Best east coast town to live and surf in?

dont come to wb the surf sucks. the only good things here are the hookers and booze and the college.

 

New Jersey has better surf and better rideable days than Florida. Forida considers knee high slop rideable. Florida = January, February, March knee high garbage. New Jersey = shoulder - overhead barrels in January, February, March.

I'll take NJ or OBX over Florida any day on the east coast. We are only talking about the east coast and that's how I see it. Novia Scotia may be a great place for rideable surf based on what other people have said, but I've never been there to confirm it.

 

Jersey shore localist's spots! (-..-)

Ok hands down my favorite spots, after those storm we had, are now long branch nj, deal nj (if you know of black sand beach) asbury nj, and then last but definitely not least belmar nj. You just need to know where to go.....Oh and lets not forget about sandy hook!!!! The fun factor is way off the charts beyond the women, you cant turn your head without seeing a fun bar scene, there is allways a party going on and something to do. God bless the shore, the real shore and not some effin fist pumpin **** commercialized version,

 

I'll second that. **** those mother****ing guidos. I hate it when people ask me if I hang out with the Situation or Snookie. I've never seen that dumb show and I hope I never do.

 

Hello! I'm new to this board, and I don't mean to bring this thread back from the dead, but I'd like to share my experience on this topic, since my wife and I just went through this relocating scenario recently.

I grew up in Jacksonville, FL and learned to surf there and continued to do so up until a month ago when I moved to Virginia Beach. Jacksonville (Jax) is a great place to surf, you just have to accept that you live on the east coast and you're never going to get the wave quality/consistency like our western counterparts, so you have to lower your standards a little bit (and *gasp* maybe even change equipment). Jax has plenty of spots to surf, and it's not as crowded as you would think, the real treasures in the North Florida area are in North Jax and the St. Augustine area, which have a tight knit surf community, and good vibes. The downside is that Jax is got hit pretty hard with the economic downturn, and its difficult to find jobs, since they are limited, and you are competing with a lot of people for them (who relocated there when when it was booming in the late 90s and early 2000s). If you are in the healthcare industry, you should have no problem. The upside is that many neighborhoods were established during that boom, and during the recession, unfortunately many of those homes were foreclosed. The supply of houses is higher that the demand. You can find a 3/2 house, 2000 sq ft, less than 10 years old, and a 15 minute drive to the beach for about $150k. So if you're lucky enough to land a job, you can have a ball looking at homes.

 

I also agree with those who say Central Florida. There are plenty of tech jobs out there, since a lot of defense contractors set up shop there to be close to NASA. The Cocoa Beach down to Melbourne Beach area is nice, with plenty of surf spots. And you're close to Sebastian Inlet. Florida has it's own version of the Pacific Coast Highway that runs along this area.

Another good thing about Fl is that it's fairly cheap to fly to central america (like CR or Nicaragua). Most of my friends leave out of Orlando Intl airport.

Sorry if I wrote a lot, it's just that I've been running this issue around my head for the last year or so, looking at places up and down the EC on where to relocate, since my employer in Jax had been in really bad shape. Finally pulled the trigger and landed a job in the Hampton Roads area. So far I like VB. The surf breaks are a little "kooked out" here than what I'm used to, but I think that would change in the fall/winter.

 

True, that must be why NJ churns out more world champs and ASP all stars than Florida

j/k

 

Hey man just out of curiousity. It's pretty much a done deal I will be moving to Imperial Beach California in September. I found two friends in Jersey I surf with who have always wanted to move out there to, but I got a question for you. A few months ago I was contemplating Jacksonville. That was before the other two said they wanted to make the move to San Diego with me. I don't know ANYONE within 2500 miles of there, but at least in Jacksonville my grandparents live in Naples, and one of my best friends lives in Delray Beach for half the year. Those are 300+ miles each, but better than 2500. I found houses in the Murray Hill section for real cheap. Some of them were selling for half of what they are supposedly appraised for, and they weren't even foreclosures. I am talking a handful of 1200 square foot homes for under $100 grand. I also have a sizeable amount of money to put on a down payment on a house there[In San Diego area unless it was in the ghetto what I got would only go for 1% to 2% down haha!] anyway the area doesn't look like a total dive. It reminded me of some towns up in North Jersey a little bit like Garfield, and Lodi. The houses were just too cheap to be true. I mean I suspect they may have had a massacre in there! Murray Hill alright or what? Just out of curiosity. It's a safe bet I am gonna end up in Imperial Beach California though.

 

Any sweet little town on the NJ coast where the swell is bitter sweet; when it's good it's great and when it's bad it's super flat. All the little secret spots,beautiful girls, crazy nights, and where localism is more than just an expression.... Personally, I love Monmouth County but I know there are alot of wild little towns that I've encountered over the years that can blow your mind.

 

I dont know if I could ever leave NJ. Something about the Surf Culture here is a on of a kinda experience you can get anyplace else.

 

You now know one guy in San Diego =)

Just out of curiousity, why did you guys pick IB specifically? San Diego has 80 miles of coastline in the county with about 20 surf towns. Just curious what drew you guys to IB... Ive surfed IB a handful of times because on certain swells that place gets super heavy and barrels. I don't venture down to IB all that often, but its pretty chill. I will say that IB is unlike any other beach town. It has a completely different personality.

 

surfordie, if I'm right about the area that you are referring to (Murray Hill), that's in west Jax. I wouldn't be surprised if the deals you saw are true. That was a booming area, because they built an outdoor strip mall/towncenter type thing at Avondale, which is close by. But there are foreclosures all over Jacksonville. If you do purchase one of the newer houses, make sure it doesn't have that cheap chinese drywall.

I'm also having problems with my home which I purchased in 2007. If we sell it we take a big loss. So we're exploring renting it out.

 

Hold on a minute! 3.5 hours! What roads are you taking? It takes me 5 hours to get there from WB at least.

I'm a little late in this, but I live in Wilmington NC, and the worst flat spells are during late spring and early summer. Like month-long flat, nada, a lake. But in July, the surf picks up again and stays pretty consistent all the way through January or February, which is fine because of school and that's when the water temp bottoms out.

There are a lot of restaurants (too many!) so if you like to do little jobs like that it's pretty easy to find a job, but i'm not too sure about careers. I'm planning on attending UNCW, maybe go in the Coast Guard after college...

Lots of eye-candy on the beach too... lots of swimmers and beginners too at WB. You can't find a spot by yourself on weekends in the summer, best to go during the week and even then the well-known spots are PACKED.

Never surfed CB cuz i can't yet drive, but I'm planning to on a solid swell since my friend got his license, wrightsville waves are pretty weak and are very rarely barreling.

 

I'm from PA, but my parents live 15 minutes from Wrightsville Beach. The beach and the breaks are awesome. The people and the bars are awesome too. Hit up Jerry Allen's bar, tons of hot girls show up after 10 or so. Good people, and good times.

 

These would be my personal pics only because I have surfed all 3 quite often. No offense, but for non-pro's, waves don't pay the bills, so as far as economy, VB would be your best bet. (VB does have a flowrider for those flat days) HA HA You also can't have your cake and eat it, too. Probably any town you find will have some sort of draw back... tourism, crime, no taco stand, etc. Just my two cents, good luck!!!


Cocoa Beach, FL. - The median income for a household in the city was $42,372, and the median income for a family was $51,795. Males had a median income of $39,418 versus $27,113 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,968. About 3.7% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.


VB - The median income for a household in the city was $48,705, and the median income for a family was $53,242. Virginia Beach had the 5th highest median family income among large cities in 2003.[27] Males had a median income of $33,756 versus $25,979 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,365. About 5.1% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

OCMD - The median income for a household in the town was $35,772, and the median income for a family was $44,614. Males had a median income of $28,613 versus $27,457 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,078. About 6.0% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.0% of those under the age of 18 and 3.9% ages 65 or older.

 

Ey where were you when I made a topic about the San Diego area! Well it's not 100% confirmed Imperial Beach, but it will definitely be San Diego area. Steering towards South San Diego county. Me, and my buddies in Jersey who are moving with me needed a three bedroom apartment, and we kept finding plenty of twos, but we found some threes in Imperial Beach. Is Imperial Beach a crummy neighborhood though? It looks pretty alright, but I just don't know for sure cause I have never lived there nor have they. They have buddies that surf, and live in Pacific Beach. They go to visit pretty much every holiday/long weekend. From what they tell me Pacific Beach has a different personality than Jersey, but they have compared it as a cross between Seaside Heights, and Wildwood. They said it's not as sleezy as Seaside, but at the same time there aren't as many families that go there as there are in Wildwood either. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

I would tell you but I would have to shoot ya... (not literally) But I will come to your spot when the waves are firing!

 

No doubt! NJ is awesome. Check out the blog http://seasandsurf.com Jersey gets in your blood. The stong survive...

 

IB is not a "crummy" neighborhood. ALl I will tell you is that IB is pretty disconnected from San Diego. It is very difficult to access from the city, so you wont bump into many tourists down there... It is literally on the mexican border, so I would brush up on my spanish. Most people who live in the IB area are from mexico. Not mexican americans, but literally from mexico. Lots of lowriders and all that. IB gets good surf, but its also by the TJ river, so IB has more beach closers than anyone else...

Dont get me wrong, IB is cool, but for a few guys fresh from jersey, you guys will get culture shocked pretty hard....

PB is nothing like anywhere in Jersey. Kind of like seaside heights, but much much cleaner and nicer. PB is over run by frat boys and kooks, but it is the cleanest, nicest strech of party beach ive ever seen. Its really nice. Half the people on here have either visited PB or lived there probably. So PB is the obvious starting point for most transplant surfers....

I live in OB and have since I moved here. Its 5 minutes from Downtown, so there is easy job access. There is no rat race in OB and no frat boys. I chose to live around the old head surfers and the hippies. And La Jolla is a SICK area for surf and life, but if you dont have a bunch of money, dont bother... You will just be surrounded by ferarris and fake boobs....

Everything north of La Jolla is nice too... Sleepy beach towns, but pretty disconnected from the actual city...

Oside is ghetto and full of military.....

PB and OB are the most common and safe choices for surf areas in SD....

Im not trying to deter you from IB, im just saying, its like mexico down there. Not like Jersey whatsoever. If you are just all about surf though, you could love it... Its chill. Just nothing like anywhere else. They got striped donkeys and the whole nine in IB.