What is needed for a beachbreak to be good?

[Kento]

Looks similar to the setup at Blacks

And Oxnard.
And Newport.
And Drainpipes/Pt. Dume
And Mugu Base
And Moss Landing

and...

well, you get the idea.

And then look at all the other beachbreaks surrounding them and, structures or not, they are generally underwhelming sh!t that need a lot of factors to come together to even approach the quality of the submarine canyon-influenced breaks.

Case in point: Has LJ Shores ever been better than Blacks? And on the days when Shores is good, what is Blacks doing?

 

[SurfMission]

I am in agreement on the offshore canyons. Beaches that regularly get to exceptional levels (World Class) all have an offshore canyon that focuses energy.

But to be fair, I guess you would really need to define the word "good". I love a nice HH+ combo swell at the right beach. So much fun. Way more fun for me than 10'-12' death bombs at a spot that can actually hold that long period energy. Swells like that I head to a reef.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

What's your definition of long period, though?

True about the sand sources - the spots I am thinking about may not have a rivermouth right THERE but within a couple miles for sure.

12-18, emphasis on 15-18?

Swells over 18 seconds are very rare here. Once every three to five summers, some fetch will stall right along South Africa and we'll get a true Southern Hemi in far North Florida.

North Florida tends to have some deeper sections of sandbar out the back, and it can turn the walls into long tapered lines. The Sebastian Inlet area and the Treasure Coast, those will be hammering closeouts at the beachbreaks.

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At what point are we calling an inlet a submarine canyon? El Porto has a massive canyon. It's not always that hot. St. Andrews, New Smyrna, Duranbah, and South Stradbroke have inlets. The first two might be Florida slop. The second two are Australia and therefore we have to make a big deal about some head high waves there.

Canyons are cool and all but they don't block wind. Give me some refraction resulting in positive interference and make it not too crowded and we're good.

 

[Kento]

But to be fair, I guess you would really need to define the word "good". I love a nice HH+ combo swell at the right beach. So much fun. Way more fun for me than 10'-12' death bombs at a spot that can actually hold that long period energy. Swells like that I head to a reef.

Yes!

And there is also the divergence of good/bad and good/evil.

The death bombs are something I deal with a lot up here and that's where the good/evil divergence comes in. Oh it's GOOD but everything associated with it (currents of many forms, cleanup sets, fuckloads of water moving up the face making everything a very late drop) is evil. Monday was case in point. Waves were as good as waves get but it was exhausting, both mentally and physically. But at the same time it is kind of fun in a perverse sort of way...

I'd also much rather have the HH+ peaks with a mellow paddle back out each time. Trouble is that a lot of other people do too...

 

[Kento]

12-18, emphasis on 15-18?

Swells over 18 seconds are very rare here. Once every three to five summers, some fetch will stall right along South Africa and we'll get a true Southern Hemi in far North Florida.

North Florida tends to have some deeper sections of sandbar out the back, and it can turn the walls into long tapered lines. The Sebastian Inlet area and the Treasure Coast, those will be hammering closeouts at the beachbreaks.

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At what point are we calling an inlet a submarine canyon? El Porto has a massive canyon. It's not always that hot. St. Andrews, New Smyrna, Duranbah, and South Stradbroke have inlets. The first two might be Florida slop. The second two are Australia and therefore we have to make a big deal about some head high waves there.

Canyons are cool and all but they don't block wind. Give me some refraction resulting in positive interference and make it not too crowded and we're good.

Yeah, I'd say anything over 17 is pretty long period. Waves start to get a lot thicker and the reverse rips perk up their ears. I tend towards smaller boards so it is more of a struggle when that much water starts moving.

Forgive my ignorance but don't those inlets kind of semi-double as rivermouths, also creating sandbars up and down with the relative outward and then longshore flow? Submarine canyons focus the waves from way further away.

Yes, El Porto is mostly a disaster but have you ever surfed Hermosa or Playa Del Rey? Those are the very essence of pure dogshit beachbreaks. Porto would be like those without that canyon.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

Yeah, I'd say anything over 17 is pretty long period. Waves start to get a lot thicker and the reverse rips perk up their ears. I tend towards smaller boards so it is more of a struggle when that much water starts moving.

Forgive my ignorance but don't those inlets kind of semi-double as rivermouths, also creating sandbars up and down with the relative outward and then longshore flow? Submarine canyons focus the waves from way further away.

Yes, El Porto is mostly a disaster but have you ever surfed Hermosa or Playa Del Rey? Those are the very essence of pure dogshit beachbreaks. Porto would be like those without that canyon.

The inlets at St. Andrew's and Smyrna feed estuarine lagoons/bays and there's not really that much in the way of sediment transportation.

South Stradbroke I believe is more an inlet to a back bay. Duranbah I think is Tweed River but I was under the impression it's jetty refraction that makes the surf good there.

Never surfed Hermosa or Playa del Rey.

 

[Kento]

The inlets at St. Andrew's and Smyrna feed estuarine lagoons/bays and there's not really that much in the way of sediment transportation.

South Stradbroke I believe is more an inlet to a back bay. Duranbah I think is Tweed River but I was under the impression it's jetty refraction that makes the surf good there.

Gotcha but you do have naturally deeper water in those inlets, I take it, so a chunky swell will be more able to redistribute sand than if it was nothingness?

Never surfed Hermosa or Playa del Rey.

For damn good reason - they suck! I mean, your saving grace in PDR/El Segundo is a sewage pipe running out to sea.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

Gotcha but you do have naturally deeper water in those inlets, I take it, so a chunky swell will be more able to redistribute sand than if it was nothingness?



For damn good reason - they suck! I mean, your saving grace in PDR/El Segundo is a sewage pipe running out to sea.

Burna and St. Andrew's are dredged and have jetties, but some of the pre Army Corps inlets that aren't reinforced with jetties, there will often be peakier/larger surf adjacent to them, in my opinion because there's water on three sides so that makes it refract.

 

[One-Off]

round here short period windswell makes for the best days at the beachbreaks.

This. Or a sh!t ton of rain to carve out a channel or accumulate a bar. There's a place I call the "Torrance Rivermouth" that can be fun ...except for the high school surf teams that gather there.

Both conditions last only for a short time. Short period wind swell- one day, two max. The temporary bar or channel can last a little longer. It's been a while since I've seen a good bar at the places I frequent. One spring, probably 5-6 years ago, there was a bar at Rat Beach that made it feel like surfing Trestles...and not that many people made the walk down there. It lasted almost a month.

 

[kelpcutter]

A nice deep canyon funneling energy into the right location,
... and a nicely groomed sand bar
... and gentle offshore breeze
... and a mid - long period OH swell at just the right angle
... and nobody out
... and a nice channel with a rip to pull you back out to the peak

 

[CutnSnip]

This. Or a sh!t ton of rain to carve out a channel or accumulate a bar. There's a place I call the "Torrance Rivermouth" that can be fun ...except for the high school surf teams that gather there.

Both conditions last only for a short time. Short period wind swell- one day, two max. The temporary bar or channel can last a little longer. It's been a while since I've seen a good bar at the places I frequent. One spring, probably 5-6 years ago, there was a bar at Rat Beach that made it feel like surfing Trestles...and not that many people made the walk down there. It lasted almost a month.

the sand has been lame here for a long long time.

 

[sponge]

Define beachbreak. And define good.

 

[doc_flavonoid]

3 pages and not one mention of a beach that encompasses the entire gamut of dogshit to epic and can turn 18sec into a frames

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

3 pages and not one mention of a beach that encompasses the entire gamut of dogshit to epic and can turn 18sec into a frames

View attachment 144692

Named in post 29 and referenced along with a couple others in post 34.

 

[One-Off]

the sand has been lame here for a long long time.

We have a nickname for it- the monobar.

 

[kidfury]

bathymetry

 

[keenfish]

Jetties?

 

[ajmojave]

Alex, ill take Jetties and offshore winds for $1000

 

[freeride76]

, Duranbah, and South Stradbroke have inlets. The first two might be Florida slop. The second two are Australia and therefore we have to make a big deal about some head high waves there.

Thank-you sir, for name-checking the two most reliably high quality beachbreaks on Earth.

Both man-made and both mediated by sand-bypassing systems which maintain quality inshore bathymetry.

The key there is deep to shallow gradients with constantly replenished v-bars.

 

[Northern_Shores]

Named in post 29 and referenced along with a couple others in post 34.

Except for "perfect conditions", what would you choose if you could only have one feature to make a beach surfable?
Ultima Thule has quite a few beaches with various features and is exposed to both shitswells and better ones. The one thing lacking is tide difference. Being the magnetic center of the universe with the moon right above it like the sun at equator, there is no tide. Rivermouths, rocks or corner at the end of the beach, nothing seems to be able to get a respectable wave going.