Surfing Waves

Any Bournemouth/Boscombe surfers here? Can you share any info about the local surf? What make good conditions and in what conditions is it worth going out?

this is where my local spot will have to be when im too skint to go down to devon/cornwall.

would be interesting to see what info you can get!

Big low Bay off Biscay????

DBB, KS and others can supply better info.

Bournemouth/Boscombe are not the best in the area u are better off taking the exter trip too k bay

but


WAVE DIRECTION: various
IDEAL WIND: northerly
IDEAL SWELL: southerly
IDEAL TIDE: all
HAZARDS: rips / weaver fish
AVERAGE WATER TEMPS: 7°C - 15°C
DIFFICULTY: beginner

Bournemouth....dont like the place.....

But for what its worth, you can either get a wave pretty much anywhere along the beach, but it'll be a short ride and tends to be a bit of a shore dump. Or, much better, you can surf next to the pier and get quite a nice ride, but the moment its working it'll be very very crowded, and you'll struggle to get a wave because the sweet spot that works is so small. Ive always struggled to get a wave there when its on

You need a big swell from the southwest for it to work, it needs to be showing a good 6ft on MSW for there to be anything at all. You'll hardly ever get a decent offshore with swell, but it'll work on a westerly, particularly in the shelter of the pier.

Bournemouth has the weird double tide thing, and hence has quite small tides, so doesnt make as much of a difference as a lot of places on the south coast.

There are better spots either side of bournemouth once you've learned the basics of surfing.

Oh, and....

Bournemouth is basically a winter spot. It does work on occasion outside of that, but from october - april is about the limits of the season.
Hurricane swells occasionally make it up to bournemouth and then thats about the best you'll get with proper groundswell and a decent period.

Finally, bournemouth picks up a fair amount of wind swell. Which is pretty pants but if you're desperate - or learning - it can give you an excuse to get in the water and play on the slop.

As a rule of thumb (this is very open to vagueness) I find the south coast works best towards the end of a big swell. Chances are that during the peak of a swell, the winds will also be on top of it and it'll be blown out. But often as the low pressure swings away, there can be a moment (and it really can be a moment.... the second its working you should get out there. It wont last long) of decent swell and little wind.

bournemouth and boscombe are xxxxx, the slightest hint of a wave and theres 20-30 people in the water, but then again iv surfed it times when its 3ft and realy clean and theres only been 4 or 5 other people out. your hardely ever going to get swell here without wind, so i would advise always surfing by the peirs and use them for shelter. bournemouth is normaly alittle better than boscombe, but there are alot more people in bournemouth so its up to you where you go. us locals arnt to bad, dont drop in ect ect and well be fine. befor you surf here i would advise you check the webcams at sorted surf shop and bournemouth surfing center.

Having written all that about bournemouth, I thought I might have to backtrack when bluesnowcone came on, as after all you're a local and Im just a visitor, but...

bluesnowcone wrote:bournemouth and boscombe are xxxxx, the slightest hint of a wave and theres 20-30 people in the water

...completely agrees with me, so I wasnt too far off the mark

....so is there anywhere that has semi decent swell that is close to bournemouth

Cheers for the info
sucks about it being so busy, maybe if i go early in the morning / late evening it won't be as busy

What are your opinions on the artificual reef at boscombe?

Hope to see some of you guys down there in the winter

Witting doesn't look like a bad place to surf, anyone know the best conditions for it?

Kabazz wrote:Witting doesn't look like a bad place to surf, anyone know the best conditions for it?

Wittering?

Yeah, wittering is okay. Longer rides than bournemouth and a good deal less crowded, but as its an open beach break there arent any sheltered spots.

It works best on the incoming tide, and the best spot for beginners (Bracklesham) can only be surfed up to mid-tide. After that it becomes a shore dump. So not only have you got to the conditions right, but you have to get the tide times right too

drowningbitbybit wrote:

Kabazz wrote:Witting doesn't look like a bad place to surf, anyone know the best conditions for it?

Wittering?

Yeah, wittering is okay. Longer rides than bournemouth and a good deal less crowded, but as its an open beach break there arent any sheltered spots.

It works best on the incoming tide, and the best spot for beginners (Bracklesham) can only be surfed up to mid-tide. After that it becomes a shore dump. So not only have you got to the conditions right, but you have to get the tide times right too

Yeah i meant wittering thank
Hmm sounds abit tricky lol tide doesnt seem to matter as much at bournemouth, why is bracklesham best for beginners? Is there larger waves too be found elsewhere?

Do you kimmeridge and/or durlston point? Maybe i move onto those when i progress & get better...

Also i've surfed at southbounre before, better or worst than bournemouth? Or does it depend on conditions. No pier there....



Lol sorry, kind of bombarding you with questions here but thanks it's really helpful

Kabazz wrote:why is bracklesham best for beginners? Is there larger waves too be found elsewhere?

Its not the size, its the conditions. There are other parts of the bay, but they involve currents, rips, shifting peaks etc etc. Stick to Bracklesham, which is the most consistent anyway.

Bournemouth/boscombe is my local too. While I was firmly sticking to learning in the whitewater it was ok, though I did get a mouthfull of wet sand from the shoredump once or twice - tip: dont swear out loud if you know your about to wipe out, keep your mouth shut and you wont be eating sand/drinking seawater. Common sense obviously but it took me a while to learn for some reason

Ive tried once at a peak but a weak wave broke my knackered old leash that I should have replaced much sooner so the session cut short.
Anyhoo...yeah the place is packed on any good swell, seen 40 people chasing 1 small peak, couldnt be bothered myself - only wouldve wasted the wave and figured the wave starved locals would have had something to say about it! If you can get a weekday when there is swell it can be pretty quiet.

I have read too that the low needs to be in the Bay of Biscay in order for the swell to make it up the channel.
Weaverfish - think thats mainly a summer problem, unlikely to be surfing bmth/boscombe in summer.
Strong cross shore currents, if your still learning and not at the peak/peir dont bother paddling against it, leave it and just walk back up the beach.
What conditions are worth going for?: if you're wave starved and have nothing to do with a Sunday then any wind blown slop. I have been out in complete rubbish there and probably still learnt something.