Surfing Waves

Hi - newbie question, sorry if it's been covered, I couldn't find it on the forum.

I have heard the heights of waves mentioned as overhead etc.

What are common wave heights and their descriptions/names, and how do you tell how big a wave is when you are in the water?

I was in surf that seemed about 4ft from top to bottom, would that be the measurement to quote or is it measured relative to something else?

Thanks!

Yup, unless you're measuring Hawaiian scale (which is from the back of the wave, and lets not get into that) you're measuring the face of the wave...

Or...

ankle (1ft)
knee (2ft)
waist (2-3ft)
chest (3-4ft)
shoulder (4-5ft)
head (6ft)
overhead (6ft+)
double-overhead (silly)

Its subjective though, and one persons 4ft is another persons headhigh.

Nice Job on the explenation. As was said it is a bit subjective and tends to be a bit like a fish story. With some people you learn to cut the size down by a foot or two from what they say. Especially with most surf reports.

Old Guys Rule wrote:Nice Job on the explenation. As was said it is a bit subjective and tends to be a bit like a fish story. With some people you learn to cut the size down by a foot or two from what they say. Especially with most surf reports.

Ha ha, reminds me of one of my mates. If there's 1 surf that i don't go with him, he comes back telling me that it was the best surf of the year and i should have been there etc...i don't listen to him anymore, but funnily enough i had my best surf of the year so far at the end of august & he wasn't there.
I seen some unbelievable monsters at a spot up here the other day, about triple overhead, which i class as 18 foot, i just stayed at the beach & watched the good surfers though, nowhere near that level yet although it was a beautiful reef break producing a similar wave every time, roll on these days, hopefully by the end of winter or by next summer for me!

if its dec u add about 12 ft

OK, I see - ankle high is the height it would come to if you were Jesus and walking on the water!

thanks

Good answer DBBB, I've always been a bit iffy with that too. Oh, and good question. You hear so many people exaggerating don't ya?

Johnny B wrote:Good answer DBBB

I admit that my good answer, or at least the pictures, were blatantly stolen from the BBC's surf wales site

But I did make their pictures into one big picture, does that count?

drowningbitbybit wrote:

Johnny B wrote:Good answer DBBB

I admit that my good answer, or at least the pictures, were blatantly stolen from the BBC's surf wales site

But I did make their pictures into one big picture, does that count?

I know you thief!

Let's just confuse everyone with my god ol' measurements.

1ft - Waist high
2-3ft - Shoulder to head
4-5ft - Overhead
6ft - Well overhead
8ft - Double overhead
10ft+ - Break out the helmets, tow vests, ski's, and balls of steel

Dec wrote:Let's just confuse everyone with my god ol' measurements.

1ft - Waist high

Are you a midget or a booger?

alimac2411 wrote:Ha ha, reminds me of one of my mates. If there's 1 surf that i don't go with him, he comes back telling me that it was the best surf of the year and i should have been there etc...

I think we share a friend!