Is surfing a curse?

i can sit on the beach for a while and crack a few brews and listen to music, but other than that i wont do it long, mostly pre or post sesh. ill walk down to the beach check waves if there are none ill leave but i still love it.

 

I have absolutely no memory of ever going to the beach just for the beach. It was always about surfing for me and still is. My wife thinks I'm a nightmare on the beach if there are no waves will go by herself rather than have me fidgeting the whole time. I did go to beach in the bahamas without surfing but never sat on a towel in the sun, I was in the water snorkeling or just floating the whole time.

 

I agree. The beach itself sucks. Its only redeeming quality is the fact that it is the surfer's link to the ocean. I am being a bit facetious, because it's not that I hate the beach, but I think it is vastly overrated in many people's eyes. People don't appreciate the beach for the right reasons. They like the beach because someone else told them it was a cool place to go, so by going there, they think they are cool too.

Although some beach towns generally cool places, and great for people watching, being on the beach itself is not very enjoyable during the summer heat. The crowd, traffic, tourists, and parking ruin it during the peak of the season. I am never inclined to go sit on the beach to hang out; mountains are more fun to sit on.

Maybe it's just because I spend so much time surfing that I take the inherent beauty of the beach for granted... Or maybe it's because I went to college in a landlocked part of the country, where I heard people say countless times, "Oh you are from the beach, that's so cool!" I guess I'm jaded. Or maybe I'm just spoiled, for living so close to the beach for so long. Either way, the beach isn't that awesome, because there are no waves on the beach. They are all in the ocean itself.

 

For a career/family man surfing is a curse! All else is second to it. We live like drug addicts! The only cure is to live somewhere that has ample surf so you don't have to drop your duties when a swell arrives. Maybe W. Coast, Australia, Hawaii, Portugal or Ireland?

 

Yes, it is a curse. I can't enjoy the beach like the normals do. Unfortunate for me, since it's the only attraction around here.

I have a trip planned for next month, and I'm worried that there will be surf here when I'm gone.

Pretty pathetic when you consider how little time is spent actually riding a wave.

 

For those that don't live at the ocean but only get to visit occassionally, the experience of the beach is truly one of lifes great sensory experiences. The visual of the ocean, the wildlife, the salty smell, the sounds of gulls, waves crashing etc. Wonderful.

My issue is that with surfing (east coast), you have very small windows of time when its on, and you have to go with fairly limited time notice. Frequently the wife and kids aren't ready and get mad when I have to jet to catch some waves. East coast, the opportunities just aren't green and 3 bars+ very often.

 

they should pave the beach right out to the sandbar. sand sucks

 

depends on the beach. When I lived near Pensacola, I loved the tropical summers, clean white sand and warm clear blue gulf water. I had a board just in case there ever were waves, but snorkeling the jetty, sailing the sunfish, skim boarding or wading around (watch for those sharks around schools of fish) and just exploring the bayou islands was fun enough. Doing that in the murky waters of the east coast or cold waters of the pacific has no appeal.

 

I hate the beach but love the ocean. I'd drive to OBX, see it's flat, go jump in for an anointment, then haul azz home.

 

beaches have bikinis, that makes them better than 99.9% of the world
surfing is a curse if you have no self-control or sense of presence, it's that simple

 

I think if you're newish to surfing, You get consumed by it because its the only way to get good at it. Once you've been surfing for 20 years or so you can go to the beach to just relax again. There is nothing better than coming home to the beach after being inland on hot roofs or in attics all day. Waves or not.

If you are lucky enough to live by the beach you are lucky enough. surfing is not a curse its a gift.

 

I like the beach, I like surfing, I enjoy everything about coastal living except for 4th of july weekend and labor day weekend

 

if there's no surf at the beach, and if I don't have a fishing pole, there better be titt!es and beer. if there are no titt!es and beer, or a fishing pole, I'm going home.

 

I hear ya DosXX, I have a bit of an addictive personality so when I get fully invested in something like surfing it tends to consume me. I try and keep it under control so that it doesn't ruin other parts of my life, and I think I do that pretty well, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't cause problems from time to time. Living an hour from the Gulf and 2 hrs to the East Coast keeps my hunger for the ocean high. I try and enjoy it no matter what the waves are doing, but I understand what you are talking about.

I can't even look at an ocean without thinking about surfing either, drives my wife nuts sometimes, but she has come to understand that it's part of who I am, and that's not going to change. As long as I get my fix on a weekly basis, or during the summer bi-weekly, I keep my obsessiveness to a minimum. But it requires me getting my fix first before I can just relax. Like right now, i'm pretty satisfied having surfed every day since Friday morning. i'll be non obsessive for the remainder of the week I think, maybe by Saturday i'll start twitching again...

 

Surfing is NOT a curse but it sure can piss off the REAL curse sometimes......WOMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Think this pretty much nails it - learning to surf (i.e. paddling into the wrong spot with an un-duckdive-able 7'6 fun shape, terribly timing the paddle out, being intimidated by other surfers...) all for a little push from 2' of white water is hard justify the effort at that stage.

But sticking with it until you're able to ride and enjoy waves also has it's downfalls. Especially for those of us that have lived on great surfing beaches at some point - just long enough to feel like you've got a break you can call home. For the people that had to leave those beaches for any number of reasons and now find themselves multiple hours from surf, the reminiscent thought of laying claim to head high peelers every other day and being given respect at your old "home break" is the bane of our existence.

This is the curse of surfing. Knowing that at one point in your life, the convenience and accessibility of surfing world class waves was as easy as walking a couple blocks away. But the curse is also mentally accepting the fact that the proximity to family and real friends (not the idiots that you kind of don't mind hanging out with b/c they surf too) is an indirect cause of happiness in life.

Surfing stoke is not hard to come by when there are waves. I think the most important thing surfing can teach people is how to regulate that stoke and to recognize that there are other parts of life that are just as important and can be just as enjoyable.

To me, surfing is not a sport, and I would do it everyday if I could. But I don't live near the beach and wouldn't leave my fiance, sister +newborn nephew, and a group of one-of-a-kind friends if that was the cost I had to pay. I'll still track every hurricane coming up the EC, wake up at 4am for a [long] day trip to the beach, and dive into 45 degree water in February. And I don't think I'll ever quit surfing. But this is just for those of us that don't live near the beach and need to constantly determine risk (gas, money, time, onshore winds, overpredicted swell, overcrowded breaks, traffic...) vs. reward (surfing).


If you are lucky enough to live by the beach - you are lucky enough.

 

No, it's awesome. It only feels like a curse when the waves are flat, or the winds onshore, or you have some obligation that you ditch to paddle out. Or the other way around.

If I hadn't taken up surfing, I'd probably be some cube-dweller in Omaha or some other gawdawful place.
- I probably wouldn't have travelled anywhere significant. Certainly not to Indonesia or *a**a*.
- I probably wouldn't have bothered to live on the coast(s).
- I'd probably be either a fat sack of crap, or a ridiculously buffed-out gym rat.
- I'd probably be neroutic about something totally unimportant like politics, religion, or money instead of typhoons, low-pressure systems, and local diurnal wind patterns.
Excuse me. I have to go check the flag and see if the wind has shifted yet.

 

^--This. Agree. No comparable recreation activity. I still enjoy many other beach/water activities and can chill at the beach, usually with a grin fueled by the stoke of a recent sesh. Therefore, "final answer" = No.

 

I love surfing, it's a blessing not a curse in my life. When it's on and the waves are good and I can get out, it's the perfect escape from the monotony of everyday life. But if it's summertime and the girl and whoever else what's to take a trip to the beach I've got no problem grabbing a book, magazine, or headphones and just relaxing. If there's any type of waves I'll enjoy a swim/body-surf and if the waves are really good chances are I'll be out in the water with a board. It's funny, I remember at the end of last summer me and my girl had only been dating for a few months and she loved sitting on the beach watching me and everyone else surf, not one complaint. I told that to a couple of the guys out in the lineup and this old timer just stared right at me and said marry her haha. She still enjoys watching me surf and has some interest of getting in the water herself and trying to catch some waves. We will see though.

It is funny though, I can relate to a lot of you guys mentioning your gf's and wive's, whenever I'm on my laptop she's always yelling "are you on swell info again?? you're addicted to that thing!" I usually reply with but babe these guys are just are my comrades, we all share the same thought process and love of the ocean! This forum is the proof that I'm normal and there are other normal people out there just like me! And then she has a blank stare on here face and replies only with "you're fcking nuts and I'm sure all of the other guys on the site are too" lmao