Surfing Philadelphia
Everyone is going surfing. Surfing Phil-a-del-phia.
You might not think of Philadelphia Pennsylvania as a surf city, but at just a 1 hour drive from the New Jersey shore, combined with seasonal warmer weather (with the right gear) you can surf all year around!
Surfing conditions can be a little tricky at the Jersey Shore. If you are a beginner, you will want to go on a day with light winds and smaller swells. 1-2 Feet with under 10 mph winds would be an ideal day. To track the conditions I use Magicseaweed:
There are two main directions to head to the shore. East to Belmar (or thereabouts) or south to Ocean City or Vetnor.
Surf Points
Unfortunately, surf breaks are not advertisted very often and tend to become more word of mouth. You can technically surf anywhere there are waves, but you generally want to find a break point. A break point is where the water hits a structure causing reverberation back into the sea -- causing bigger waves.
Surf Shops
Where you find a good surf break -- you will find a good surf shop. There are a few chains, but I suggest you hit up a few local stores I have used. Usually a dedicated surf shop will have everything you need. Here are a few I like:
Depending on the time of year surfing can become prohibitevely expensive. First lets break down the basic gear.
Basic Gear
You can ditch the wax if you go for a foam top surfboard, but I wouldn't recommend it. Remember those pool noodles? It is like standing a surfboard made of them. In included a link to a basic foam board just due to the price point. It even comes with a leash!
Once you are really sure about your investment in a hard top board, I really suggest you go to your local surf shop to ask questions and buy.
The next hurdle will be the size of the board that you want. A Longboard is about 6+ feed or greater. There is a lot of flexibility in sizes. For instance, I have a 7'4" double wide hard board. I am thinking of getting a smaller board around 5' in order to get more mobility on calmer days.
As for the leash, this is a must. You can choose different sizes, but this is really more a necessity than anything else. Imagine having to go chase your board after any gnarly wipeout.
And although a rash gaurd is technically optional -- even on a nice day you are going to want to get a rash gaurd shirt. I have used anything from a workout shirt to a lions mane.
The surfboard sock cover might also seem like an optional item. However, unless you scrape the wax off of your board after surfing -- you will get wax all over your car. It also protects the board from being harmed!
Cold Weather Gear
When the temperature starts to dip you are going to want to get a wetsuit. Warmth of a wetsuit is determined by the amount of material being used. Usually 1mm-1.5mm would be used in spring/fall while 3mm-5mm for the winter. The O'Neal wetsuit comes in 4/3mm which provides the extra 1mm of material in the core of the suit, while the arms and legs remain 3mm. The Hyperfreak is an amazing wetsuit, but it does run a little small. I had to get the X-Large at 6 foot 180 lbs.
Nice to have
At this point, I am thinking "wow I didn't realize surfing was so expensive". Well, to make the experience a little smoother I am actually going to suggest a few more items:
The surf hat is great if you will be spending a long sunny morning waiting for waves. It helps shade your entire face and neck and comes with a chin strap! This hat is also good for paddleboarding/Kayaking.
After dragging my expensive wetsuit on the pavement trying to change next to my car a few times, I found this nice portable changing mat. It has multiple carry straps and can be thrown down anywhere you wouldn't really want to step barefood. Think public restrooms. It also it a nice container for your wet gear on the ride home.
- New Jersey Requires Beach Tags
- There are only life-gaurds at peak season
Unfortunately, almost every beach in New Jersey requires a beach tag -- and they all need to be separately purchased. So you will really want to find your beach spot during the summer and stick with it. Also, the beach tags are not that expensive compared to a fine. The harder part is actually getting them until peak season when you can buy them on the beach.
This one should hopefully be clearly posted by the beach. Lifegaurds are only on duty during peak hours of the day during the peak hours of the summer. This means that you should be very careful when beginning to surf, and preferrably you will want to go with a friend. Learning conditions is part of learning to surf and eventually you will be able to go out in the water with larger windier waves. When starting though, stick to 1-3 feet with winds under 10mph. If you can't seem to find these conditions then it may be time for a surf lesson!