Surfing Waves

Hi all,

some mates and I are trying to plan a surf trip in Dec - Jan 06/07 but are finding it really hard to find any place which have decent surf at that time. We are intermediate surfers, e.g. surfed reef in Papua New Guinea and happy with between 4-6 foot reef break.

We were keen on Southern Maldives and Sri Lanka but it looks like the surf is non existent at that time.

We are looking for places more in the northern hemisphere rather than south.

Hawaii, and California both have decent surf at that time of year. Last year in Cali, we did have some 20 footers, but most of the winter it is between 5-10 ft, I think.
I have also heard that Costa Rica is a good place to catch good winter surf, several US-based surf schools have trips down there at that time of the year.

Thx SDCali,

10foot is a bit much for me and my mates, are there breaks more suited to our level of skill, i.e. 4-6foot in Hawaii.

We also want an area that is not crowded (maybe asking the impossible) and away from the main resorts? We are happy with budget accomadation.

Any suggestions

go to half moon bay and hit the mavericks.
Its near san francisco.
Or hit up santa cruz. Ive heard of a beach called 5 mile beach which is five mile north of the city and is not very crowded.
Theirs some ok surf down in SF
Pacifica is nice, Bolinas is good for marin.

yeah california can get som epic winter swells its biggest from dec-jan so if you aint into big surf give it a miss.

Come to Scotland!

Good surf, no crowds and the water temperature will remind you you're alive!

Job done, see ya in a couple of months!

black fins wrote:Thx SDCali,

10foot is a bit much for me and my mates, are there breaks more suited to our level of skill, i.e. 4-6foot in Hawaii.

We also want an area that is not crowded (maybe asking the impossible) and away from the main resorts? We are happy with budget accomadation.

Any suggestions

I'm not as familiar with Hawaii as I am with CA, so I cannot offer any suggestions there, but there is always a variance in the waves from one area on the island to the other, North facing shores tend to get the biggest waves in the winter, while south facing shores generally are bigger in summer.
Most of the CA coastline is less crowded during the winter. As you travel north it does get colder, if there are no storms coming in, the waves are pretty consistant and not too big.

im familiar with surf reports and the knowledge of other experienced surfers in the area that CA is biggest around Dec-Jan...then, is the winter season a bad time for kooks to be surfing? i can't handle anything larger than a 4ft wave

dec-jan will probably be a bad time for kooks to paddle out (if they can make it out that is) But that doesnt mean you cant have fun last dec i saw some kids playing in the shallows on big wednesday they were ctaching these monster foamies it looked kinda fun . I have no plans to surf if it gets over my own confidence threshold as i know full well i wouldnt beable to handle them yet. But its a great time for me to crack out the bodyboard and carve up some monsters (im looking really forward to that )

However the whole of dec-jan isnt going to be knocking out 20 fters but pretty much expect it to be big anyway.

Wintertime is the best time of the year for surfing at the spot Encuentro in the Dominican Republic. We have waves all year round, but the best ones around that period. The spot is really nice and relaxed and a few km. from the village Cabarete. Definitely no mass tourism at Encuentro, just surfers, not crowded; and beautiful surroundings.
Cabarete itself is a great surfers village with friendly people and the country is really beautiful.

morocco can be very very good as well
:p

In California you can surf in Jan - Dec.

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica on the carribbean side. Awesome reef breaks. Lots of other good beach breaks near by. Water is in the high 20´s Celsius. Can get crowded but usually not too bad. ANd it BOMBS!! I´ve seen it. And this is in the small wave season. In dec-jan it is supposed to rock.

my 2 cents worth. not worth alot, but it is free

Yeah California definitely, the winter gets better surf than the summer, its true anywhere if you look at surf reports, places get the best surf during the winter because of the increase in storms, of course if you go somewhere tropical you don't have to deal with the cold water. I think you can find some spots where the waves wouldn't be as big if you go to some of the less exposed spots.

I love my winters here.. we have GREAT surf up north here.. anywhere from waist high on a small day, chest high on a regular day, and double overhead on a big day.

and to the post about mavericks... HAHA RIIIIIIGHT...

Africa Extrem wrote:morocco can be very very good as well
:p

This is a place I wanted to go very badly.. my buddy and I are planning a trip to go there one day in the next year or so.


Also Yemen gets some good surf!!!!
http://www.surfingthemag.com/surfing-ph ... -in-yemen/