Best session I've had in a looong time...

That's awesome dude, happens around here at the inlet, not quite like that, but once I was out in the water with my wife and I was showing her how to paddle board on a small day while I was catching some on the LB, my wife says to me "hey what's that over there", we turn and there are about 3-4 dolphin swimming by within about 20-30 yards of us, then I see a nice size wave roll in so i decide to catch it and try to get a look at the dolphins as I cruise by, well out of nowhere a few of them caught the same wave as me about 20 feet away and we shared a ride, pretty surreal experience, i'll never forget it.

 

was there a rainbow too? hand-holding? i just got doosh chills.

 

Awesome story. There's so much to enjoy about surfing beyond simply riding waves.

 

don't go in the water BRAH too many sharks and 23 footers ...especially in NJ....

 

That's awesome dude...I've personally never had that close of an interaction w/ dolphins, but every time I see a seal pop it's head up, or have an osprey fishing overhead, or anything like that, it definitely makes the session feel that much more special. Had a yellow lab swim out to me on a small day when I was a kid, that was definitely fun, he just hung out we played a bit then he swam back in. Good stuff though, glad that happened for ya.

 

That stuff only happens to surfers. God must like us.

 

They rip so hard, I just stood and watched in awe

 

yeah... but its worth it... I mean all those hot hindu pricesses loooooove surfers ripping 23 footers bench pressing great whites while dropping in on kooks.

 

similar thing happened to me at HB Pier one summer. They were getting really close and breaching repeatedly within feet from me. I climbed on one of their backs and it lept out of the water and we flew through the sky together. We sailed the jetstream and joined up with a pack of unicorns and the blue dudes from the Avatar movie. It was an amazing experience. Pandora was beautiful.

 

this may be a faulty impression but on a number of cases where I have encountered dolphins, it was correlated with the larger swells of the day. they will mess around and feed, but when a set rolls in, its time for them to surf and jump. anyone else observe this?

i've had one fully breach 10' out and one swim under my SUP so close that its wave rocked my board.

funny story. last weekend i was out solo and i saw a fin so paddled out for a closer look. then some big fish started jumping out of the water and i spotted the fin, but it wasnt moving in the usual up-down of a dolphin, more the straight line of a you-know-what. I got spooked and booked it for the shore. when i got to shallow water, the dolphin showed himself more fully with a little jump. so i felt a little silly and paddled back out.

magic times when they come to play

 

I see dolphin fairly often. Had a first time experience last weekend...a manatee surfaced right next to my board while I was sitting in the line-up. This guy was one foot away and it caught me by surprise. Never seen one out in the ocean.

 

They are our friends in the water, not sure why anybody would get intimidated by one. They are playful, curious creatures who have shown compassion toward humans. People have had their lives saved by a dolphin. Dude, didn't you ever watch Flipper?

 

I've always noticed this too

 

dolphins come in close and ride waves with us all the time here in central CA. Just my last session, a pod of 3 rode a wave in so close to me, one had to flick out at the last second just to not run into me (pretty sure he/she knew what they were doing and just being playful).

It can be really dangerous though because some of the dolphins out here are giant. In Morro Bay, I had a 10 ft+ dolphin jump out and almost land on me.

 

Lifeguards too.

/I wasn't one to hassle the surfers when the waves were up and I was sitting the chair

 

Every time I see them jumping and surfing on the outside I know its time to get a little further out because here comes a set.