Surfing Waves

I went to the east coast for the first time this weekend and there was great surf there. I surfed at Whitby, but found the wave quite steep and fast. Does anyone know where has more gentle or wedge shaped waves as I’m not good enough to catch steep and fast ones! Thanks

South Bay in Scarborough is pretty flaccid if there's enough swell to have anything there.

Similar to you myself and my 13yo daughter were at Scarborough North the same weekend (for our first proper surf trip in NE) and the waves were similar to what you describe, 3-5ft but not very friendly

The last day or two in Scaborough has been small but very gentle, wedge shaped waves at wide intervals - my plan would be to head over again if surf-forecast showed clean sub 1m waves as I reckon they would be nicer than the bigger stuff

Great you had a gentle surf, but I wish to offer you a suggestion about the use of the word wedge in relation to waves. A wedge wave is at the least an A Frame wave with peak in the middle and a left and a right coming off each side. At the extreme Wedge describes a bone breaking, ego smashing wave at extreme expert level.

Google the Wedge at Newport Beach, see what I mean!
Basically what you need is a gentle swell, medium period and not much height!

Glad you got a surf!

just reflecting on my previous rushed (and poorly punctuated) comments to OP - we usually surf in SW/Wales over the summer and are used to "summer" waves, but Scarborough is nearest surf-able spot to home and we have started travelling over just to surf

I have been chatting to lots of folks learnt a bit about the Scarborough area - I am sure more knowledge able folks than me will chip in though

North Bay seems to get nice swell towards the south end, even if 1 or 2 foot is forecast it can be fun for beginner / intermediate. A couple of folks have mentioned to me that Scarborough North can be a bit fast/steep with larger wave sizes because the shape of the beach has changed over recent years, no idea if that is ture. The other issues are tide and rocks, the beach has plenty of areas of rock which you can only see if you read the waves carefully, and at high tide there is no beach and the waves are hitting the sea wall

South Bay seems to have very gentle surf, this week when North Bay had a couple of foot of surfable wave South Bay had nothing - its awkward to get to also so I am yet to be convinced it is worth the drive to surf there

Cayton has space, easy parking and seems to offer variety for beginner / intermediate, wave sizes seem similar to Scarborough North. My next trip will be there

I'd recommend that you find a handful of spots that are in your target surf area and just check them every day. Either go to the spots and look at them yourself or check their surf cams regularly. Familiarize yourself with the swell direction and period, tide heights, wind conditions, crowd conditions, and any other useful info. Every spot gets its share of gentle and ferocious waves so I think you should focus on learning the favorable conditions (favorable to you) for the spots you'll be surfing regularly. Surfline will even list the best conditions (best for experienced surfers usually) for some spots. Once you have seen a spot day-in and day-out, you'll begin to develop a sense of where and when the conditions are right for you. Plus you'll have something to talk about with other surfers. Most surfers will have an opinion on the best/worst conditions of a particular spot. You might as well start forming your own. Good luck.