

The shallower smaller open faced waves are easier because i guess they break cleaner i would say? And im able to ride it towars the sand.

Where as the open faced waves in the deeper back part that are bigger just crush me and the waves here are so much more different than i usually see on youtube. They curl up and build extremely fast up to 3 ft then crash really fast. Although i do see a lot of people still riding down the line. Also i try to catch every wave i see which is a problem i guess i should just wait for the perfect wave.

Yes a big part of surfing is knowing where to be to catch the waves and and which ones to catch and as a beginer that might be different from the more advanced surfers. It is likely if you can figure out where to be to takeoff and persist at it you will get over the pearling thing.

Sandiegosurf wrote: the waves here are so much more different than i usually see on youtube. They curl up and build extremely fast up to 3 ft then crash really fast.

Sounds like you don't need a new board, but that you do need to find a more learner-friendly break.

Beach breaks where the waves jack up at the last second, and then almost immediately dump are some of the hardest waves to surf. You need to be in exactly the right place, time everything perfectly, and then move ultra-fast to get up and riding along the line

Try and find a more mellow break with a slower pealing wave - or you might find that the waves are easier at certain times of the tide. A lot of beaches (although by no means all) will have a fatter, easier wave at high tide than at low tide. Learn a bit of local knowledge about where and when is the most suitable for you.

You might find that, in the long run, you progress more quickly if you find a more forgiving wave and surf it on a larger board. But first of all, find somewhere more learner friendly and see how you get on with your current board

Also have a read through on the surf etiquette sections. I'm not sure how crowded your waves are but if there are crowds and you are trying to catch every wave then someone is going to get pissed off and you don't want to be in that situation!

My personal advise would be stay on the board you have for awhile and just keep learning but if you have funds, a volumous 6'6 modern fish or something like that should provide a lot of turn and wave catching.

Also the faster and harder you paddle early for a wave, the faster and ealier you will be able to get up on it before it closes out.

drowningbitbybit wrote:

Sandiegosurf wrote: the waves here are so much more different than i usually see on youtube. They curl up and build extremely fast up to 3 ft then crash really fast.

Sounds like you don't need a new board, but that you do need to find a more learner-friendly break.

Beach breaks where the waves jack up at the last second, and then almost immediately dump are some of the hardest waves to surf. You need to be in exactly the right place, time everything perfectly, and then move ultra-fast to get up and riding along the line

Try and find a more mellow break with a slower pealing wave - or you might find that the waves are easier at certain times of the tide. A lot of beaches (although by no means all) will have a fatter, easier wave at high tide than at low tide. Learn a bit of local knowledge about where and when is the most suitable for you.

You might find that, in the long run, you progress more quickly if you find a more forgiving wave and surf it on a larger board. But first of all, find somewhere more learner friendly and see how you get on with your current board

Thanks for the tip, i will definitely start looking out for other beaches. The wave is exactly how you describe it. Instead of building up bigger and bigger then crash into white wash, the wave forms the face very fast then immediately crashes, and it doesn't even crash to the left or to the right, most of the time the face of the wave crashes all at one time at about 30 meters wide. But their are waves that crash going to the left or right but not every wave.

I'm surfing this known beginner spot if any of you guys are familiar with Old mans Tourmaline, or Pacific beach.

going to try out la Jolla shores and pacific beach so i can work up my way to surfing sunset cliffs and blacks beach!

Allright!!! Another spot with my name.

Tourmaline and Oldmans as known beginner spots are pretty benign, it is your personalskill level that is finding them daunting
Persist at a beginners spot for a while yet, you are very much a raw beginner and would a risk to yourself and others at a more demanding break!
Usually beginners spots are user friendly in the break and the attitudes of the surfers.

You will improve and you can aspire to bigger and better surfs but let yourself get the skills first.

Not entirely related to the question, but I was listening to a Surf Simply podcast the other day (yes, they now do podcasts!) and they made two comments I might steal and repeat several times. I'm paraphrasing a bit here

1. for anyone intermediate level or below, there is nothing you can do on a short board that you cannot do on a bigger board. However, there are things you can do on a bigger board that you cannot do on a short board (such as paddle for longer, catch more waves and have more fun)

2. having the goal of surfing a short board is like having the goal of using the same chisel as Michelangelo. Sure you can do it, but you are missing the point. What you really want is to have the skill of Michelangelo, in which case the chisel doesn't matter. You don't become skilled because you have a short board.

benjl wrote:Also have a read through on the surf etiquette sections. I'm not sure how crowded your waves are but if there are crowds and you are trying to catch every wave then someone is going to get pissed off and you don't want to be in that situation!

I was out today and there was a guy who paddled for every decent wave.....reason he could was that he rarely caught one.....this went on for about 15 min until I started to paddle across him when it was my turn (which was in my mind the next decent wave after he'd missed one).....he was with a surf camp and I'm not sure that he knew that he was hogging or not....two other campers dropped in on him and they had a three way wipeout that cooled them all down, spread them out and had them looking at other people before going for waves......