Surfing Waves

Hey,
May be in these spots next year for college, am wondering about the general surf/lack of surf in these areas. Also, if you have any opinions on the cities, themselves, feel free to post. (Obviously some of these areas are going to be way better than others surf-wise)

Boston, MA
Philladelphia, PA (Probably the hardest to get surfing done from)
Closer to Washington DC, but actually in Maryland
Santa Barbara, CA


Thanks

cali definitely going to be the best bet for surfing.

i grew up about 1 1/2 from philly...don't know why but i am not a big fan of the town. cheesesteaks, the roots, it's always sunny in philadelphia, the rocky series, and jedi mind tricks are about the only things i like that came from philly. pittsburgh is better.

boston will be cold and snowy during the winter. never been there, but again, not a fan of the town. i think it's because of the sports teams. i hate the patriots, bruins, celtics and red sox. so from that, i think i unfairly judge the city. i would like to go there sometime, i hear it is a cool town. just the aura of the sports teams keeps me from definitely going.

dc is pretty cool, you're about 4-5 hours from the outer banks, but traffic is insane on the beltways all the time. depends where in/around dc/norva/md you'll be living.

out of those 4, i'd probably choose santa barbara, i just have no knowledge of anything about that city..maybe that's why i'd go there

yeah, problem is santa barbara is in state for me, and i kinda wanted to maybe get out of state. not sure yet, though.

twerked wrote:cheesesteaks, the roots, it's always sunny in philadelphia, the rocky series, and jedi mind tricks are about the only things i like that came from philly.

right on!

I would go to Santa Barbara because I can't tolerate water less than 55 degrees. When you're not surfing, there will always be other "recreational" activities to participate in (i.e. UCSB = University of Sex and Beer).

hahaha. anyone else?

Santa Barbara would blow any of those other places away as far as surfing goes. If you want to get out of state and surfing is what you are after, you should look at Florida or one of the Southern Atlantic states, like Georgia, North and South Carolina, or Virginia. Either that or one of the Gulf Coast states, like Alabama or Texas, although the surf is not as consistent as on the Atlantic seaboard.

b123 wrote:yeah, problem is santa barbara is in state for me, and i kinda wanted to maybe get out of state. not sure yet, though.

But, out of state is more costly, it can be a nice balance, depending on where in the state you are from. For me...I stayed in state, but it was far enough away but close enough to home..4 hour drive.

Hey b123,
Here's a bit of info on the spots for you. Obvioulsy when it comes to consistent surf Santa Barbara is at the top of the list but if you don't want to stay close to home toss that option out the window.

Boston is a great city and in my opinion it tops the rest of the list. Reason being, it's a central hub for some great New England surf breaks. It's a relatively short drive north to New Hampshire or south to Cape Cod or Rhode Island. The surf there obviously isn't as consistent as CA but when it's on it's world class and there are a variety of different break styles. Point break, rock reef, beach break, etc. There are even a couple beaches right outside the city that get surf once in a while. Nantasket, Scituate, etc.

Philly's a great city and relatively close to the Jersey shore which can get real good but you don't have as many options.

DC is an amazing city as well but not convenient for surfing. The closest beaches to Maryland aren't very consistent and the bottom contours don't translate well to great surf. I noticed someone mentioned that it's only a five hour drive to the outer banks of NC from DC which is true... if there's no traffic.. which is rare. But even then, five hours is five hours.

I apologize to our southern surfing brethren for my next line but coming from California you'd most likely be dissapointed with the surf in most of the southern atlantic states. The outer banks of NC is the main powerhouse in the south but there aren't really any schools nearby. The closest is probably ECU which is a couple hours away.

Another option you might want to consider though, is NYC. It has great schools and surprisingly decent surf isn't that far. A quick train ride'll put on Long Island and if you want to go all the way out to Montauk you can get there in under two hours. The Jersey shore's not far from there either.

Good Luck

Jon

Well, thanks for your input everyone. After visiting the colleges, I've decided upon UCSB for next year. It came down to that and Boston University, and I really just didn't like Boston University's lack of a real college campus (I was waitlisted at NYU, but didn't accept a slot because of the same lack of a campus problem). Thanks for all of the help everyone!


Anyone have some info on the different spots in Santa Barbara?

Anyone?

San Diego has loads of surf nearly all the time (better than Santa Barbara) and has UCSD. Going out of state is over-rated. Go to a Uni that you can surf regularly at. For some variety during the 4 years, go one or two semesters as an exchange student to some place that interests you. This could be in the US or another country. You might even go some place surfable!