I Wish They All Could Be California … Waves!
But this is New York… Most spots are beach breaks with shifting sandbars. Finding a good surf break here can be like having your own little slice of heaven. No wonder surfers get territorial about their spots. A few years back a magazine published a story about a well-kept surf secret around Jones Beach. PEOPLE FREAKED OUT! So, while we are not trying to out any secrets, here are a few of the best well-known spots in New York. You can check out more info about conditions on www.Surfline.com (now that they bought magic seaweed!) or whatever surf report app you prefer.
Rockaway
Being the closest consistently surfable spot to New York City, Rockaway is the most popular day trip for city surfers. The beach is easily accessible by the city train system. The west-end towns of Breezy Point and Bell Harbor are nice areas with excellent surf. 92nd street has a long jetty which creates a hollow takeoff, followed by fast, grinding lefts walls.
Long Beach
NY is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Long Beach follows suit with its high-rise apartment buildings, lining the coast. Good waves can be found here but shifting sandbars will keep you guessing on where they will be on any given day. Lincoln Blvd., an average beach break with slightly better lefts than rights, is the most happening spot in town. Long beach offers a good option when the other spots along Long Island are blown out due to the shelter of the jetties. There is usually a good mix of short boards and long boards and crowds can get feisty.
Gilgo Beach
Gilgo had its heyday in the sixties as one of the coolest and best places to surf in NY. It’s gotten some bad press the last few years and just this week authorities caught the serial killer who was using Gilgo as a dumping ground for his victims! Besides all that Gilgo is one of my favorite places and it’s the closest thing I have to a home break. There is still a sixties feel to the place with the Gilgo Beach Inn serving food and drinks and playing the Grateful Dead throughout the parking lot. The break is a shifting sandbar of course but it’s consistently good right in front of the entrance from the parking lot. If you’re not feeling it there, then there are miles of beach in both directions that surely will produce surfable waves most days. Gilgo’s kryptonite is the wind! So, it’s best to get there early or on days when there is an offshore wind coming from the north.
Montauk… THE END
Considered the best that NY (and possibly the east coast) has to offer, Montauk is THE place for surfing if you can get there. It is the eastern most tip (it really is THE END) on long island and in recent years the demographic has changed from a laid-back fishing town to the new playground for NY party seekers (move over Hamptons) There is perhaps no better (at least consistency-wise) spot on Long Island’s wiry 100-some-mile tail than Ditch Plains. Shifting peaks break over a rock bottom and a reefy left point. Plus, Ditch Plains works on any swell, from SW to E — best so with NNW winds. There are many breaks to explore and each will be slightly different depending on the conditions.
As we mentioned throughout this post the east coast has mostly beach breaks with sand bars that shift with the tides. While this does not give the consistency or perfect wave shape of a reef or point break it does have some positives. The shifting sandbars mean that you really have to check things out each time you venture out and generally there will be miles of surfable peaks spread out along the beach when the conditions are right. So walk around a little and you might just find an uncrowded spot with nice waves all to yourself!
