Understanding Waves: A Beginner’s Guide to Surf Reports- Surfline Edition

Surfing can be a challenging sport to master, even for the most natural athletes out there. With so many variables impacting the quality of a surf session, from the behavior of the ocean, the surfboard chosen for the session and the experience of the rider, it’s critical to understand the conditions at the break you’re looking to surf at before heading out that day. The result of understanding this information better can be the difference between heading out on a day that would have been incredibly frustrating and having an epic session that leaves you stoked to come back out the next time.

The Importance of Surf Reports

Accurate surf reports not only help surfers identify the most promising surf spots but they also play a critical role in ensuring safety. Closely reviewing current and forecasted conditions can help beginners locate gentler waves suited to their skill level, allowing them to avoid more intimidating or hazardous surf conditions. For seasoned surfers, surf reports and forecasts offer the ability to chase the perfect break, maximizing performance and stoke.

Surf reports aid in long-term planning and travel logistics. Having an idea of general wave conditions in advance gives surfers a better chance of finding ideal conditions to plan a surf trip around, although nothing is ever guaranteed when it comes to the ever-changing nature of the ocean.

How Waves Form

Waves form by wind blowing over the surface of the water. The energy from the wind transfers into the water, creating “swell” or groups of waves traveling together towards the shore. Once the swell arrives at the beach, the shallow waters slow the waves down, which causes them to rise above the surface. This produces the waves which crash on the beach, aka, what we refer to as “surf”.

How to Understand a Surfline Report: Key Numbers

Surfline reports are known for being packed with tons of information, but most of it is intended for the use of advanced surfers who are often extremely selective about when and where they will choose to head out surfing. For a beginning or intermediate surfer, only a few numbers are critical to focus on before deciding whether to throw your board in the car and head out:

Surf Height

The numbers reported by Surfline are the projected face heights, meaning the height of the front side of the wave. Generally speaking, learning surfers will do best in surf that is between 1-3 feet. For complete beginners, the smaller the better, but to a point: if the forecast predicts 0-1 feet, the waves likely won’t have enough “push” to get you moving forward and standing up. Above 3 feet, the waves are still surfable for some beginners, but the process of getting out to the waves becomes more challenging, for several reasons: 1) Beginners have not yet developed the surf-specific conditioning to paddle out to the break in larger surf. 2) It takes experience to know how to navigate larger breaking waves and this only comes with time.

Primary Swell Period and Direction

Multiple swells can impact a surf break, but the primary swell is the predominant one which has the most influence. Surfline lists three numbers underneath Primary Swell. From left to right: Height (ex: 4.4ft), Swell Period (ex: 8 seconds) and Swell Direction (depicted as an arrow showing the direction the swell is moving in). So long as the projected surf height is right, beginners need only be concerned with the Swell Period and Direction. The Swell Period is the projected time in seconds between waves breaking. The larger this number is, the more powerful the surf and vice versa. Short Swell Periods indicate a minimal wait time between sets of less powerful waves, resulting in shorter rides. A good rule of thumb for beginners is: try not to sweat the Swell Period too much as long as the Surf Height is appropriate for your ability and comfort level.  The main thing to note is for Safety: if the Surf Height is significant and Swell Period is long, that could be a very powerful day that you might want to sit out until you’ve gained more experience and paddling power. As for Swell Direction: a swell can be powerful, but if its power is running parallel to the break and less directly into it, the surf won’t be quite as good. Surfline indicates the direction each surf break faces right below the Current Surf Conditions towards the top of each break’s forecast page.

Let's consider a quick example: imagine a West Coast US beach facing Southwest (SW).  The ideal Swell Direction would be Northeast (NE) which would be a “direct hit”, but this doesn’t mean that a swell directing slightly more North or South of this wouldn’t be surfable (in fact, many breaks do not actually get many direct hit swells, so there is often a difference between the ideal and reality). As a beginner, the main thing is just to make sure that the Primary and Secondary Swells are not completely pointing in the wrong direction (for the break in this example, a Southwest Swell would be less than ideal).

Conclusion

The ability to accurately read and interpret surf forecasts is an indispensable skill for surfers of all levels. Understanding the interplay between wind conditions, tides, and wave quality allows surfers to anticipate the best times and locations for optimal waves.

Coupling this knowledge with the right soft top surfboard can significantly elevate your experience and progression rate as a beginning surfer. These boards offer the versatility needed to navigate various wave conditions and provide added stability and buoyancy that can make a substantial difference.