Why is NJ so good? Seriously.

while nj does get some great barreling surf, I think its more of surfline having alot of contributing photogs and surfers from the mid atlantic. There are places all over the North East that get good surf, some arguably better than Jersey/midatlantic.

Theres quite a few of Cape cod by the way...

 

also remember, the grass is always greener on the other side.

 

yeah, I am surprised waverhunters doesn't have a package for Belmar or AC

 

A lot is made of bottom contour, the continental shelf, and how it affects long period swells (over 15 seconds).

What isn't taken into account is how inshore bottom contour and depth affects local storms/shorter period wind swells. The water depths off south Jersey and Delaware are very shallow up to 30-40 miles offshore. You have to go nearly 30-40 miles just to get to 20-30 fathoms of water. No doubt the shallow water and offshore banks (5 fathom bank for example) knocks these local, shorter period swells down in size and power.

In North Jersey, you can get 100 feet of water within a few miles of shore. I have to believe that the deeper water up in north jersey allows these local swells come into shore with much more size and power than they do a little further south.

why the waves are breaking so well is anybody's guess. Even after the sand pumping/beach replenishment, the sandbars are still firing.

 

Don't always believe the pictures you see on surf line or instagram. Half the time those waves are closing out or too fast/shallow or any other factor that can make it a bad wave. I know this because I was standing next to a few of the photog's that get their pics on surf line (ben curr). The waves were not good to epic like surf line stated. And I'm not referring to this last good to epic on surfline with the pic of squan. Those pics are posted to make us regular surfers angry haha

 

Yes it was far from epic on Friday morning. The tide was deep an it was blowing offshore like 30 mph sustained. Water 37 air 35...epic?

 

NJ does get really good though. Tons of jetties everywhere and it gets deep relatively quick just offshore.
The beaches are much different than Delaware MD and Va which have a really long slopey beach that results in crumbly waves alot of times. Many of those beaches you can walk about 100-200 feet and still been waist deep water. NJ especially Monmouth County drops off quickly. 100 feet out and it is 20 feet deep. This results in a lot of energy hitting the bars and jetties and hence steep barrells. Enjoy the photos

 

epic? no. fun as ****? hell yes. pulled into some closeouts, copped a couple good beatings, but still managed to squeak through a couple come out smiling.
yea, it was howling offshore & a lot of the waves were closing out, but that just made the ones you make all the better.

 

I think a big part of the flood of NJ pics and vids is because of the pretty substantial amount of dedicated surfers with year round amp for waves. In the marine corps I caught a ton of bs cuz I was from jersey and dudes assumed we were all dbs and localistic cavemen. But over last few years I've surfed in north central jersey and 9 out of 10 dudes in the water are pleasant and generally happy to be surfing, respectful of position, and most share waves. However, that small % of complete Richards seem to really ruin the good vibe in the water. But that's been a small % of the time and they are usually out of state or foreign (Brazilian). Hope the positive feelings remain.

 

dude the war will never end!!!
north jersey surfers like myself say down south is way better.south jersey surfers say its better up north.i think we get good quality waves up north,but down south is more consistent.for example,n jers well have maybe 8-12 epic sessions a year.down south like lbi,oc,ac they get more swells or idfreekin know.they have better sandbars down there.north jersey sucks,its all closeouts,please don't come here.belmar is a myth!!id rather surf cape cod

 

I think the deeper water offshore is a key factor... like the others have said.

As for the North vs. South Jersey debate, summertime, tiny, hard angled localized south windswells do give the guys down south a few more ridable days during the doldrum months. But when it counts... Fall, Winter, and Spring, North Jersey size and power has it, hands down.

I'd say this has been an exceptional season, though. It's not every year that it's this consistent. I think the bottom line is... we've just been lucky.

 

I'm not on either side of the "war". I've lived in both sides, and I can tell you the waves from LBI to Sandy Hook have more size and power. I have 20 years of experience in this state backing this up. And it's virtually impossible for one to be more consistent. This isn't northern versus south California, where there is 1000 miles of coastline between the two. We are talking about a 100 mile strip of land. 9 times out of ten, the wind strength/storm system is the same for the entire state.

The one difference is water depth off the coast.

Some people from northern MoCo think the south gets better surf, but that is usually due to some swell angles not getting in to the far northern corner of the state. But as someone who surfed for 15 years in southern Jersey, and 5 in the southern monmouth/northern ocean county, there isn't a single doubt in my mind it is, on the same swell, bigger and more powerful in northern Jersey.

couple of things to point out. Look how many south Jersey pros have been making the trip up to Bay Head to surf these storms....

Look at the peak swell height for the buoy off maryland versus one of the north jersey ones. Swells are always bigger at the northern buoys.

 

a lot of that has to do w/ wind direction as well. when i make the trip, the main reason is b/c the wind direction is more favorable up north than my hometown on that particular day/swell. i've had days where wind direction was more favorable for up north in the morning & for the south in the afternoon. drive up at first light, surf for a few hours, grab lunch, drive south, surf some more.

 

Its baaaack

my fav spot in somoco - wrecked by beach pumping on xmas day - has come home to
popa…took 6 weeks and the wave is still a little fat/dumpy…but 4sure its back. phew!

that swell was CREAMED by a non-cooperative morning tidal situation….but the
swell at least in some form lasted the day…..holy schmidt MOON RISE!

 

I made a previous thread about this last year titled "NJ=Overrated?." That got so many people fired up. I think it was like 50 or some kooky number long.

 

New Jersey has a fairly large coastline with a lot of good surf spots. It also has a lot of surfers, which isn't surprising, since New Jersey has the most dense population in the country (although, mostly in N Jersey). In any case, its hard to compare one state to another. Every dog has its day, and their are a lot of good spots all over the East Coast.

I have lived in New Jersey, and have traveled most of the East Coast. I wouldn't argue with someone if they wanted to rank NJ as the top state on the East Coast for good surf.

 

Don't know why but Jersey just has the best barrels on the coast. Maybe not the best waves, but the best barrels