Spread Love, Not Hate

Its too far gone at this stage.

 

Yeah, I went up your way first on Sunday morning, saw what was happening in the water, and headed back to my break. It was a little smaller but not by much and there was NO ONE in the water anywhere near me. I've been going out in front of Wonderland when there's a swell during the week only. I guess Saturday (I wasn't around) was big enough to regulate.

 

I was there Sunday btw and it was still a shiite show

 

Before taller houses were built across the street I could look out at that ferris wheel from my bedroom window. It never used to be crowded in the winter.....hell even in the fall mid-week was empty other than dawn patrol and after work. These days we leave town to surf elsewhere to escape. I don't know if its the surf cams drawing people in, the bro-bra surf culture vibe or what but its gotten absurd. If I lived 15 minutes inland there is no way in hell I'd come to these spots to surf. As it stands now people who live here drive off the island to the spots these inlanders should be going to first. Pro-Tip: If you're on the AC Expressway and you go into Ocean City to surf you're doing it all wrong.

 

At this point in my surfing life, I will ALWAYS pass on a crowded spot for an empty one. That's the kind of sacrifice I make regularly. My regulating days are long over, so what happens at the crowded spots is now somebody else's problem. The younger locals who are the rippers now have earned the best waves at the best spots, but also the responsibility to regulate... if they choose to. Not saying they should or shouldn't... it's not a matter of right or wrong in my opinion. It's their spot now... guys my age have either quit or moved on. And I'm OK with that. So I don't care if it's a foot smaller at the empty sandbar down the road. I had my day. Let the guys who rip the hardest scrap it out for themselves. Or not.

 

Just sucks when the spots that have become a shit show are the ones right down the street from your house and where you've put your time in for decades.

 

Yeah, I totally get that.

 

crowds suck, never understood 50 dudes 1 peak. I'm fortunate to have plenty of empty peaks in my backyard. I agree with people needing to be more aware, surfing is a mindful sport but plenty of people without brains in the lineup

 

What I find most interesting about this crowd discussion is that it seems the problem is worse on the east coast than the west, specifically for guys from VA Beach and north along the megapolis. I live about half way between LA and San Diego, so there are quite a few people in this area and I just don't find an issue with the crowds. Yeah, if I were to drive up to Trestles or down to Swami's or Blacks, there are going to be a good number of people there, but I can always seem to find a decent wave with few to no people on it. Even the lesser known spots don't really seem to get too crowed until Friday and the weekend. Even then, it seems like each spot has about a core group of 4 to 6 that are there every day and, depending on the spot, are welcoming or salty AF. I'm wondering if part of this is because of the consistency that we experience. If you don't surf today, there's always tomorrow. But back east, you have smaller windows of opportunity, so everybody and his brother has to hit the spot during the three hours that it's firing and then wait another two week or whatever for the next decent bump to come along. I don't think it's just because of the population density in the northeast. We are pretty dense here too.

 

I've noticed exactly what you say every trip to California. When I go out there, I usually end up surfing at least a few sessions at the prime spots....windansea, blacks, trestles, swamis etc. Not because the other spots aren't breaking, but just because those waves are special and offer a really good wave even then the swell is sub-par. The crowd pressure is less than a good day in the Maryland/Delaware/New Jersey/Rhode island spots that I'm familiar with.

I'm not saying trestles and swamis don't zoo out...I know they do...but come back a day or two later on a weekday afternoon with a bit of sea breeze. Most likely the wave will still be amazing, and my experience is you'll get a bunch of waves in a small lineup of people in no rush to get every set wave....because they know it will be the same the next day, and the next...

 

breezy mid afternoon Windansea a few years ago....3-4 foot fun waves with a few people all chilled out

 

I second this notion. I wish I had realized this many years past, I could have surfed 2 lifetimes by now. There's only 2 point breaks up here that work rarely, but when they do, it's worth the battle to score even just a couple of waves.

 

I got married there three years ago.

 

For years I avoided travelling to California because I always read and heard about how crowded it was. Started going out there about 8 years ago. I go out every year now and surf the zone from Oceanside to Salt Creek. The crowds are so mellow compared to my home town. A crowded day at Lower Trestles is still more enjoyable with fewer hassles than what a typical day at the breaks within a short bicycle ride of my house have become.

 

Those same conditions at the end of my street and there would be 30 people on it and it would be a total shit show......in fukking February when its 40 degrees.

 

Hit me up next time you come out!

 

I've been doing this for well over a decade now.

 

Same experience here, but I suppose it has a lot to do with where you go... some places being more localized than others.

The worst session I had was actually Malibu... on a waist high day with very few people out. I got dropped in on by guys who got dropped in on, who got dropped in on, who got dropped in on...

 

I'm supposed to go out for NSSA Nationals in June but now I'm wondering if that will happen.

 

My experience with California crowds compared with NJ crowds is that the crowds in California are much more orderly and the surfers are more competent. Back paddling and other idiocy doesn't seem to happen as much. I can go out at Lowers and with a little patience and strategy get enough waves to keep me happy.