How To Read Waves Surfing
Surfing is a thrilling sport that requires a deep understanding of the ocean’s ever-changing dynamics. One of the most crucial skills for any surfer is the ability to read waves, which involves identifying suitable waves and anticipating where and how they are going to behave before they break. Mastering wave reading not only improves your chances of catching more waves but also enhances your ability to ride waves. In this article we’ll delve into the essential concepts of wave reading, exploring wave types, wave formations, and how to predict breaks.
Table of Contents
How To Catch Wave Surfing
First you need to be able to read waves before you can catch waves. Contrary to popular belief, the ocean’s waves are not merely a chaotic jumble of water. Beneath their seemingly random movements lies a complex pattern formed by a combination of factors. These factors include wind, tides, and the ocean floor’s topography. Understanding this underlying pattern is essential for surfers, as it allows them to identify consistent wave formations and predict their breaking points.
Identify A Pattern
We always recommend spending 5 – 15 minutes standing on the beach before you paddle out into the line up. When you consider a pattern between waves, you need to think about them over a long period of time, between 5 and 15 minutes. Don’t rush this process because you wont be able to identify a pattern over a just a few minutes.
Factors That Affect The Waves Pattern
In order to read waves, you need to understand the factors that affect the way they break. Your goal is to identify an area where the waves are most consistent, so you can pinpoint a location to go and sit at in the line up. So, when a wave comes you can easily read the wave and catch it. Here the factors that will dramatically affect the waves pattern and make it easier or harder to read waves
Tide
Tide is perpetually moving and as the tide moves in and out it will both affect the waves frequency and location of where the wave is breaking. As an example, low tide, waves will break further out to sea and change the shape of the wave, while high tide the waves will break further into the beach.
Wave frequency can slow at certain surf spots around the top and bottom of the tide. Slowing the frequency of waves and, in some cases, stop the waves all together. Out going tide can slow waves down while in coming tide can add to a waves intensity and ultimately change the way a wave breaks.
Wave Period
Wave period is determined by how far away a swell is being created and how much energy the swell has in it. Longer periods offer waves with more wall, while shorter periods offer waves that have more peaks. Longer period waves have more power in them, while shorter period waves have less power. This will ultimately change the way a wave breaks and these are important factors to understand and consider when trying to read waves.
Wave Direction
Waves often come in different directions and depending on the break, this will change the way a wave breaks. As an example While one direction swell will offer a nice open face to the wave another direction swell will close out the wave and be bad to catch. On any given day you could have multiple different swells with varying degrees of difference between them. The bigger the difference in degrees of swell, the more interference there is, creating peaky swells.
Types of Breaks
Different types of breaks will behave differently. This will drastically change your approach to reading waves and how you position yourself in the line up to catch a wave.
Beach Breaks
Beach breaks are more chaotic than other breaks like reef breaks and point breaks. Beach breaks are less defined with an ever changing landscape. Rip currents are mobile deep areas that create and destroy sand banks which is the underlying structure that causes waves to break. These changes happen over a 20 – 30 minute period. This means that when it comes to positioning yourself in the line up and reading waves, you need to constantly adjust your position according to the changing environment.
Reef Breaks
Contrary to beach breaks, reef breaks are very consistent. There is generally a very defined take off spot and you are mostly paying attention to whether the wave is breaking further out, vs further in slightly left or right. Reef breaks may slightly change over a two to three hour period as the tide comes in or out. Lastly, they will be slightly different depending on swell direction, period and size.
Point Breaks
Similar to reef breaks, point breaks are very consistent. There is generally a very defined take off spot and you are mostly paying attention to whether the wave is breaking further out, vs further in slightly left or right. Point breaks may slightly change over a two to three hour period as the tide comes in or out. Lastly, they will be slightly different depending on swell direction, period and size.
Positioning To Read Waves
When it comes to reading waves, identifying consistency is important to understand and read waves. Positioning is important to eventually catch waves. It doesn’t matter how good you are at reading waves, if you can’t position yourself correctly, you won’t be able to catch them.
Use Your Markers
You need to set a marker to be in the right placeto catch a wave after doing all that hard work trying to read waves. However, just setting a marker and paddling out to it is not good enough to be able to catch waves and stay on top of the consistency with reading waves. There are so many variables to consider that will move you out of position making it difficult to stay in the rhythm out in the ocean.
Wind
You will be moved out of position by the wind blowing, usually in the direction that the wind is blowing. So, now you can anticipate this and adjust your position in the line up accordingly to help you read waves better.
Waves
Waves are a displacement of water, as those waves move in towards the beach, they will move you out of position making it difficult to read waves and catch waves. They also create current back out to sea once they break which will also move you out of position.
Tide
Waves are a displacement of water, as those waves move in towards the beach, they will move you out of position making it difficult to read waves and catch waves. They also create current or water movement back out to sea after they break which will also move you out of position.
Be Patient When Reading Waves
It’s tempting to want to move out of position to catch a waves you see down the beach. But, remember that when you move out of position you are basically starting from square one with trying to position yourself in the line up.
By the time you move out of position to get to where you have seen waves breaking, you will end up sitting up, waiting for the next set to come. Only to look down the beach to exactly where you just were and see waves breaking. It’s easy to get caught up in this left and right movement without catching any waves.
How To Read Green Waves Surfing
There are many factors to consider when reading green waves. Your main goal is to identify the high point vs the low point, pay attention to the definition in the top line of the wave and pay attention to the shade of the wave.
High Point Vs Low Point
You want to pay attention to the difference between the high point and the low point to understand which direction the wave is going to break. The wave will always break from the high point to the low point because the highest point of the wave breaks first.
A big difference between the high point and low point is called a peaky wave and indicates that the wave will break slowly towards a specific direction. You will need to paddle to the peak, or the highest point of the wave to catch it when the waves are peaky.
Little difference between the high point and low point is a walled wave and indicates that the wave is going to break quickly in a specific direction. You don’t want to be too close to the peak on these waves because you may get left behind the wave
Definition In The Top Line
As a wave get’s closer and closer to breaking, the top line of the wave will become increasingly more defined. Until, the top of the wave eventually falls over the bottom of the wave. As this happens the top line of the wave will start to feather and this indicates the moment a wave is about to break.
Depending on where you surf, this will indicate that you are either too late to catch the wave or there is still time to catch it. It all depends on the nature of the surf spot. At a surf spot like Pipe Line, Hawaii, you will be too late but at a surf spot like Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii, you may still be able to catch the wave at this point.
The Waves Shade
As a wave get’s closer and closer to breaking, it will change shade. So, if you are wondering when a wave is going to break, just pay attention to how dark the wave is. The darker the wave is in shade, the closer it is to breaking.
