If u live in NY n u surf, where do u guys go?

Surfing is an ocean sport. before u decide to surf, decide to know & understand the ocean. Learn to be at home with its currents, rips, undertows & sometimes BIG waves. The original surfers were watermen (and women, both men & women surfed, but certain waves were reserved for royalty). You need an ocean to learn an ocean sport.

l spent almost all of my teen years, swimming, sailing, surfing, scuba diving & fishing. l even surfed in different places the Navy sent me, when it was possible. ` l started surfing in 1966. In the mid sixties, like almost everybody else, l started on a longboard. l went shorter & shorter every summer, during the 'short board revolution.'

l had spent all of my summers at the Jersey shore, & l had been swimming in the ocean & back bays since l was six or seven. So, for me, the waterman part of surfing came easy. It took me a whole summer, of surfing almost every day, for two or three hours a day to get ''decent''. l really did not get 'good' until my second summer. Surfing is an ocean sport, to do it right, u have to be at home in the ocean, with its currents, rips, undertows & sometimes big waves. l do not just mean being good at swimming in a pool, the ocean can be very unforgiving. l have seen lots of really good pool swimmers have to get rescued. You have to learn surf etiquette (so the experienced surfers in the line up do not want to drown you), how to paddle & take off on a wave, & how to ride a wave. You can not do that without an ocean.

Lessons r usually the best way to start, unless u r an adolescent or young adult with lots of pals who surf who can teach you. Go to a real surf shop. The folks there can hook u up with lessons, & even rent u a board to learn on. Just work on ur basics..


Be careful of what u read here on line. There r lots of really well meaning young folks who have neat about surfing, but at 55, l tend to classify anyone under 25 as a kid. After l found this site, l figured that l could answer a few questions, & spread the 'good news' of surfing. After u learn to swim & master the ocean, get ur REAL advice from a surf shop, where industry professionals earn their rent money selling surfboards. However, if they think u r just a 'kook' tourist out to rent a board, u wo not necessarily get the best attention.

If by NY, u mean NYC, there is all of the New Jersey shore & Long island to surf at. If u mean NY State, l guess the same applies, but u could add in New England, or a drive farher away, to Delaware or Maryland.http://surfline.com/travel/index.cfm?id=4716#2084


THE REAL BOTTOM LINE IS: Go to a Surf Shop, not a computer. The pros there can give u the right !!

Good luck. Once u try surfing (and learn the 'right way') u will have fun for life.

John F said it right. But if you're a little more specific of where u r in NY, l can better help u out (i.e. Long Island or NYC or upstate?) If you're on Long Island, or any of the 5 burroughs u have pretty much all of Long Island available, from Montauk to Rockaway (you can take the Southern State pkwy all the way out onto rt. 27, which leads to montauk). Also, a trip to the Jersey shore is not too far away, u can take the Belt Parkway over the Verrazano to the Staten Island Expwy & over the Goethals bridge, which puts u right to the NJ turnpike (its a big more scenic route than going through the city on the GW). However, l do not reccomend Jersey, the place is pretty dirty. l mean, I've been out in the lineup with trash & shi* floating by, & huge chunks of wood with nails in them. l am sure not all of jersey is like that, but most of it probably is.

If you're in upstate (which to me, from long island, is anything past Weschester) its going to be a little harder. You could get out to long island, or take a longer trip up north, maybe New Hampshire or something. You can check out surfline.com, check the surf reports & it will show u a bunch of breaks, & it also has a travel guide giving u info about the spot, i.e. how to get there & where to park, etc.