So i was watching surf vids on the internet the other day when it dawned on me.. how can california always be hyped up by people for its surf and oregon and washington never even get a mention? they both probably have the same swell window, maybe a little different, but still. theres defintly spots like mavericks or something and no even knows..
search Nelscott Reef Surf Contest for something you might have missed...a classic big wave arena- when it's on! Lots of surf spots in Or and Wa. but a lot of areas are inaccessible.
Oregon, spot for spot, can give CA a run for it's money for the most part, but lacks as many quality beach breaks as it's southern neighbor. Oregon's coast is maybe 1/3 the size of CA's coast...the water is a bit colder....the swell can be stronger....and the men in the grey suit are every bit as large and active as The Red Triangle down south. Washington is not even in the same ballpark, seriously. From the Columbia River to the native reservations on the western edge of the Olympic National Forest, it's just flat sandy wild out-of-control beach break, with a couple of jetties and groins thrown in between. Once you get north of Ocean Shores, there are a lot reefs and bays where access is a flat-out trek. Then, there's this "other place". Hardly ever breaks with almost ZERO swell window. But when it's on, it's ON. Used to be kind of a "secret", but not so much anymore. Some of the spots can be checked from the highway, but not many. The spots you can't see are usually the ones that are firing....but getting to them is serious freaking work. Like, climbing down long muddy cliffs with skinny ropes on private property with pissed-off landowners "work", only to climb into dead-of-winter Northeast water temps "cold". But it makes "scoring" that much sweeter. It's not for everybody.
