I longboard in SC where the waves are small, but the water is warm and the beaches are sandy. My in-laws live in the Portland, OR area. I have been thinking about trying to surf while visiting family out there, but I've heard stories of kids dying on the rocks, horrible rips, etc. How safe is it to surf the Oregon Coast? Where are some good spots? Is it tide dependent? When I check the forecasts it is always big, but hardly ever clean. Is that pretty much the way it is? Worth my time? Thanks.
Well its different depending on the time of year; winter is always pretty big, and summer can be clean but small. Fall is a good time of year cause its a little of both. You know i cant really give out good spots, your best bet is to check forecasts and wannasurf.com - its a really good surf atlas. Just so you know, Oregon has some pretty localized spots. So if you go you be best to check out the scene and find out what its like.' Yeah there are rips in oregon, especially in open ocean spots. Big dangers include driftwood and sharks. But, if you want to play, you gotta pay. do your reading bro, mahallo
Look into driving up to Westport, WA also. Need a 4/5/6 wetty cuz water is always 55 degrees... Piss on that localized mumbo jumbo surf or sponge where u want!
Hi. Ecola State Park ("Indian Head") is really mellow, quite pretty, and has terrible surfers, so it would be a safe place to check out. The rip is not bad - in fact, you will wish there were more rip to help you get to the outside! http://www.oregonsurf.com/html/surfspots_north.html
I don't mean any disrespect, but what places are localized? I've only been to the beach where my in-laws took us, but I've never even seen a surfboard in OR..
Otter Rock looks like a good spot. I don't want to ride anything too big at a break that I am not familiar with. Thanks for the website.
needles I surf in SC and I am out in Oregon this week. Surfed "needles" today, waist-shoulder long period swell with semi-glassy conditions. Kind of weak and mushy, but some nice sets rolled in as the tide sucked out. Water temp is in the mid 50's so I rented a 4/3. I guess a 3/2 would of been ok. No bad rips or anything. Just some pretty aggressive surfers. Longboarders were getting the best rides.
hey scott, if you dont mind, post a report or two from oregeon, so I can validate the forecasts for out there. I haven't had a lot of feedback from out there, so any input is helpful.
Oh yeah, about being localized; im not saying stay away. I say surf where you want. Im just telling you its a hazard sorta. Im from seattle and surf oregon a few weeks back and surfed huntington this spring too. word
Oswald West State Park Checked out Oswald West State Park, OR today. Hiked down to the beach break around 2PM, 5-6 people out. Started out, waist-chest, long period mush with semi-glassy conditions with some fun long lines. Waves picked up around 3PM in the chest-shoulder range with a larger sneaker showing up in the head range. By 4PM, 15 or so peeps showed up. The waves became less consistent, but still held its size. Some of the best surf I have had in a long long time. The locals thought it was only "so so". Fun stuff...
Agressive surfers? So, maybe what that guy said about the localized spots is true. I've never had problems with anyone around here. Where is "needles"? How much was it to rent a wetsuit? Thanks.
Needles is just south of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, OR. The "needles" are two tall rock spires coming out of the ocean. I rented a 4/3 suit, booties, gloves and a 6'4" Fish for $50.00/24hrs. Not a bad deal. The crowd was much more mellow at Oswald, but maybe I visited Needles on a weird day. Waves have been a little inconsistent, but super fun! Scott
Sounds like better waves than MB. We get excited about waist high around here, but the water is 80 degrees. I've seen the forecast saying double or triple overhead and choppy in OR. I think I would get worked on that. Have you seen anything that big out there? The report almost always says choppy. Has it been clean? Thanks again.
That rip can get rather bad on the outside reefs/point and haul you around into no-man's land. But, yeah, it is a generally good place to warm up to the N. Oregon surf.
You don't want to ride Seaside Point unless you are very experienced and get into the "proper cue." That also means not to park in the southern lots.
i just wanted to say that i think swell info does a pretty damn good job predicting the surf here in oregon cause it's def. tricky. i cross check tons of different websites to predict the surf because i have a bit of a drive and ive found that swellinfo is consistently the most accurate site for predicting wave/swell size. "conditions" are only accurate maybe 50-60% but "surf" section is usually pretty spot on. keep it up
That is the way they like it in the PNW... to be unseen. Long hikes down goat trails keep it that way. This isn't a drive by Malibu or Rincon to check the surf just off the PCH! Or pulling into the Windansea parking lot.
