East vs. West

CutnSnip

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2018
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Probably dropping in on you, California
Not a dig on any East Coasters, but I feel like the only people who every try to do a comparison between both coasts are people from the EC. I've never heard someone from the West care enough to try to initiate a comparison between the two
right?! i think it also has something to do with, if its that friggin cold when the waves are firing - im just not surfing anyways. only did cold weather/water once and its just not for me.
 

Subway

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Dec 31, 2008
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west coast gets way more swell from way more directions/periods and way more often, and a long coastline if you like driving, and crowds everywhere all year at all sizes.

as someone who has surfed both extensively for years, yes to California overall no brainer…if you don’t mind driving and don’t have a 9-5 job, and traffic doesn’t bother you, you can easily have a fun to epic day of surf 300+ days a year.

but man, when conditions align for the east end, or this end of LI, or jersey gets juuuuuust the right period and chunky and super hollow, it gets epic. The photos and vids don’t lie, even if they are cherry picked and usually the best surfers in that area or state. It’s rare but we do in fact get days and sessions that can still blow my mind, and I’ve surfed many of this hemispheres best waves on their better days. Actually tavarua is the eastern hemisphere, but you get what I’m saying.. I’ve surfed truly perfect and heavy and scary and powerful top shelf brand name surf spots on some of their better days, and I still can be impressed and blown away with an overhead short period a framing hollow day down the block. It just happens more often some years than others

And when the cold thins the crowd, you really can luck into some frigid but truly and deeply satisfying sessions. I feel like I had more of those winters the first 4 years or so since I moved to LB, the last few years have been pretty blah all in.

And I will freely admit the one day 2 weeks ago we finally got a fun looking chest high wave, it was 18 degrees with crisp north winds (so the windchill was below 0 F) and I just couldn’t motivate for it. Had I manned up and suited up, I may have had one of those late afternoon sunset sessions where you’re just surfing with a few guys on a peak or jetty, maybe you know a couple, maybe not, but its mostly empty and fun and freezing cold and for an hour you don’t care and have a blast.

but It was too damn cold. 10 years ago I would have probably surfed twice. I’ll still gladly and hope to soon surf, but it’s gotta at least be sunny, light winds, not arctic, just normal winter temps in like, the 30s or low 40s. Those I’m still fine with.
 

ULUSURFER

Gerry Lopez status
Jan 2, 2007
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I think that when New England is good it’s better than California. California is far far more consistent than the east. NH has so much surf potential along with very northern mass

beach breaks are far hollower and. More powerful when they are on. A few spots like OB and blacks are on par with the EC when it’s on.

the cold water in the east is a major bummer.

neither California or east coast are real wave destinations IMO.
 

menobrah

Gerry Lopez status
Feb 28, 2021
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Holy Christ what kind of insanity is this. I have surfed up and down the East Coast for the last 22yrs now, grew up surfing in socal - norcal for college til I moved to this wave desert. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing on the east coast touches rincon. Nothing. Hell nothing touches lowers, or swamis, or steamer lane, or moss landing, or all of the la jolla spots, the list is too long to even mention. To say that the EC is on par with Blacks is batshit crazy...perfect A frame canyon sets, there is nothing in the outer banks that comes close, and the outer banks is as good as it gets around here imo. Your gonna argue that the wall or point judith or some other sh!t spot can hold a candle to the queen of the coast? If so you must have never seen rincon when its on. Your post must be satire, I genuinely hope it is....
 

Subway

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In the east? Maybe 1 or 2, but it would be a once in a decade hurricane swell with perfect everything to make it work like a sort of rincon
 

ElOgro

Duke status
Dec 3, 2010
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In the east? Maybe 1 or 2, but it would be a once in a decade hurricane swell with perfect everything to make it work like a sort of rincon
Once in a decade...sort of...

Sounds enticing!

There’s always Baja New York, Florida!
 
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Subway

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I’ve gotten world class waves at home and abroad. Mostly abroad but it does happen in this region, just far less frequently, and yes there are some set ups that can act like <insert famous named spot here> given the right swell and conditions.

im not arguing that it’s better here more often. Far from it, read the beginning of my long post.
but for someone that lives here and has been surfing here since I was single digits years old, I have a reasonable amount of experience to draw on, and yes, certain spots can absolutely light up into 3-400 yard long overhead freight train point breaks, complete with barrel sections and all.

Our beach breaks, as you see several times every season, be it the late summer and fall tropical action, or winter coastal lows, can go off without much prompting whatsoever.

but again, east versus west, you will get far more and far better waves more often if you live in most parts of southern and central cal than if you live anywhere on the east coast.
 
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potato-nator

Phil Edwards status
Nov 10, 2015
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saw a du get an "A" quality ride today - he stuck a late drop quite well then stalled,
got shacked and came out...:applause2:
 

One-Off

Tom Curren status
Jul 28, 2005
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west coast... crowds everywhere all year at all sizes.
This.

Unless....

Going slightly off topic...I worked a construction job with two Kiwis (New Zealanders) and one "Ocker" (what the kiwis called the guy from Australia). They came to California because they thought the waves would be perfect RIncon all the time. They told me they saw articles about the surf in California in surf mags and asked themselves why they were stuck down under with crap waves all the time? We all came to the conclusion that the surf mags encouraged a "grass in greener" mentality, no matter where you live...
 
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