Google has a cool new feature, Google Oceans, where you can see mapped underwater contours such as the continental shelf. It gives a very graphic way of understanding wave focusing topography and the limitations of the East Coast. There are newly added tours that cater to the watersports crowd. These shots of Teahupoo are but one example. Another cool bit is the GPS tracking devices that have been attached to some sharks off the coast of San Francisco. You can even take an underwater tour as if you were a Great White Shark from their tracking pattern. It will give you a whole new perspective on surfing. This last image is from just offshore at Pipeline. Be patient and you'll see that the graphics have taken a quantum leap in detail, but they still have a ways to go. Google Earth, 5.0 Beta. They are providing current satellite weather patterns as well. You might want to check it out.
Thus is why Outer Banks gets the heaviest and biggest surf on the EC of USA. If you don't count the Bahamas. Which brings up a question....any good surf there on the east side? I always thought it might have some potential...can anyone validate this??
Sure, Eleuthera gets pretty good in the winter months, although it's fickle. Google eleuthera surf and you'll see what's up. Very cool island. $$$ though.
you could always see the ocean bathymetry on google earth, but I think they may have just enhanced it a bit or something... Yes, the continental shelf is an influence - primarily on the longer period swells. Areas in the Caribbean do not have any continental shelf, so the the same magnitude swell can often be much bigger/powerful down there, since there is no shelf to dissipate the swell energy. As far as the Bahamas, they get a lot of swell... The biggest problem is the trade winds blow pretty consistently down there, so most of the east facing spots are onshore a lot. You would look for the early morning glass, or try to find the more protected spots when the trade winds are on.
dude... google maps is amazing, i swear it was invinted to scope surf spots from the air. Dont be scured to zoom in now, you will see that eluthara lacks any real points. The real waves of the Carribean are on the NW coast of Guadalupe, The W coast Antigua near St. Johns, Martinique, and the Grenadines. Check em out for yourself. Micha was right about the trade winds, But i really don't see everyones obbsession with surfing on the east coast. They get tons of N swell in the carribean, and these N Swell hit the N and W coasts of Tons of islands. Any one who knows anything of surfing in the cairribean will tell you this. P.S. There is rumors floating around of a new version of google earth coming out, that will change and update on a regular basis. Meaning that you could scan the coast of some country one day, and it could be flat, but the next day you could go back, look at the same coastline and it will be huge, because the screenshot updated on a day where the waves were good. And not only will the screenshots update all the time, but the whole world will be mapped in high bandwidth. Meaning there will be no spots where you cannot zoom in all the way. If rumors are true, than the $1000 asking price which I have also heard of for the latest version might not be so outlandish. Hell I'm gonna buy it, Im a google earth fiend!!!
ECsponger, Are you asking if there is surf on the east side of the Outer Banks?????? If so, well then you just made my day. And my sarcastic answer would be, No way dude, The sound breaks wayyyyy better than the ocean.
No dude, No. I'm not a retard. Bahamas was what I was asking about. Sorry to ruin you day by not making your day.
New Google Earth App The New York Times, Tuesday, February 3, 2009 Google Earth Dives Deep, Filling In Its Maps' Watery Gaps "Some commercial Web sites, including shipwreckcentral.com and wannasurf.com, have already been actively promoting ocean activites and will now enable divers or surfers to add thier own narrated, illustrated "tours" of favorite reefs or beaches to Google Earth's layers." Dig through your Newspaper racks and find this article. Pretty cool stuff!
theres this other cool app where you can have a street view. If you click on the little camera button on the spot you want to look at it gives you a full panorama that you can move around and zoom in. It's real pictures too with people and everything. Check out the Steamer Lane street view. It's so sick, surfers just walkin around and it's 3d.
bonersurfs i love me some google, but jeebus say goodbye to your privacy. theyve already opened a door with streetview but this would bloooow it off the hinges knows what i says and means? id buy it though
ya, there are definitely some privacy issues. But really, im not to sure how valid these "issues" are. I really just cannot think of a scenario where an updated google earth screen shot would screw anyone over. Maybe some hollywood type ****, but thats about all, and most hollywood scenario's are pretty much bull****. Plus your privacy/anonymity are already gone. Cell phones have GPS tracking devices inside of them, so if anyone wanted to know where you were at any time, they could, given you have your cell phone on you. I was once rescued out of the backcountry by search and rescue. I had gotten myself stuck down in canyon that I simply could not climb out of. The gulley I was stuck in is also notorious for avalanches, and I was stuck at the bottom of 4 faces that look rather unstable. Needless to say it was pretty frightening. However, Search and Rescue found me because even though my phone was out of service, it was still transmitting a signal. They tracked me and found me fairly quickly. So these privacy issues, have already been breached. However, in this case it worked out for my safety.
Hey, it's flat, so it's a great time to download the new Google Earth 5.0 and check out Google Oceans. It's a great time killer.
Just installed it... lots of fun to play around with, gives descriptions of surfspots around world as well as kitesurf spots, dive spots, migrations of sharks, and different cool things about the ocean. If you install it and click on the surfspot you want then you could probably upload your own description of the spot!
