Yo folks. Came up from SC to Emerald Isle/Atl Beach to score some clean hurricane swell. Bouge Inlet was waist to chest Sat. morning and OK but not great. Thought it was going to just build and get great but that was it. By 3:30 it was choppy as and waist -. Atl beach didnt even have a wave. Woke up Sunday morning and it was even flatter...but clean. Big disappointment. The thing is, this website as well as mag seaweed and many others were blowing EM I and ATL up for Sat and Sunday with offshore winds and head high + swell....it was nothing like that. Yet Wrightsville and Folly had head high waves albeit choppy. So the question is, does crystal coast just not break, did the storm go too far east, is there ever waves there? What happened? I don't see myself going back there anytime soon unless I missed something. I am not trying to bag on anybody's spot but WTF? If it doesnt break on a hurricane swell, when does it break. Cheers---!
It never breaks at Atlantic Beach/Emerald Isle. Its not worth your drive there. It is flat 362 days per year. Your better off to stay down there at Wrightsville.
felt the pain! oh yeah, made the same drive up from sc to the crystal coast...basically doesn't hold up a storm at all. i've taken the loop up to obx, or shoot down to FL. or just accept the local break! i would scratch the crystal coast off the surf destination fo sho!
you're doing it wrong. if you look for the greenlight on swellinfo or magictweed and go almost completely based on that info you will be skunked every time. i'm happy to say i've found almost every beach between folly to cedar island will break fantastically in the right conditions. hurricane swell isn't going to magically fill in these spots. you have to watch from whence the swell comes. spend more time using google earth and less reading regurgitated swell forecasts from sites that just want to make $$$ and you might score too. ps - see you guys thursday pierce
I, too, got SEMI-skunked on Sunday on my Sunday morning drive to the Crystal Coast. Got there at 6am to be welcomed by waist high glass rather than head high peelers (and yes, there were waves at AB, albeit small). As Forrest Gump said, "IT happens". I've made the drive before to be welcomed by those head high peelers, and will definitely make the drive again because I know the reward is there — sometimes. We're always free to stay at home and ride head high chop/slop (or paddle across and hang with 750 of our "closest" friends at the only clean place close to WB). No thanks. If you take zero risks, you'll guarantee yourself zero rewards. Take some calculated risks, and every once in a while you'll score — and sometimes you'll score big. Earl's looking more promising all the way around, although the CC and OBX might be blown out... It's probably gonna be flat at WB though. So you might as well stay up there.
That's because AB/EI blows Why would you ever drive to the crystal coast? Living there, I am lucky to find the surf worth it to take the five minute drive over the bridge! Okay end hyperbole, but honestly I can only remember a TS hitting that beach well and it was only hitting for about an hour or two. I would never suggest a drive to AB or EI. Cape Lookout on the other hand will always peak but that presents a whole different drive plan.
you need to know where to look, i thought the same thing saturday when i was out at Oceanana Pier... it was terrible thigh high close outs. i decided to give it another shot only to find the same thing goin on. then drove 2 miles down the beach to find awesome frames with waist to chest size. its all about finding the right sand bar for the swell.
gotta watch which direction the Swell is coming from. ESE won't really fill in up there at EI/AB. SE and S swell will. Danielle made a pretty quick turn to the North East and her swell came from E/SE so AB/EI and the other south facers got skunked. WB/CB faces more east, so they still picked up the swell. Monday morning was the day to surf around here. Clean glass chest high+ waves!
yeah East swell and south facing beaches usually don't match unless its like 8 ft with a 9+ second period (even then its gonna be head maybe bigger). Now with earl we've got a different scenerio...I know where I'm going and it's not north (i live in CB), obx is gonna be WINDY. Search and yall shall be rewarded, just take all of thursday off if possible. I'm skipping classes and am gonna scan my spots, hopefully it'll be pumping at the first spot but if not you gotta have a back up plan...especially with this long period stuff- good luck to all
All of these guys are trying to detour you away from ai or ei. but growing up and learning to surf there, just out front from playland, that place can and does break good. i drove up there about ten times from jan thru march. just to catch a wave. i caught bip fun. just to let you know look for the sse swell and an opposite wind. fyi there is alot of breaks beside the peir. just look. and if you bring a friend or two look into bear island. hammocks beach state park. NOBODY SURFS THERE. that fires too same swell direction
i wasnt trying to scare him off from AB or EI, i was just saying that the sand bars vary greatly out here so you have to hunt down a clean break. i kid you not, it can be thigh high closeouts in one spot and chest high clean lines not even 3 miles down the beach
Dont listen to any of these fools who tell you AB/EI is/was/ever will be a good spot for you to come hunt down a good peak, especially on hurricane swell. Like I said before, you need to stay down there at c-street or wherever it is that you guys surf now. Im sure there are plenty of spots for you in the lineup down there. Aaaannd the girls are smoking to boot. All them young honeys down there. Why would you ever wanna go anywhere else?? The crystal coast is not the answer.
Oh snap your a girl? Kellyrojo78. Well in that case, AB/EI is the best wave you will ever surf when its firing!!! Big SE hurricane swells throw overhead, reeling drainers for 200 yards!!! Come check it out!
