Does anyone think that Tom's Cove might be breaking with the south thats in this swell combined with the strong north wind? Does anyone know how much of a storm surge is needed to close the offroad zone that goes down to the point? I am wondering if there is a 3 mile hike or is the beach passable with a swell this big?
I've always been intrigued by Tom's Cove. The setup makes it look like it would work. Looks like Delmarva's own little version of Frisco. However, I don't know anyone who's actually surfed it. I do know someone who went down to check it out on a swell that should have worked there in theory but it was no good. I've also heard that it's hard to access because the beach is protected for birds or something. Anybody here actually ridden the wave there?
This guy i work with claims he' surfed it. He seems to know a lot about the spot (where to park, how to get there, tides, winds) He was talking about how he went down with his buddy on a strong noreaster and it was seriously workin. Sounds like a nice little adventure. The swells gotta be big, i know that at least.
It is accessible via a four wheel drive vehicle and the beach is open this time of year. It was the first day of it being closed when we tried to venture down there back in March to surf a strong south swell. You can get sick washovers from the ocean to the bayside on high and incoming tide so be careful.... Other than that, take pics for the rest of us!
blah blah blah... i've been there several times over the last 2 years and never got anything good. lots of bar on the outside. there is a ton of shoals and white wash blocking surf so high tide is a must. three times i was there, there was strong south swells with north winds whipping. i am not saying it doesn't get good, but I prefer something more like southside. there is definatley waves for loggers. some old timers told me it works best on east swells on the tip with little to no wind at high tide. so, i m thinking they like to take boats there...that would be nice and I actually took my jet ski there twice. there are some islands just south of there that "I hear?" get very very good. never been there and I won't go because of the effort to go there would leave me with several more attractive options. anyways, surfed somewhere 2night and it was juicy!!!
I checked the south end of assateague today and it was victory at sea. I've been down in chincoteague for the last month for work. 2 weeks ago I checked out metompkin island by kayak. It's a pretty cool 30 minute paddle, I'm thinking about tying off my board to the kayak and paddling back there if it cleans up. If you get waves there you'll have the whole island by yourself. All the barrier islands are accessible by boat or kayak and there are some good sandbars there.
Yeah. There are barrier islands just south of the inlet mouth there @ Tom's Cove. If you park at and use the south boat ramp near the landfill and trailer park..... you can put in and hop right over to them. I have surfed there (Toms) twice but never made it to the other islands since we just had a 16 ft aluminum jon boat w/ a 45 hp engine and the offshore bouy was reading 14ft the last time. Also, it's not easy getting there if the beach is washed over. We just pulled the boat up on the backside of the beach at Toms even though it is illegal b/c yes there is a bird sanctuary. Just gotta take ur chances. Even though the bouy said 14ft and was from the NE w/ a N wind, it was only chest high and running down the beach about 10 ft offshore (imagine old rehobeth). But, I still need to get there on a big southeast.
I surfed Tom's Cove about 3 years ago on a sailing trip to chincoteague. The shoals were more intriguing than the surf in the cove. Most of what I found there were crumbly slow longboarding waves. Not bad for that though, nice long lines.
Try google earth, I scanned along the coast and it looks like it has potential. Coming in from fishing once saw some nice waves breaking on the barrier islands, the mate on the boat said people do surf it once in awhile. The key factors all have to be right- swell, wind and tide. Its alot of work to get out there, but try it you might be lucky.
I paddled my kayak to Metompkin Island from Gargathy Creek on Friday 11/07. It was a hairy paddle in the inlet, but the tide was coming in so I wasn't worried about getting sucked out. The inlet is about 150 yards wide and had waves breaking on both sides. There was an outer bar about 300-400 yards outside the mouth of the inlet where a bunch of A frame peaks were breaking. The place has potential. Def. looks worth a try on a hurricane swell . I was going to tow my board but it didn't look too good at assateague earlier in the day so i left it. This is probably the most accessible island, the farther south you go the islands get farther from the mainland and require longer paddles/boat rides.
