Where IS mavericks?

[Stone Fox]

And how hard is it to surf? Can a beginner go out there? I watched billabong oddessy and I'm likely going to visit someone in San Francisco soon - is it anywhere near there? It looks brilliant!

Also, is it easy to rent a board out there?

[drowningbitbybit]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.....

Excuse me while I chortle, it was the 'beginner surfing mavericks' bit that made me laugh

As a beginner, you have absolutely no idea of what big wave surfing is like. I've surfed some moderately large-ish waves (by UK standards) and Im sure that Ive still got no idea either

But to answer your questions -

Where is it? Between San Francisco and Santa Cruz in Half Moon Bay

How hard is it to surf For a beginner - impossible.

Can a beginner go out there? No



But this is a nice description...

www.surfhistory.com/html/locations/mavericks.html

Note the bit about people dying surfing mavericks...

[Dec]

hahaha 2!!!

Mavericks!!! Have you done any research on this place?
Even on the smallest of days, it stil is only just uner 20'!!

I have been out there on a boat to watch these guys, and...I only saw true big wave profesionals!!

Just try surfing the santa cruz waves, etc.!!

[Laguna]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH 3

I actually laughed out loud when reading this. Mavericks - There have been professional surfers, some of the worlds best who have died from surfing mavericks.

The current is so strong and waves are so powerful that it is one of the hardest places to surf - its suicide. You have to paddle like half a mile out to sea until you get to the waves.

[deano]

mate if your a begginer and your planning on surfing MAVS please make a will out and say goodbye to your loved ones as wont have much chance of returning. but if going ahead with it ALL THE BEST ENJOY PROBERLY YOUR LAST SURF. :x

[HitAndRun]

if you have a death wish mavricks is the place for you, if you by any chance do get past the break and into the lineup (like hell you will) you still have to worry about mr whitey mistake you for a seal and trying to get a bite

Seriously now, dont even think about surfing mavricks, that place is way to dangerous, dark, and scary
i dont even get the pro's that go out there, that wave looks depressing

[tomcat360]

add all of these together:

1. sub-zero water temps

2. killer currents

3. huge boulders

4. 30-40-50-60 foot waves

.....not exactly what I would call a begginers spot

just look at it this way- 11 years ago, mark foo, a pro big wave surfer at waimea bay (also not a begginers break) came up to cali to give a whirl at mavericks. second wave he dropped in, got caught in a crevace, and drowned. not to mention others after that.

[dondiemand]

only if you surf like Laird, then u can surf mavs hehehe

[MicroFatCat]

If I were you I would wait 100 or 200 years before trying (that way you won't kill yourself, something else will)

[Stone Fox]

Lol!

Thanks for the response guys... I'm kinda a newbie when it comes to surfing (biggest thing I've surfed is about 6 foot) but I'm going out the San Francisco soon and I'm planning on trying big wave surfing...

I guess Mavericks is out then...

Anyone wanna recommend somewhere near there (or somewhere in Europe) a newbie could try 'big wave' surfing without TOO much chance of killing himself...?

[drowningbitbybit]

I'm kinda a newbie when it comes to surfing (biggest thing I've surfed is about 6 foot)

6ft is a big wave.
You're probably over-estimating what you're on.
A surfers 'six foot' is way overhead, and I seriously doubt you were surfing that.

Anyone wanna recommend somewhere near there (or somewhere in Europe) a newbie could try 'big wave' surfing without TOO much chance of killing himself...?

Still dont think you're getting this - big wave surfing is out, completely and utterly out, for a newbie.
The classic picture of a 'big wave' on a glassy clean ocean which looks deceptively simple to surf are reef breaks and they're anything but simple to surf.

Stick to surfing beach breaks for now, wait until you've seen a few 'big' days at croyde/fistral/llangennith/wherever, then wait a couple more years until you can get out there and you've had the cr*p beaten out of you a coupla times, then wait a couple more years and you can surf them.... THEN start thinking about travelling to surf bigger waves than you can get in the UK....

Not meaning to be harsh, but you have no idea what its like yet, wait until you've got way more experience under your belt.

[drowningbitbybit]

Just as an example of a UK wave...



Thats 6ft

[tomcat360]

instead of looking for big waves, why dont you look for clean, fun, well shaped waves? like waist to shoulder maybe, clean, barreling if you can handle it.

[orbital]

And not to mention to get into the big waves you need to master the art of Tow Surfing. So not only do you have to know how to position yourself into the wave, you have to find a partner compitent enough to get you there.

Also, no surfer in his right mind is going to tow a newbie into a mavericks wave, I mean like really!.

[tomcat360]

they still do a lot of paddle-ins at mavericks- its places like jaws that you've absolutely gotta have a ski.

that would be such a sweet job- ski driver for tow ins

[cornishboarder]

you should totally forget about big wave surfing, if you are a newbie you have absolutly no idea about the ocean and how waves react in differnt conditions, you need to spend years in the water gettin used to riding waves before even thinking about trying big waves. any big waves break is dangerous even if it doesnt have huge rocks like maverics, you will still have multiple tons of water falling on top of you if you wipeout, and enless you are extremely fit it is unlikely you would survive getting caught inside.
like someone said earlier i dont think it was 6foot you surfed in as if you had, you would have alot more respect for the ocean and the power of waves and would not be looking to go ride big waves until you are really ready, most surfers never surf waves bigger than 12 foot and this is for a reason.

this is one of the downsides of films like, riding giants and billabong oddesy, they convincing newbies that it is real easy to surf huge waves its not as glamourous as in the films it takes years of experience and natural talent before you can surf big waves

[Broosta]

Yep what all others said basically.

As a grom if you went out in even a 'solid' 4ft swell you'd gain a reasonable amount of respect for the ocean.

And as for Mavs... .

[Driftingalong]

Here is a bit of the article Surfine ran on the recent Mav's contest.
(http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/2006_0 ... ontest.cfm)

Make no mistake, though, Maverick's is not Disneyland. Second place Tyler Smith charged like a madman all day but knows NorCal's heaviest wave requires serious stamina, even at its most perfect. "I was seeing stars paddling back out after waves towards the end of the day," he says. "And I felt like if I fell, I would've died."

The article also contains some sweet pictures and sequences!

[Stone Fox]

OK! ENOUGH!

I get the idea!

I'll leave the big wave surfing fantasies alone for a while... I have had a couple of days of good waves at croyde and saunton. Late '04 when that hurricane raped the Carribean and blew itself out over the Atlantic. That weekend Magaicseaweed was saying 6-8ft @ about 14 secs. Spent all weekend on the water.

I've posted a pic of the kind of waves I'm used to in the 'pics' thread.

[cornishboarder]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/ ... 19_17A.jpg

well if you think that is 6 foot you are mistaken, that is 3 foot at most but more like 1-2 feet.
as for the reports on magic sea weed they are the off shore bouy forecasts, there is alot of other things that effect the size of the waves on the beach. wihtout knowing the direction of the swell when you said it broke at 6 foot,i cannot say acuratly but on average with a a 14 second period the biggest waves would be between 4-5 feet.