Surfing Waves

I have heard different opinions on this and was curious what other people thought about the pros and cons of surfing alone vs. surfing with your friends/cowds/strangers or whatever. There is a big messege going on about sould surfing, but a lot of the time i think it is better to surf with friends - that it is fun watching a buddy catch a wave and cheering them on as well as catching my own wave. any thoughts.

Choices as they are i went for with my pallies. but I do enjoy surfing alone, for dfferent reasons tho...

I would choose a little bit of both... its nice to have some friends out there... and also safer, but still surfing alone is good.

i have no choice no mates too go surfin with. all by my self ! but if there s a couple of sound people out and there freindly with you its alright but when its ruff and foggy and cold it would be nice too have somone else lookin out for you and you lookin out for them ,but like someone said surfin is for the soul!!!!!!!!!!!

When I started about 18 years ago in the NE if you wanted to surf during the week it nearly always had to be alone. The chance of a session with only a few out would be a luxury these days.

i like both theres times when i want to go surf with friends there are others when i just want to be alone

i spent all august surfin alne an im huge proud of it!
but i wont say i didnt enjoy surfing with my dad and cousin when they came down at the end of the month because that was great
surfings just great!

i go by myself too. in fact ive never been out with someone else. even when i just started. my first time was alone, just went out with my oddly shaped gun and fought the ocean. when theres no one else out there, not even strangers as far as you can see, its scary. ive been out a couple times in nice 6ft sets all alone and couldnt stop thinking about sharks.

love surfing alone, it's a rare luxury anywhere in the world these days.

When I do however, I make the following assesments: is it a potentially dangerous location, have I surfed there before, are rips running, is the swell bigger than solid 4-5 foot...and...If I get in the xxxxx, will somebody see me and alert help?

If I'm really alone (nobody walking dogs or whatever at the beach) I'll ring a friend or my parents on my cell & tell them what I'm doing & tell them when I'll be getting out of the water...and I ring them to confirm.

wow, thanks for all the responses guys - i am kinda getting the feel that there is a time and a place for surfing alone and surfing with buddies. i am still a beginner and kinda get nervous still when i am out there alone. it is kinda tough though cause i dont know that many people who surf (none of my friends actually, they all think i'm nuts, little do they know). i'm def gonna stick with it though, whether i am by myself or with other people.