Carolina Beach laws

[zach619]

Hello all.

I just had a few questions about the wilmington area. Carolina Beach in particular. I am also interested in what the laws are in wrightsville as well...

But here are my questions:

How many surf beaches are there in CB? How many total blocks of surfing beaches are there? Also, what time of year are these surf beaches enforced? What are the hours of the surf beaches? In OCMD where I am from, it was like 10am-5pm i believe.


Also, what are the leash laws there? I know there are no reefs and large kelp beds, so for a shortboarder like me, wearing a leash is fine. There is really no point not too.... But if there was only a small swell in the water, and I wanted to paddle out on my 10 foot single fin, would I have to wear a leash at all times? Or do I only have to wear a leash during the "surf beach"/lifeguard hours????

If I am up at 6:30 am out longboarding with no leash and a cop sees me, am I getting a ticket? That is my question... Not that big of a deal. Im just curous. I know that longboarding with a leash is a pain in the ass if you are trying to get your feet moving around on the ol' log.

[conway]

I can speak for wb here...
there aren't "surfing beaches" here, just swim zones, meaning that there are areas where surfing isn't allowed, which I guess is basically what a surfing beach is, but I've never heard it called that here. The swim zones are a hundred yards from either side of a lifeguard stand. The lifeguard trucks start patrolling the beach pretty early, and if you're breaking the rules, they won't hesitate to call you in with a siren and let you know with anything from a warning to a full on citation. This includes surfing leashless. It's a real ***** having to wear a leash to log when it's knee high and no one's out, but you have to understand that law enforcers in wrightsville beach have nothing better to do at seven or eight in the morning than to bust surfers breaking the rules. It's like WW3 when they catch people surfing to close to the pier, full blarehorns going everywhere. Other than that, the rules are real low key and pretty hospitable to surfers. Wearing a leash, staying away from the piers, and avoiding a drift into a swim zone are the only things you need to take care of. Otherwise, it's about as relaxed as can be, until you paddle out and try to deal with the crowds at crystal or c-street or mercer's, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

[zach619]

Cool, thanks for the info. Thats exactly what I was looking for. Wow, they mess with you guys for getting close to the piers? No pier shooting =) Is that because of fishing off the piers or that they are afraid of surfers running into pillars?

[eclipse13]

CB, surf anywhere any time. There aren't any leash laws, but if a lifeguard pulls up, try to hang on to your board. They can't ticket you, but they'll hassel you about it. You can't surf within 500ft of the piers, but they only really enforce that during the summer. Winter doesn't have many fishermen, so they don't really worry about it. Even when they do, they'll tell you to move down. As long as you do without stalling there won't be any problem.

ETA: The fishermen are the ones who call the cops on the surfers being too close to the pier. That or they'll throw weights at you and try to hit you.

[conway]

Cool, thanks for the info. Thats exactly what I was looking for. Wow, they mess with you guys for getting close to the piers? No pier shooting =) Is that because of fishing off the piers or that they are afraid of surfers running into pillars?

more like they'd like to reserve that space for Johnny So-and-so from charlotte or raleigh to ride his boogey board ten feet from shore, and they figure Johnny's gonna be on it early, so the rules stay enforced all day.

[adowcett]

If I am up at 6:30 am out longboarding with no leash and a cop sees me, am I getting a ticket? That is my question... Not that big of a deal. Im just curous. I know that longboarding with a leash is a pain in the ass if you are trying to get your feet moving around on the ol' log.

The lifeguard trucks start patrolling the beach pretty early, and if you're breaking the rules, they won't hesitate to call you in with a siren and let you know with anything from a warning to a full on citation. This includes surfing leashless

I think any time before nine you can get away without a leash if you're discreet about it and are good about hangin on to your board. Even if you are out leashless when the trucks are out crusing, you can see 'em coming from pretty far away, so if you just keep an eye out for them, any don't pull into any macking closeouts while they're around, you should be fine. Same thing after 6 or so, except then you might have to be a bit more careful of swimmers then. (All of this pertaining to WB)

[conway]

I think any time before nine you can get away without a leash if you're discreet about it and are good about hangin on to your board. Even if you are out leashless when the trucks are out crusing, you can see 'em coming from pretty far away, so if you just keep an eye out for them, any don't pull into any macking closeouts while they're around, you should be fine. Same thing after 6 or so, except then you might have to be a bit more careful of swimmers then. (All of this pertaining to WB)

macking? wats that mean?

[respecttheocean]

Hey man... you can also go to www.wblivesurf.com to also see this info and for a good surf report.

Here is the info for Wrightsville Beach:

Wrightsville Beach SURF Regulations and ZONES FOR 2009
Surfing Regulations

To help ensure the safety of all beach patrons, surfers must be securely attached to their board with a “leash”.

Surfing is always prohibited in the following areas:

Within 500 feet of Johnnie Mercer’s Fishing Pier (between Beach Access # 15 & #16)
Within 100 feet of Crystal Pier at Oceanic Restaurant (between Beach Access #36 & #37)
Within 100 feet of the Masonboro Inlet Jetty (between Beach Access #42 & #43)
From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, surfing is prohibited within 100 yards of each lifeguard stand. Surfing is prohibited in these areas whenever lifeguards are on duty. Lifeguard stands are normally staffed from 10 AM to 5 PM, but these hours may be extended when the beach is busy. “No Surfing” areas will be clearly marked with flags as shown in the figure below.

(the guy at Mercer's is particularly lame about surfing near the pier and will call the Beach Police).
(Surfing near Crystal is not a problem at all unless it is during the surf zone times).

There are many people who work hard to make it possible for us to surf in Wrightsville, so make sure to where your leash.

[hanna]

CB is like Thunderdome - just about anything goes, anytime, almost anywhere

the pier rules are basically enforced coz of fishermen...but down at the Tiki Bar, you can surf as close as you can get to the band

[primo]

Good one Hanna. CB is about as hassle free as it gets. Im usually leaving WB by 8 so I don't see anybody.