Surfing Waves

Where in the world is the best wave for an intermediate surfer? Definition of "best" being not too big (6 feet/2 meters), not too hard to catch and a really long ride.
Of secondary importance:
1) a wave that happens in January
2) is in a warm location (ie Costa Rica would be nice)
3) not insanely crowded/expensive

it really depends on what u want(eg.lefts, rights, hollow, soft) el salvador, costa rica, nicaragua, mexico, panama, etc. all have world class waves, it just depends on what u want

marc_m wrote:Where in the world is the best wave for an intermediate surfer?

I think the question rather neatly demonstrates that you're probably not 'intermediate' yet.

drowning, you are too funny!

drowningbitbybit wrote:

marc_m wrote:Where in the world is the best wave for an intermediate surfer?

I think the question rather neatly demonstrates that you're probably not 'intermediate' yet.

Touche. Perhaps you are right. For arguments sake let's say I am a begining intermediate surfer. Let me also re-phrase the question to read: "if you were a beginning intermediate surfer and could go anywhere in the world to improve your surfing for one week, wher would you go and why?"

Anywhere in the world for just a week and you would have a high chance of getting flat/blown out/big waves etc.

Most places with waves will offer a chance of getting what you are looking for, depending on time of year etc. I guess if you are totally flexible about time and location,then sw France in summer, oz/nz in certain areas, maybe parts of central/south America. If you have the money and don't mind reefs, Maldives could be worth a look.

If you give a bit more info on time if year/budget/part of the world, then you might get some more specific answers.

It sounds to me like you're after a world class super consistent uncrowded mellow point break. If such a thing exists, it will be a major hassle to get to, so a week won't be enough, and it's pretty unlikely that someone on the Internet will clue you into it, hence DBB's comment.

Hang11 wrote:It sounds to me like you're after a world class super consistent uncrowded mellow point break.

Yes, I think that's what I mean (not sure what you mean by "world class" but if that means a long ride then yes) does such a thing exist? For more specificity lets say January in Costa Rica. Anyone know of such a place? Or would such a place be kept super secret?

Get yourself a copy of this
<dead link removed>

Awesome little book, which should point you towards the right place at that time of year.

There's plenty of good spots in Costa Rica, and if mother nature plays ball, you might score it with a nice swell and clean conditions.

marc_m wrote:

Hang11 wrote:It sounds to me like you're after a world class super consistent uncrowded mellow point break.

Yes, I think that's what I mean (not sure what you mean by "world class" but if that means a long ride then yes) does such a thing exist? For more specificity lets say January in Costa Rica. Anyone know of such a place? Or would such a place be kept super secret?

Long ride anywhere in the world?. Does St. Francis bay in South Africa still work?

For me( whom i consider to be intermediate) the best waves in the world for me is one of the reasonably consistant hollow lefts of indo.
Telescopes, moneytrees, speedies, and some secret spots which are all hollow.

If you're looking for long walls to work on surfing without the pitting heaviness you could check out anything like medewi or balian in bali. However you need time to score these waves and there is a crowd sometimes but early you often get waves.

You need at least a few weeks when you go on a surfing focused trip, the less frequent a wave breaks the longer you go for.
If its consistant like g-land its pretty likely you will get good waves in a week of dry season but beginners should not be going to waves like g-land.

In surfing you should never stop learning.
Even if you surf like Kelly you will always have things to learn about weather, ocean,surf spots, surfboards and others that will take a lifetime to master.

Oh january-
id go down to mexico or costa rica as mentioned but i dont know much about those areas.

You want a wave that gets swell so its consistant, but not too much swell so its often around 3-5 ft.
If its a swell magnet it might get dangerous too quickly and too often while you are there, if its rarely bigger than 4 feet than you might be waiting a long time to surf it.