How Tides Affect Surfing and the Best Tides for Surfing

The first thing you need to know about how tides affect surfing is that while tides are a cosmological/global phenomenon, how they operate in terms of surf conditions varies widely from location to location. That said, it’s good to get some basic information down about tides before we move into determining “the best tides for surfing.” In what follows I’m going to lay out very basic tide science. Then I will tell you how to find out about tides for surfing in the area(s) you plan to surf. 

Fig. 1

Basic Tide Science

Fortunately we’ve been able to observe and measure the heavens and the oceans long enough to determine basic phenomena. This science continues to develop as we continue to make more observations and measurements. I say that to underscore that I am explaining the current scientific understanding. It has changed over time — we no longer think gods move the sun around the earth via charioteer — and it will likely change again.

Earth’s surface is 71% water and 97% of that is the ocean. It is the case that all of the earth’s physical stuff – rocks, magma, minerals – is moving in the broadest sense of movement, and all the stuff – water, gasses, air – moves at different rates. Water, it happens, is particularly moveable, sloshy stuff, and with all of this movement, well it sloshes a lot, except of course when it’s frozen (but we’ll table that for now). Ever sit in a bathtub and move a little and see the water sloshing up the sides of the tub? Or try to carry an overfull cup of coffee across a crowded cafe and not try to spill any on your shoes as it sloshes over the rim? Or what about when you sit down to drink the coffee and it’s really hot and you blow your breath over the top and watch it ripple, effectively moving the coffee (which is just caffeinated water) within the cup? On the most basic of basic levels tides are a manifestation of the sloshing caused by the overall relationship of the earth, moon, sun, and the rest of the cosmos, in addition to the various factors that affect the water on earth itself. 

It is common to think of the cause of this sloshing as “gravity.” And for now you can think of it that way. There’s a little more to it than that, and we can nerd out on that at a later date. For now let’s just use the common notion of gravity. The moon rotates around the earth and the earth/moon combo rotates around the sun. Because the moon is closer to the earth and its orbits are tighter it exerts more force or pull, which creates essentially two large bulges of water on either side of the earth. In its daily rotation, the earth basically moves into and out of these bulges (see Fig. 1).

So the sloshing can be thought of both as the water being pulled and pushed and as the earth moving into areas of higher and lower water. The push and pull from the moon — the bulges —, however, remain relatively constant. The bigger factor in determining general, global tide size is . . . The sun!!! Whhhaaaat?! Yeah, I know, you didn’t read that on any surf website yet, right? Well, it’s true. The sun’s gravitational pull has a larger effect on how high and low the tides are than the moon’s does. 

Fig 2.

In Fig. 2 you can see what we call syzygy. Syzygy is two Greek words — syz from syn — which means “with” — and gy from ge — which means “earth.” So syzygy is when the moon and the sun are lined up with earth. This creates both full and new moons, and on full and new moons we have what are called spring tides. Remember that the bulges of water created by the moon are always there, so when it’s lined up with the sun you get that extra bigness from the sun’s gravitational pull. All you need in order to find out whether the tides are spring, is a moon calendar. If it’s full or new you can bet the high tides will be higher than usual. And that’s another key. It’s not that the tides are more extreme, per se, but that the highs are significantly higher. What does that mean for surfing? Just that however the place you’re planning to surf reacts to high tide, it will have that reaction even more when it’s a full or a new moon.

Fig. 3

In Fig. 3 the moon, sun, and earth are not in syzygy. This is when the sun’s gravitational pull is not lined up with the moon’s. This creates what are called neap tides. True neap tides are, as the picture shows, when the sun and the moon are at about a right angle from one another. In this time of the lunar/solar cycle, the sun exerts a counteracting force on the moon. The bulges are smaller and the tides are overall lower. What does this mean for surfing? You can expect a smaller tidal swing overall, and for the lowest tides to be during a neap cycle. So, if the place you’re planning to surf is affected (for better or worse) by low tides, you can expect those lows to be lower during neap tides.

Types of Tides

Diurnal Tides

Diurnal tides happen only 2x a day, i.e., there is only one high and one low tide in a 24 hour period. These change in approximately 50 minute increments in a 24 hour cycle. If it was low tide at 6a on Monday, it will be high tide at 6p that same day. On Tuesday the low tide will be roughly at 6:50a and on and on.

Fig. 4: Diurnal tides near Perth, Western Australia

Semidiurnal Tides

Semidiurnal tides happen 4x day, i.e., there are two high and two low tides in a 24 hour period, alternating about 1x every 5 hours and 50 minutes, and shifting up an hour each day. So if it was low tide at 6a on Monday, it will be high tide around 11:50a that day, low tide again around 5:50p, and high again around midnight. The next low tide will move be around 7a on Tuesday and so on.  Semidiurnal tides can be equal or unequal.

Semidiurnal equal Tides

Both low tides and high tides in a given 24 hour period are similar heights. That is to say, the heights of each high are nearly equal, and the heights of each low are nearly equal. NY/NJ is an example of semidiurnal equal tides:

Fig. 5: Semidiurnal equal tides in Rockaway Beach, NY

Semidiurnal unequal tides

The two low and two high tides in a given 24 hour period are are unequal. That is to say, there will be a much larger difference in the heights of the two highs and the heights of the two lows. The CA coast provides a textbook example of semidiurnal unequal tides:

Fig. 6: Semidiurnal unequal tides in Southern CA

Slack tide

Also known as “the top of the tide.” This is when the tide is at peak high or low and is neither moving in nor out. At many surf breaks the waves can go dead during slack tide (not everywhere at all times, but if you’re wearing a tide watch and you notice that a long lull corresponds to the peak tide, that’s a slack tide). 

Outgoing tide

This is when the tide has hit peak high, gone through the slack period, and is now “moving back out.” In some surf breaks outgoing tide can dampen swell coming in. In others it can drain just enough water off of the bottom to make it possible for waves to break. 

Incoming tide

This is is when the tide has hit peak low, gone through the slack period, and is now “coming back in.” In some cases an incoming tide can increase swell height. It is not the case that all breaks are better at incoming tide. Nor is it the case that incoming tide generates swell on its own. There has to be swell already in the water (generated by winds much further out to sea) in order for incoming tide to be of any help at all in terms of creating waves when there previously were none or very few or in making an already existing swell a few feet larger (creating an additional “pulse” in the swell). 

King Tides

Fake news. According to NOAA, a king tide is a non-scientific term used to describe exceptionally large tides, which are more accurately described as spring tides (see Fig. 2), and occur during full and new moons and when the sun and the moon are closest to the earth (perigee). King, or more accurately, spring tides simply make the high tides higher. This can be good or bad depending on the break you’re surfing. The water will be deeper and closer to shore (see video above).

So what is the best tide for surfing?!

Based upon this very basic outline of the tides, the best tide for surfing varies location to location. Put differently, there is no best tide for surfing. Do not trust or believe any website, instructor, coach, or pamphlet that says one tide is best across the world. It’s simply not the case. If we took a survey of all the world’s surf breaks, we might find that overall mid tides (neither too high nor too low) have a slight advantage over all other tidal possibilities, but that would still be mere conjecture.

What Else Do I Need to Know About finding the best Tides for surfing?

I will cover all of these in greater depth in future articles, but here’s the general outline:

1. How to read a tide chart

2. How to access both general and local knowledge about what tides work best at the various breaks in a given area — start with general knowledge via the internet (websites like Surfline.com), but refine that knowledge once you get to your destination by asking locals, pros, and coaches

3. Determine what kind of bottom you’ll be surfing over. Here are your options: 

• Beach break — sand w/out jetties 

• Beach Break — sand w/jetties 

• Sand point break 

• Rock reef point break 

• Rock reef 

• Coral reef 

• Cobblestones

• Mixture of sand and rock 

• Mixture of sand and coral 

• Mixture of sand and cobblestones 

I hope you find this post useful. If you’d like to set up a consultation to determine what tides are best at a break you plan to surf, sign up HERE. If you want to know more about how tides interact with all of the other surfing variables, take my forecasting course HERE. If you’re interested in optimizing all aspects of your surfing experience, sign up for a surf journey consultation HERE. Remember to check out my YouTube channel and my online digital products and courses!

further reading

Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean (2017) by Jonathan White

Waves and Beaches (2021) by Kim McCoy and Willard Bascom

Updated CSC Wetsuit Primer for 2021 and Beyond

If you’re reading this it’s because you’re onto the fact that there is no such thing as “the season,” especially when it comes to surfing. If you want to improve your surfing at whatever level you’re at, you need to surf when there’s surf, and surf happens at various times in the week all year round, everywhere in the world. As with surf coaching, when people ask, “How many ________ (sessions, wetsuits, boards) do I need?” my answer is always the same: “More is more.” More coaching, more wetsuits, and more boards will make you a better surfer. Wetsuits and boards, however, as physical products, do have more of a limit in the sense that there is an ideal amount of gear you can reach and be covered for a year or two.

I have been a NY based surfer for over a decade now, and I grew up surfing the always-cold waters of Northern California, so my pursuit for ideal wetsuits has been persistent throughout my surfing career. I am obsessed with finding the lightest, warmest, and most flexible gear for every season. As I wrote in the 2016 post, NY water temps vary by about 30 degrees per year and some months have more fluctuation in them than others. These are the transitional times of year — mostly spring and fall, but summer can throw us a doozy sometimes if the wind goes NE or there’s upwelling from some all day SW winds, causing us to break out our 3/2 fullsuits in a season where we’re supposed to be in spring suits or trunks. Winter water temps — roughly December-May — are the most consistent and gear does not fluctuate. You need to have as many body parts covered in neoprene as you possibly can. The upshot of building the ideal year-round NY wetsuit quiver is that you’re covered to surf ANYWHERE else in the world, at any time of the year. 

I am not sponsored by any brand. I simply look for the warmest and best gear because my m.o. is all about being comfortable and surfing a lot. I tend towards the more expensive end for personal gear because when you surf all of the time you do notice a huge difference between higher and lower end products. In general, when the water is warm you have a larger wiggle room for getting something on the cheap, as the stakes for hypothermia are pretty much nil. With winter gear I advise against budget products because frostbite hurts a lot. 

I will say that over all the brands I have purchased over the years I’m in love with Still Blue Wetsuits New York and Tokyo. They have sourced a proprietary Japanese neoprene that is hands down the most flexible and warm product on the market. I think only a few other Japanese brands like Axxe and Rash have access to this stuff. All of their websites are difficult to navigate and there is a bit of “lost in translation” cultural barrier to ordering the suits. But! But! When you break through it and get your custom measurements in, you’re set. From Still Blue I own a 4mm hooded suit with chest zip for winter, a 3mm chest zip for fall, early winter, and late spring, and a 2mm back zip spring suit for late spring, summer, and early fall. These are hands down the warmest, most flexible, and durable suits I have yet to surf in. In some ways my 2mm spring suit can be too warm, and I opt for my 2mm Ripcurl if it’s borderline trunks territory.

The Still Blue 2mm spring suit. Photo: Juan Heredia

2mm Ripcurl spring for a cooking day in Rhode Island. Photo: Dan Lee

You will notice that many mainstream brands boast “Japanese neoprene.” It’s only partly true. They are blended with Japanese neoprene and as such they are better than suits that are not. But they are not as warm nor are they as flexible as suits made 100% in Japan with 100% Japanese neoprene. The 4mm Still Blue hooded chest zip winter suit, for example, lets very little water in and dries in less than an hour, so you can do multiple sessions in just the one suit. In a comparable Ripcurl, Xcel, Quiksilver, Patagonia, or Billabong you’ll feel warm, but ultimately they all get heavy, tiresome, and cold. It takes about 3 of those suits to last what the Still Blue will do in one day. I know this because when the waves are good in the winter I will still surf 4-8 hours in one day. The Still Blue suits ARE NOT CHEAP. They are a major investment, but one that I argue is ultimately better for your surfing because you can focus on the surfing more than your body or the cold. When doing custom measurements I recommend reporting 1-2cm less on each measurement than the tape suggests. This is because a wetsuit should always be slightly too small on you rather than just right. It’s a neoprene suit, not a wedding a suit. They create all of their suits with some leftover room in the shoulders for ease of entry and paddling. So in what follows I think that Still Blue (and probably Rash and Axxe) are the superior products in terms of pure surfing performance. In the warmer months it’s less crucial to have the absolute best, and then all other brands are viable. I will note some suits from other makers that I love and will continue to use. But for winter once you go Japanese you cannot go back. I’m getting away with a 4mm when other people are in 6mm — they are truly that good. Still Blue does offer a 5mm option. I fear being too warm, but make get one this year just to try it out. 

A note about “ethical” products: Neoprene is nasty business. It’s getting better. I think the Japanese companies, being smaller and more expensive, are manufacturing the suits in the most ethical way possible by paying their tailors a handsome amount to construct the suits with care. Most all mainstream wetsuit companies are building their suits in two factories in Thailand. They pay the workers well in these factories. Each company develops its own proprietary silhouettes for each season, and works with different developers to figure out new neoprene blends. Most surf brands are trying to figure out how to make neoprene “cleaner” or from recycled plastics. Yulex is its own kind of neoprene, which is fully plant based. That’s what Patagonia uses but it’s not proprietary to Patagonia. Any wetsuit brand can work with Yulex to source the product. Patagonia’s suits are heavy and have a long way to go with R&D before they are competitive with the mainstream brands that have sponsored pros on the tour in terms of the flexibility and warmth combination. Also, they won’t make suits with color panels not because they can’t but because they refuse to. It’s a purity claim about the black wetsuit and I find it bunk. I surf a lot black suits, but love a flash of color if a maker will provide it. Patagonia will fix your suits for free, however, and that’s a nice perk. I just don’t think they have the greatest claim to being “the most ethical” wetsuit manufacturer. In terms of survival and performance in cold water, I’d say you are ultimately better off going with a suit that is light and warm rather than heavy and cold, regardless of how the brand markets its “ethical practices.” You also have your own body type and budget to consider. Obviously a custom suit is going to be the best for the widest variation in bodies. But then again some people find that a certain brand fits their body perfectly. For example, I’ve found that Ripcurl is a small person’s manufacturer — their suits fit me like I am their fit model for a Men’s S — and that Xcel and Oneill tend to run a bit larger and fit fuller bodies better. Women still have a bit of an uphill battle finding gear that is made as well as men’s gear for colder water, but it’s out there. Ripcurl, Xcel, Oneill, and Sisstrevolution are leading the charge. And of course, women can get suits custom made by any of the Japanese companies I’ve listed. With that all said, I’ll give a break down of the suits you want for the different seasons/months, geared towards NY surfing, but with notes for other regions. 

Fall

September — 75-65 degree water/65-100+ degree air 

The beginning of fall boasts the warmest water temps in NY in the entire year. We’re talking about 75 degrees. But also the air can start to cool down and we can get chilly winds from the N or NE that may make you rethink trunking it. A pair of shorts, or your favorite bikini, however, are still an option, especially in September heat waves. These obviously translate to all tropical locations in the world. You may want a 1-2mm wetsuit jacket or shirt to keep your chest warm and the sun off of your arms. Because the stakes are so low for this product buy according to your aesthetics. There’s a ton of stuff out there. I’m normally in one of my 2mm long sleeve spring suits. The first is the aforementioned back zip 2mm by Still Blue and the other is my 2mm zipper less by Ripcurl. Love both of them, but the Ripcurl is thinner and less warm, so it’s for those days that I could be in trunks, but want the protection and insulation of neoprene instead. I like having the two so that I can put on a dry suit if I’m doing multiple sessions and then of course one is warmer than the other. The Still Blue is in fact warmer than my Xcel Comp 3/2 full suit. I never wear anything with short sleeves in the water because I surf for too long and I hate the tan line. Ditto for vests. If you like vests or “farmer John/Jane” styles and short sleeves, go for it, as they are all options for this time of year. Many surfers love a short sleeve long legged suit throughout the warmer months. I used to, but don’t own one anymore. I prefer long sleeve with short legs. 

I rarely will don a full suit in September unless it’s unseasonably cold. Then it’s time for a 3/2 full suit. Any old 3/2 will do for September. I have three: an Xcel chest zip Comp, a Ripcurl Zipperless Heat Seeker, and the Still Blue chest zip. The Xcel is a few seasons old and I got it on Evo.com for $100. It’s a cool teal green color. It has served me well in Southern California and Portugal. The Ripcurl is super warm for a 3/2 and I do love the zipper less technology even if it flushes a little. However the Heat Seeker suit’s seams are awful. They break within 3 months. It’s a great idea for a suit — and they make them for men and women — but it’s not sustainable. For the price you may as well get a custom. Your 3/2 (or 3/2s) will be your most used suit in NY and around the world. If you have it in your budget get a cheaper one with basic construction and a top of the line one that will keep you warmer and more flexible when the water gets into the mid-upper 50s. Australia, New Zealand, Basque Country, France, Chile — there are so many surfing destinations you can use your 3/2s. Since a 3/2 is the most widely produced suit you can get creative with aesthetics. I love suits that are color blocked so I’ll look for whatever brand is doing that. My Still Blue is black with a little yellow chevron. I like the touch. Like the 2mm spring it runs very warm, so I only break out it out when it starts getting really chilly. If you plan to surf over rocks or reef in September you may want a pair of reef booties/socks. The faint of foot swear by them. I can’t do it, I’ll take the cuts instead. 

October — 70-60 degree water/45-100+ degree air 

Still some warm days left in October and the 2mm springs aren’t unreasonable. As the month progresses cold snaps can set in and you’re considering wearing one of your 3/2s more often. If you run cold, you’re always in a 3/2, even in the middle of summer. Now is the time to break out the “squid lids” and hooded shirts. I no longer do hooded shirts and vests as I find them annoying and the squid lid technology is so good these days. Hoods are unisex, you just have to find your size. There are two main varieties: the chin strap lid and the one that covers your neck. I prefer the latter because it’s like a scarf. This will boost your warmth exponentially. I always find that having my head and neck covered keeps my extremities warmer even if they’re uncovered. Plus it’s easy to stash a spare hood in your bag and throw it on if you find yourself unseasonably cold. Another option is a thinner hooded fullsuit. This is only for the surfing obsessed I’d say. I have a 3mm zipper less hooded suit by Isurus that I absolutely love. Dries fast too. It’s an excellent suit year round in Northern California where I grew up, and it’s super awesome here in NY in the transitional months. I am used to wearing hoods because I have congenital ear problems and have been in hoods plus ear plugs since I was 6 years old. Towards later October my main kits are the 3mm hooded Isurus and the 3/2 Still Blue chest zip with a detachable hood. I try to stay out of booties for as long as I possibly can. I love to feel my feet in the wax. Some people find the lack of sound from wearing a hood very disorienting. If you’re one of these people you’ll want to start packing a pair of booties in your surf bag. 3mm and 5mm will do for early fall. I really like the Vans boots in both thicknesses. Xcel has always made excellent boots as well. Same for Oneill. With the thinner boots aesthetics come into play. You’re just putting a thin layer of neoprene over your feet to keep off a little frost or to help surf over rocks as in Santa Cruz, Chile, Portugal, Australia, and Rhode Island. If you are on a tighter budget forgo the 3mm boots and just skip straight to 5mm or 7mm. More on those next. 

3/2 Still Blue full suit. Pic: Thomas Lagrega

November — 60-50 degree water/35-70 degree air 

Bye bye spring suits for a long time, unless you’re going to Hawaii, then you may want to pack one. Water is warm there year round, but they get strong trade winds and cold snaps too, and it’s not unheard of for Hawaiian surfers to bust out a spring suit now and again. In NY November is a tricky month and super transitional. You can get away with the same hooded 3mm and 3/2 with a detachable hood combo for many days in November (that is if there is even surf here). Some people buy 4/3mm full suits for this time year, and wear them into December. I personally don’t own a 4/3mm suit. As soon as it is cold enough, and it can get this cold in November, I’ll be in my hooded 4mm winter suit without gloves or booties. This is the “San Francisco kit.” I’m from the Bay Area so I’m just used to surfing 50 degree water temps with a hood and no gloves and no boots. Water doesn’t drop below 49 out there, so there’s rarely a need to wear the boots. Here in NY if it snows I’ll wear booties, and probably put on my 7mm mittens too. So by November you should be ready for some very low temp days. This means you want to already own a pair of 7mm mittens and 7mm booties. For mittens, Xcel and Ripcurl are still the best. If you must buy 5 finger gloves, just get a thin pair for the transitional months. When it’s truly cold you do not want any digits separated. Trust me. It hurts. The lobster claw gloves seem like a good idea until your index fingers almost fall off from frost bite. They don’t dry. They should not even be manufactured. 5mm 5 finger gloves are worthless as well. You only need two kinds of hand coverings: thin 5 finger gloves in 1, 2, or 3mm and 7mm mittens. If it’s cold enough for 5mm, it’s cold enough for 7mm. Just get the 7mm. The thinner gloves are for wind chill and brusk water in the 45-49 degree range. Any brand is fine in those, cuz again, stakes are lower. For mittens, like I said, Ripcurl and Xcel are your jams. That is until the Japanese brands get on it, then I’ll convert immediately. They have gotten on the booty game though and there’s no turning back now! The Axxe 7mm “moon boot” is the best thing to hug your feet since water wicking socks. They have been available at Maine Surfer’s Union and at Glide in Asbury Park. They run VERY SMALL. I’m a men’s 8 shoe and wear a size M. So women and men with smaller feet should rejoice. Finally a winter suit product that is actually kinda catered to you! Only issue is that they have a lot of traction and get stuck in the wax, but that’s a small price to pay for such unexcelled warmth. Regardless of the booties you buy, you will want a pair of polypropylene socks from Sol Lite. Holy smokes they change the game getting in and out of suits and boots. The Vans booties are unwearable without them by the way. At about $10 these will be your most awesome budget upgrade to your kit since you purchased that squid lid in October. 

Winter

December — 55-45 degree water/20-60 degree air 

There are warmer and colder Decembers. Mostly you’re in a hooded suit already. Some people may be in 4/3s with boots and gloves. Those are the people that can’t stand to have neoprene over their domes. For warmer Decembers I’m in the hooded suit or the 3/2 with a squid lid, no boots or light boots, and no gloves or light gloves. Again, as soon as it’s snowing and air temps are 45 and below, I’m in a full kit: 4mm hooded, 7mm mittens, 7mm boots. Like I said, the Still Blue is so good I don’t need another winter suit. I used to require 2-3 Xcel or Ripcurl hooded 5/4s to get me through a day-long surf, but now I just need the one suit. If you’re just doing one session a day, one of those will do, but you may want a second if you plan to surf the next day. You don’t want to put on a wet winter suit in the cold. While I do not need to change suits any longer, I do switch out my mittens and boots. I have 3 pairs of 7mm mittens and 3 pairs of 7mm boots so that I can surf all day. Boots and gloves get saturated with water and thus get heavy and make your paddling slow. I recommend 2 pair minimum. Not everyone surfs as much as I do. It’s also time, if you live in a place with cold water, to buy a booty and glove dryer on Amazon. I swear by my Dry Guy. If you only own one pair of boots and gloves this thing will get em toasty by the next day! 

January-April — 30-45 degree water/0-45 degree air 

Full winter kits, no effing around. April is still cold. It’s not even a transitional month. If you’re using any of your lighter wetsuit gear it’s because you’re traveling or you don’t live in NY. If you don’t have a Japanese hooded 4mm, then you’re looking at a 5/4 hooded suit from a main brand. I think they’re all doing pretty good stuff, especially the top of the line stuff. Remember even the ones that boast Japanese neoprene are going to be warmer than the ones that do not. Whether you have one or two winter suits will depend on how much you really want to surf. I don’t slow down my surf game in the winter, so I’m prepared to surf as much as the surf will allow. I find the gear these days makes it just as pleasurable as surfing in the warmer months. 

Catee Lalonde in April, still in her full winter kit. Pic: Dion Mattison

Spring

May — 50-60 degree water/30-70 degree air 

It may as well be November! May and November are mirror months, going in the opposite directions. You’re in a full winter kit at the start and as it warms up you start peeling down the layers. Maybe the mittens downgrade to the light five finger gloves or come off entirely. Maybe you’re doing the 3mm hooded and 4/3 or 3/2 with a squid lid routine towards mid May. That seems to be the case for me. The hood is usually the last thing to go for me until it gets truly warm enough to duck dive without risking an ice cream headache. By the end of may you’re still in a full suit of one variety or another. 

3mm hooded Isurus in May, no gloves, no boots. Photos: Emory Lee

June — 60-68 degree water/55-100+ degree air 

3/2 season. June is 3/2, no gloves, no boots, most of the month. Towards the end you may start to transition back to the 2mm spring suits, if it’s warm enough. For the most part you’re in a 3/2 full suit for all of June. The super skinny cold bloods may even wear 4/3s. 

Summer

July-August — 65-75+ degree water/60-100+ degree air 

Same as for September basically. Trunks. Wetsuit jackets. A 3/2 fullsuit if you run cold. Spring suits of every manner. It’s a veritable surfing fashion show. 

Summary of Potential Wetsuit Quivers

Hard Core Surfer (surfs over 3x a week and sometimes multiple times a day. Commits major resources to surfing gear investments for maximum performance and progress. Can be “hardcore” at every level. It describes commitment not skill level.)

1 wetsuit jacket or shirt 

2 2mm spring suits 

2 3/2mm full suits 

1 squid lid 

1 4/3 or 1 hooded 3mm suit 

1-2 hooded 4mm or 5/4mm winter suits depending on brand 

1 pair 3mm boots 

2-3 pair 7mm boots 

1 pair thin five finger gloves 

2-3 pair 7mm mittens 

1-2 pair poly pro socks 

Optional: reef boots, hooded shirts, vests. 

Medium Core Surfer (surfs up to 3x a week, rarely multiple times a day. Commits moderate resources to surfing gear investments.)

1 wetsuit jacket or shirt 

1 2mm spring suit 

1 3/2mm full suit 

1 squid lid 

1 hooded 4mm or 5/4mm suit 

1 pair 3mm boots 

1 pair thin 5 finger gloves 

1 pair 7mm mittens 

1 pair 7mm boots 

1-2 pair poly pro socks 

Optional: reef boots, hooded shirts, vests. 

Surf Hobbyist or a Surfer Who Doesn’t Live in NY (surfs mostly in warmer months and waters)

1 3/2mm full suit 

1 2mm spring suit 

1 squid lid 

1 pair of booties of any thickness 

Notes on Wetsuit Care

Wetsuits hate salt water and direct sunlight. They also hate piss, but I’ll be damned if I am not gonna pee in my suit. Best way to rinse a suit is to put it in a bucket, fill the bucket with water and thoroughly dunk the suit. Then drip dry outside. Once it’s done dripping hang indoors in a well ventilated area. Fans help drying. So does a really hot, dry room. Always dry suits INSIDE OUT. The inside is what your skin touches, so it’s most important that part is dry! Once the inside is dry if you’re feeling neurotic you can dry the outside too. For long term wetsuit storage — like winter suits in summer and summer suits in winter — make sure suit is completely dry, INSIDE AND OUT, so that it doesn’t mildew. CSC Clubhouse members get wetsuit storage perks with their memberships. They also get changing perks here in winter, so that omits the whole stand outside your car in the snow thing. Booties and gloves dry best on a some kind of air blowing device, as mentioned above. Wetsuits die first in the seams. Always contact the manufacturer to see if they’ll fix the suit for you. Most do! Wetsuits usually don’t last more than 2-3 years. I recommend sending old gear to Suga Mats, a yoga mat company that recycles the neoprene! 

Notes on Changing In and Out of Suits

Most surfers go buck under our suits. We find it weird to have stuff under there scrunching up. Some women wear bathing suits under. Some don’t. Most of us towel change at the beach. That is we wrap a towel around our waists, drop our drawers and head into our suits one foot at a time. In general you want to go one limb at a time with suits. Make sure the heel is all the way through the move to the next foot. Get the legs all up and synched before putting on the torso and arms. Beware of wrinkles! They create rashes. For taking off the suit make sure you go one limb at a time! Especially in winter suits. I recommend taking the left arm completely off first. Then use the free left arm to help get the suit off your right shoulder and arm. Make an elbow to create rigidity to pull the suit off of your shoulder. Once arms are free, pull down, towel around waist over suit, peel suit down, take one leg out at a time. Booties and gloves need to go on last and come off first! Both are meant to be tucked UNDER your wetsuit sleeves and cuffs so that water doesn’t go into them. The correct order to put on a winter suit is: suit, boots, then gloves last. The correct order to take it off is: gloves, then the shoulders/arms of the suit, then boots, then the rest of the suit. 

Note On Stock

Many of the products I have linked to will be out of stock. Covid has wrecked the surfing supply chain. You’re going to have to do the leg work and check multiple sites, shops, and keep calling and refreshing your feeds to see when they’re next available. Once they are, jump on it. It is worth calling however.

Names of Brands to Explore

All of these brands make something worth covering your skin with.

Still Blue, Axxe, Rash, Quiksilver, Roxy, Ripcurl, Billabong, Feral, Isurus, Matuse, 7till8, Oneill, Hurley, Body Glove, Hyperflex, Nine Plus, Amsterdam, Sisstrevolution, Kassia Surf, Saturdays, Pilgrim Surf + Supply, Adelio, Patagonia, Vissla, Finesterre, Need Essentials, Imperial Motion, and there may be a few others.

Homeland Stroll CSC x CA

There has been a lot of moving and shaking in Conatus land. A poor winter of surf has created a thrust for us to explore different locations for intensive mini surf retreats. These trips allow us to help CSC mentees reach new levels in their practice in a brief amount of time. We did this one to the SF/Monterey Bay area at the end of February to get in some quality surfing with Paul Saliba. Paul has been with us since September 2015. He is still in the infancy of his practice, but is putting in the hard work. We are going to continue working on relaxing his style, successfully navigating crowded lineups, gaining confidence exploring new breaks, and staying close to the power source of the wave.

Paul recently moved back to his, and as it turns out, our homeland in January. This stretch of coastline is very dear to my heart. When Andrew and my parents divorced in 1985 our mom, Jory, moved up to Sausalito from where we were living in Moss Landing. This resulted in many many weekend drives throughout our youth. Then when I went to college at UC Berkeley from 2000-2005 I did strike missions before class to any number of the breaks pictured in this video. I will not reveal names of any spots. As you can see there are plenty of empty waves, and also many that are so crowded you pretty much have to expect to ride a wave with others or accept the scraps. Paul and I tread very lightly and did not directly challenge local hierarchies and we obeyed their rules of etiquette: do not jock people at the peak, stay inside and out of the way and when you see your opportunity, seize it, give local surfers the right of way, look for spots and peaks where no one is surfing, and stay positive and smiling in the crowded lineups. We were greeted with smiles and acknowledgement that our strategy was working, and we also happened to score some epic surf. The swell pumped the whole time we were there.

Other highlights of the trip included linking up with my old surfing homies. English professor and speed surfing guru, Jon Kitamura, lent me his 5'9" Pavel surfboards quad fin. I saw Lewis Samuels and Marcus Sanders in the OB parking lot. We had a joke about making a Short Man's Surfing Club for all guys under 5'7". Met up with photographer Paul Ferraris for a surf in Pacifica. Paul's work is spectacular. Another surf friend we ran into is Julie Cox, who has opened a new shop in Pacifica called Traveler. What an awesome shop!!! They have a full surf and swim club locker, shower, and lounge right on the beach, with a heated bench to boot. Great products — I snagged hat for me and a pair of earrings for Sophia. The whole place has a very warm vibe created by a combination of intentional aesthetic choices and an effort to promote conscious and local artisans. Last, we got to surf with two of my all time favorite surfers, Andrew Dolan and Shea Hodges. Shea is not in the video, but she is one of the best vertical small wave surfers I have ever met or surfed with. Andrew is the stringy smooth fellow in the last part of the video. He and I grew up surfing together, frothing on Derek Hynd and Tom Curren parts in surf videos, and generally surfing our brains out as much as humanly possible. Andrew has one of the best styles in the game, likes big tubes, and can lay the board on a rail in his sleep. As Conatus instruction expands, I hope to integrate people like this into the team of gurus. Stay tuned for more info on that, and also be on the look out for another post in the next week about our very recent trip to Barbados. 

More waves more joy everyone! 

-Dion 

Book Review: Barbarian Days

Greetings from Costa Rica! 

For the first post of the year I decided to do a book review of William Finnegan's Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life (Penguin, 2015). I have been planning to do so since I first read the book, but other duties have kept it on the back burner. Now I want to give my copy to my brother before I leave Costa Rica, but not before I write this review.

Barbarian Days in the jungle of Costa Rica at Rancho Diandrew where this copy will live after I am gone. 

I would think that most people reading/following this blog have already read or at least own Barbarian Days. I say this because it was given to me by a CSC member (Paul, who is on his way down here today), and I have had conversations with other members about it on rides to the beach. I see it on all of the shelves and table displays of the local surf shops, and two big chunks of the text have already been published in The New Yorker where Finnegan is a staff writer -- first "Playing Doc's Games" Pts i and ii, August 24 and 31, 1992; second "Off Diamond Head", June 1, 2015 (I have learned that most New Yorker pieces are simply discreet advertisements for future books). 

With so many people having read it or who are planning on reading it, I am not going to give a synopsis of the narrative. And besides it is a memoir so it should suffice to say that it roughly follows the events of Finnegan's life, which has been primarily centered around surfing. This is the first thing I like about the book: it is written by a person who is completely obsessed with surfing. He has structured his life to be able to surf, and even when he has taken hiatuses for work and self discovery, he always comes back to this driving force. In this way Finnegan's book has a legitimizing quality for me. The fact that he has managed to make a career for himself while still structuring his life around surfing assures me that I am not alone. He is also able to articulate the doubts that beleaguer this life choice -- those same doubts that are assuaged when one learns that others also have them. 

The second thing I like about the book are the descriptions of how waves break. After my first read I mused that if I took all the parts from Barbarian Days where he describes breaking waves I could have a handy little guide to surfing. I intend to write some sort of ethics of surfing one day, and so I admire the way Finnegan handles the basics of wave generation and mechanics for his non initiated readers: 

Here's how ridable waves form. A storm out at sea churns the surface, creating chop--smaller and larger disorganized wavelets, which amalgamate, with enough wind, into heavy seas. What we are waiting for on distant coasts is the energy that escapes from the storm, radiating outward into calmer waters in the form of wave trains--groups of waves, increasingly organized, that travel together. Each wave sets off a column of orbiting water, most of it below the surface. All the wave trains produced by a storm constitute what surfers call a swell. The swell can travel thousands of miles. The more powerful the storm, the farther the swell may travel. As it travels, it becomes more organized--the distance between each wave in a train, known as the interval, becomes uniform. In a long interval-train, the orbiting water may extend more than a thousand feet beneath the ocean surface. Such a train can pass easily through surface resistance like chop or other smaller, shallower swells that it crosses or overtakes.  

As waves from a swell approach a shoreline, their lower ends begin to feel the sea bottom. Wave trains become sets--groups of waves that are larger and longer-interval than their more locally generated cousins. The approaching waves refract (bend) in response to the shape of the sea bottom. The visible part of the wave grows, its orbiting energy pushed higher above the surface. The resistance offered by the sea bottom increases as the water gets shallower, slowing the progress of the wave. The wave above the surface steepens. Finally, it becomes unstable and prepares to topple forward--to break. The rule of thumb is that it will break when the wave height reaches 80 percent of the water's depth--an eight-foot wave will break in ten feet of water. But many factors, some of them endlessly subtle--wind, bottom contour, swell angle, currents--determine exactly where and how each wave breaks. As surfers, we're just hoping that it has a catchable moment (a takeoff point), and a ridable face, and that it doesn't break all at once (close out) but instead breaks gradually, successively (peels), in one direction or the other (left or right), allowing us to travel roughly parallel to shore, riding the face, for a while, in that spot, in that moment, just before it breaks (41-2). 

I have read similar descriptions before in books such as Drew Kampion's The Book of Waves: Form and Beauty on the Ocean (1989), Willard Bascom's Waves and Beaches (1980), and H. Arthur Klein's Surfing (1965), and can attest that here Finnegan deftly merges all three. What is of particular importance is the emphasis he places on swell interval, which because the waves are generated as described above, is the most important factor in reading a surf report. Interval, more than wave height, gives us an idea about the size and consistency of any given swell. 

The third thing I like about Barbarian Days is Finnegan's attunement to critical themes having to do with cultural dynamics. Most surf writing, like surf film, is just plain corny and shallow. For some reason the awesomeness of the ocean and the thrill of riding a wave has eluded surf writers for decades. Furthermore, surf culture more generally has a tendency to whitewash its complicity in the continued colonial, imperial, misogynistic, hegemonic, western domination of the known world. The reportage of his early days in Hawaii is a good example:

I already knew, in rough outline, what had happened to the Hawaiians--how American missionaries and other haoles and subjugated them, stolen their lands, killed them en masse with diseases, and converted the survivors to Christianity. I felt no responsibility for this cruel dispossession, no liberal guilt, but I knew enough to keep my junior atheist's mouth shut (17). 

Sometimes it is enough to admit one's complicity. I do not think Finnegan fashions himself an activist here, nor does he have any intentions to, but I do think that he does illuminate the political conundrum of the (especially white) surfer: we benefit from unequal power structures and feel them to be unjust and even though we know this, when faced with a decision to pick up a protest sign or go surfing, we will choose surfing every time. Nonetheless, as Finnegan shows here, we can at the very least learn to identify these dynamics and in paying witness to them try our best not to interfere with codes into which we were not born, or at the very least to learn to maintain a respectful distance. Anyone who has traveled to Hawaii to surf understands what I mean by this respectful distance. There are certain mokes whose waves you do not even look at. It is their land and their waves and if you are lucky and exude aloha (which is also a code of respect) you will get a few of your own--maybe not a ton, but that's part of understanding the history and acknowledging your place in the pecking order. 

The fourth thing I like about Barbarian Days is that Finnegan writes about San Francisco and New York, the two cities in which I have lived and surfed for most of my adult life (10 years in SF, going on 7 in NY). I appreciate his diagnosis of the difference in the two surf cultures: 

Surfers around here--Long Island and Jersey locals--are strangely genial. I've never gotten used to it. There was a baseline reserve in California and Hawaii, an idea of cool in the water--what was worth saying, what level of ride or wave or maneuver merited a hoot of approbation--that I internalized as a kid and can't unlearn. On this coast, people will hoot anyone, friend or stranger, for almost anything that looks halfway decent. I like the unpretentiousness, the lack of snobbery, and yet some unredeemed part of me recoils. Greater New York lineups are, against stereotype, mellow. I have never seen a threat or an angry exchange, let alone a fight, in the water here. That's partly because the crowds are never maddeningly terrible, a la Malibu or Rincon, partly because the waves are usually not worth fighting over, but mostly it's culture. A certain superciliousness and self-absorption that long ago became the norm on more celebrated coasts and islands in surf world have never taken root in these parts. It's easy to strike up a conversation in the lineup with a stranger here--I've done it a hundred times. People are even eager to share detailed knowledge of their local breaks. Another transplant surfer I know calls it 'urban aloha.' But it's really more suburban or shore-town. At least I've never met anybody in the water who said they live in Manhattan. Brooklyn, a few times, yes (419-20). 

This part of the book is clearly dated, either that or Finnegan clearly has not surfed Long Beach or Rockaway in the past couple of years. But the overall emphasis that people in the water are nicer on the East Coast than on the West Coast and in Hawaii still rings true. I know. I just got back from 7 day trip to California. Unlike Finnegan, however, I have gotten used to the genial vibe in the breaks closest to Brooklyn and Manhattan (and of course most of us now know tons of people who surf and who live in both). When I surf in CA I wish people would just get over themselves and share waves. On the same token, I have also seen a bit more gruffness on the East Coast than Finnegan admits to here. I have seen a woman in Rockaway completely scream at two guys for close to 15 minutes straight and have also seen photos of another man from there attempting to rip the fins out of a another guy's surfboard.  But that is seriously nothing compared to the daily bad vibes and heinous stuff I have seen and experienced growing up on the West Coast. In this light, I do understand and identify with Finnegan's reticence to feel more a part of the East Coast surfing culture. There's a part of a West Coast surfer's mentality that makes you feel that people have to earn their excitement about surfing. That's the reserve he's talking about, the idea of cool. You pull into a barrel and come out with your head down as if nothing happened at all, giggling to yourself, and feeling superior in a very strange and powerful way. You are not going to claim it, but you will certainly accept any and all compliments. The truth is though, that there are surfers like that on both coasts. And there are also wild yahoos with no etiquette on both coasts. And the waves are more powerful on the West Coast. And people are more gruff. And when New Jersey is doing it's thing it is as good as anywhere that gets perfect in the world. So is Ocean Beach, SF. But the paddle, like the culture, is concretely more difficult. And yet, both densely populated urban areas are pretty awesome places to be a surfer, especially if you have a lot of drive and a knack for cold water and weather (and a car helps too--for escaping). 

My only criticism is that in many ways Finnegan is a grumpy old elitist fart. He knows that. He is honest about it and it is refreshing, but it is still what it is. He learned to surf in the 1960s in the meccas of surfing, Southern California and Hawaii. His dad was in film and became a kind of aficionado of films made by the sea and so he was always in great locations at a time when there were relatively few surfers around. He went on insane adventures and charges huge surf and believes that you have to take your hard knocks because that's how he did it. He resents how popular surfing has always been, mocks surf schools, and professional surfing. And I get it and I give it to him, but at the same time, at the very heart of it, it is the one thing that I am ambivalent towards in this book. This is probably because it is what I struggle with most with myself. Surfing is both something that I want desperately to share with other people and to keep to myself. But, to be completely transparent, I have found the genial, sharing with others kind of surfing, mixed with the codes of etiquette and respect of the old ways is truly the future of our great language game. This belief is ultimately why I founded Conatus Surf Club. I believe, unlike many old salty dogs, that like any language, the crucial parts of the surfing vocabulary can be and ought to be taught in a roughly formal manner. The wild west individualist approach has its merits, but overall I think that it is possible to integrate it in a more flourishing and communal way. We are capable of sharing waves with one another. We are also capable, still in 2016, of finding moments and peaks without many other people except our good surf buddies. You just have to have the gumption and fortitude to track them down, to choose joy through a certain kind of wild discipline, a sort of barbarian code of honor.  

The word barbarian is extremely loaded. It is not as though barbarians are not civilized, if by civilized we mean having language and codes of conduct. In fact it is kind of a misnomer for any culture outside of the hegemonic fold. In the original sense it simply means 'non-Greeks', at the time when the Greeks were founding all of Western philosophy, science, and history. But barbarians, like surfers, were only quasi counter-hegemonic. Barbarian cultures have always had their own myths, their own leaders, their own norms, their own sectarian squabbles, and even their own revolutions. Like all species and tribes, moreover, they also shift, change, mutate, transform, and ultimately (I like to think) evolve. 

In summation, this is an instant classic of surf literature, if that's even a genre. It is easy to forgive Finnegan for his barbaric prickliness because he provides us the historical coordinates in which we can contextualize it. And it is important for all of us to have this historical scope. Surfing, like everything else in our culture, is easier to access and consume than ever before. And besides that it has always been susceptible to extreme poseurs. This kind of unreflective consumption does need to be avoided and one of the best ways to do so is to arm oneself with a kind of deep historical grit. Finnegan is a forefather of the city surfer, a most civilized barbarian, and it pays to sit and listen to him talk story for 447 pages.  

Mini Missions and Vids

What a great first two weeks of November! Conditions have been tricky to nail down, but there have been at least 1-3 quality windows for surf every week. I recently ran two off the cuff surgical strike missions with my current roster of students who have purchased packages. Both times we scored empty waves for hours and they were huge successes overall. The first trip was to Asbury Park followed by lunch and a second surf in Long Beach. Both times we found a peak with no one on it and scored it all to ourselves. The second was a one day trip to Montauk where we went into full search mode, settled on a fun little beach break (again, no one out), ate steaming cups of clam chowder on the side of the road, and then traveled back to New York. I dropped everyone off at the subway stops I picked them up at (the Franklin 2/3/4/5 and the Bedford/Nostrand G) and went home and started editing video. 

In between these two extremely rad mini surf trips we had a great day of surf in Long Beach. That was Wednesday this week. One of my most dedicated acolytes, Beccy, got in a lesson in the morning before heading to work. I picked her up at the LIRR in LB at 6:22a and dropped her off at 8:30a. She charged hard and I managed to get her best waves on video. In a relatively short amount of time, Beccy has come a really long way with wave judgment and timing and overall surfing ability. After I dropped her off at the train I went back to the beach to try to get a few clips of the super smooth surfing of my friends Gus and Bennet, who were also getting in a session before they had to run off to their work life obligations. This I did and then I got so excited by their surfing that I had to paddle out again. My friends Bryan and Kyungmi joined in for the second surf and JP was also there. We took a short break in the middle of the day. I downloaded footage onto my computer and ate some bananas. Then we went for our third and final surf. The waves were still glassy and clean. We were joined by my great friend, Juan, who proceeded to shred it up all over. 

These little surf missions, along with more video, are definitely the direction that CSC is headed (along with lots of other cool stuff to be sure). In fact, this is a good example of how I plan for the Costa Rica camps to play out except that there will be a bit less driving and the water will be a lot warmer! There are still plenty of spots for the January camps, and I would like to get them booked asap. If you want to be cruising down the line by the time summer rolls around you need to get involved with these!  

And to cap off this post I'm going to leave you with two little edits that I have recently completed. The first is a compilation of the past two weeks, excepting the Montauk trip. It features JP, Beccy, Mariza, Paul, Bennet, Gus, Bryan, and Juan. The second was taken on a clean day the last week in October and features JP, husband and wife super team Maiko and Shigeru, and a local Long Beach guy named Justin. 

Committing to the Vertical

Hi Everyone! Looks like I've slipped up on my goal to blog once a week. Well a lot has been going on here at Conatus headquarters, not least of which has been teaching surfing every day of the week. We've had some great windswell pulses through the end of July into the start of August. Monday was the biggest I've seen Rockaway in a long time. It made for challenging conditions for one of my bravest students, but he handled it like a champ and even managed to drop into some solid four foot waves. It's all about patience and enjoying the adrenaline that fear produces.

I have been focusing a lot on the idea of "committing to the vertical" lately. It is very common for beginning and even intermediate surfers to shy away from the takeoff by standing up too early or not paddling hard enough in the first place. It's scary to all of a sudden be almost upside down, but what is crucial is that this verticality provides you the space to get your feet under your arms in a more fluid manner. Standing at this moment also puts the weight into the center/back of the board and aids in managing the drop and picking a clean line down the face. But even if you do not manage to get to your feet you have to commit to this vertical moment usually just to catch the wave. For some softer, spilling, mushy waves you'll have the luxury of just planing forward and in these cases I have been recommending that you get the board going down the line in the "upward dog" position, which is half way between standing and laying down. What is key here is that you're not doing this at the bottom of the wave. If you're down there it's too late for you to get across. You must go to the side at the top and from the beginning. This, like committing to the vertical drop, requires a lot of timing and positioning. You need to move yourself to the apex of the peak -- the point of most power -- to enable an easy entry. Sounds simple but it takes a lot of work and requires that ever-important paddling foundation. 

Another thing I mentioned to a student this week, is that sometimes gifting yourself surfy treats is a good way to stay amped for your next time out. This could be a short john wetsuit (or any wetsuit really), a surf dvd, a bikini, a bar of wax, a magazine or book, just anything surf related. You can get stuff like this online or at a local shop and this kind of contribution to your surf 401K, if you will, will pad your stoke and keep you anxious to get out again. 

On my end, when not taking off under the lip, I'm trying to commit to the drop a little bit more in growing my business. This week and next I will roll out/ announce Conatus Surf Club lessons in Montauk with Chris Blotiau (if you're interested right now simply email me about setting something up out there) and Conatus Surf Club retreats in Costa Rica for this winter (Dec/Jan) at Rancho Diandrew. I'm really excited about both of these growth opportunities, which ultimately stem from a desire to provide intensive surf training experiences for those who are serious and keen about their surfing journey. I will have blog posts about both of them very soon. 

This weekend it looks like we have another run of fun summer surf and fine weather. Remember to both commit to the vertical and stay safe!