Best wave/location for first barrel?

All the answers to your questions can be found in Deal, New Jersey.

 

The kind without sharp reefs under them.
East coast beach breaks are probably good to learn barrel riding. You can get barrelled when it's like waist hight at times. That, or a mellow peeling point like Rincon.

 

NJ never barrells, you should go to Florida it barrells all the time over there. Tubes for days.

Florida or Hawaii.

 

Pipeline. Yep, definitely Pipeline.

 

Give Mavericks a try, the reefs about 60 feet below the surface so you won't eat reef, you'll probably just drown.

 

If a guy wants to get tubed, maybe sarcasm isnt the answer?
Even though he was making a funny, I would agree with seldom seen, until the sand pumped happened Ocean County and MC NJ had some rather user friendly barrels, comparatively, short paddle outs, but somewhat unforgiving waves

OBX can shack for days too.

I know Clemson surf was being sarcastic, but Fl has some of the least tubular waves aside from SC and GA on the whole EC, from my experience.
My gawd I hated FL, I reckon some spots have their day, but as a whole its waves are suited for geriatrics, and the spots that do tube will have more bros out with entitlement attitudes than you can shake a stick at

 

From your profile it says you live in So Cal. The Wedge is super user friendly. Theres tons of places in So Cal when there is swell and wind. Just take off deeper than you think you should.

 

Jersey in the winter. Cold, heavy and pitching!

 

OBX on a hurricane swell (not in 2013 though) but yeah if you are going to do it do it right, head straight to Pipeline in the winter and go for it!

 

If you live in Southern California, i'd say a glassy dawn patrol at Black Beach on a smallish chest high day is a pretty easy place to paddle out, drop in deep, and probably get a little cover up (or better) without too much trouble. Its heavy when big, but a pretty mellow spot at 2-4 foot.

 

I saw a number of breaks in South SD County like mitchell is talking about that were hollow and nice at the same conditions he described. Just happened to be closing out here and there too. I'll be back out there in a few weeks and will be hunting those spots down to shott those tubes and get pinned!!

 

Blacks is one of many spots that I need to surf before I die. Something about it, aside from the wave quality, evry damn pic I've seen of that place is just beautiful.

 

Find a wave that breaks slow on the entry, and gets hollow on the inside. That way you have a good head of steam going into the barrel section and enough speed to make it out. This is much easier than dropping into a tube, or trying to back door the peak.

Don't forget to claim it once you get out of the pit. Flip the lineup a double birdie, then yell "WOOOOO...I'm DA Man!!!!"

 

Obvi. Why you think I've been going predominantly backside since the start of my surfing? So I can smile for the camera on my first barrell. Going with double shaka since it's a family affair

 

Nothing worth having comes easy brah. I thought about the same thing you're talking about, but it's not like crystal clear soft mellow barrells are growing on trees and also, my first real barrell is gonna be the schitt because I know it's gonna come from a gnarly heavy wave that I don't even make it out the end of the tube on and it will spin me for days. But all I'll be thinking of in that spin cycle is the beauty of the green room that I was just a world champ in for 1.5 to 5 seconds. Go hard or go home!!!

Granted not just any charger can ride these gnarly tubes but look at these barrells and tell me that a soft, gentle, warm and fuzzy baby barrell stokes your rocks anywhere close to this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB6LX8UIeJU

 

Start heaving yourself over the lip and grab some rail. There isn't really an easy way of learning. You just gotta take a few on the head and figure it out.

 

This pretty much nails it. You just gotta start pulling in, you'll eventually learn how to read a wave to see if it will have a nice barrel and how to navigate said barrel. For the record, "user friendly" is a really relative term. Generally barrels = shallow. Sand bottom is probably the best because it won't cut the chitt out of you, but regardless you will be getting an intimate relationship with whatever bottom you are surfing over.

Oh yeah, learn how to fall correctly so you can control yourself while it's happening. I don't like hearing about people getting paralyzed.

 

You could go from zero to hero on that wave. I haven't had many rides this year as long as some of those tubes. Nothing like an average of 10 second tubes.