Howdy folks, I'm looking to move or Oregon in the next month or two. I'd love to live along the coastal highway but most of the jobs in my field are in larger centers. I have the opportunity to move to Eugene or Salem. I'm wondering which location offers the better surfing opportunities? As far as I can tell they are both similar distances from the ocean. Any advise would be much appreciated, bluenoser
Salem is small, boring, and 15 minutes from anything rideable, and 45 minutes from anything relatively good in the area. You're not going to be walking out your door and going surfing. The only surf you get is during Noreasters when it's a billion degrees below zero with 90mph offshores, or maybe a rare itty-bitty hurricane swell. It's also very isolated along terrible roads. Boston is like a giant tumor in your way of going anywhere, and there's nothing to the north but the Wildlings and The Wall. Can't say for Oregon. Waves are bigger, but I think it's often unrideable due to being too big.
I used to spend a good amount of time in Oregon and if you are already planning on being that far from the ocean, Eugene is the place to be. University of Oregon is in Eugene so the town itself is a lot of fun. Plenty of bars, good food, chicks (sans d!cks, no offense metard). Other than spending a night or two in Portland on my trips, Eugene was always where I shacked up. You're also pretty centrally located to a sh!tload of other outdoorsy stuff to do (hiking, rafting, snowboarding, etc). If you've ever been to Asheville, NC then Eugene is like a slightly larger, slightly less crunchy version. Also if you skate, there are like 5 sick concrete parks within 20 miles of Eugene - but that's honestly the case for almost every town in OR, it really is skate utopia. The only drawback (and this is really any of the cities in OR) is the meth heads. Seriously. Just know that at some point your car or house will get broken into. My friend got his car window smashed in so they could take the change out of his ashtray. Other than that, Eugene is the tits.
Also, Coos Bay and Newport definitely have decent surf scenes - but all the surf in OR really is typical large slop. When you get a rideable day out there, it's most likely going to be a couple feet OH and soupy. If you are good with the Mid-Atlantic and NE Atlantic winters, then you'll be fine with the temps out there.
Thanks for the reply KDHJB. If I can't get a job in Coos Bay, Newport, Florance, Lincoln City, etc. Eugene sounds like a good bet. I'm from Nova Scotia so the cold shouldn't be a problem
we will count this as your hello thread. drink a gallon of hiv infected bear semen and die of bear aids. moving on, i used to live in oregon. its badarsh. eugene is a cool college town and salem is a turd on a map. both are a haul to the beach through gnarly mountain roads. saw a bear one night in the road just being a boss. ever drive an hour and a half to the beach to see chesties and a parking lot full of surfers, and you get out and wonder why no one is in the water, and somebody says "theres been a white cruising for a bit. think we're gonna call it." yeah, me neither, but its happened to other dudes. so be forewarned that thats a thing. theres a wahine at a surf shop (in coos i think it was) with a sexy bite scar. true story some girl from the internet drives an hour and a half to come over in a snowstorm in oregon, and starts making out and then tells me she has the herp, and my exact words are "is it too late for you to drive home?" the last scene in point break was filmed in oregon. as was goonies. the best surf in oregon is in norcal.
Anyone posting on this thread actually live in Oregon? Oregon has the best left-hand point break in North America. It's also the most localized left-hand point break in North America. The surf can be finicky and (supposedly) sharky (I've never seen a white in the water; doesn't mean they are not there,) and sure, it's cold year 'round. It's sharkier down close to the sea lion rookeries near Yachats, etc. The N. Coast, where I surf, has a lot of semi-secret spots that really start to turn on this time of year. Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Localism isn't too bad (except for the aforementioned point break.) All said, if you're living in the Willamette Valley (Salem, Eugene, Portland) you're going to be making a a 1.5 hour drive over the coast range to get surf. There is plenty of surf here though, year-round. And to concur with others- Salem is definitely a turd on the map; Eugene is marginally better. Oh and I saw your post on the Oregon Surf Page. That place is dead as you can tell.
