So I got accepted to UNCW and it's almost time to choose where I'll be going to school, but first I need to know how much I'll actually be able to surf. How does that area compare to places further north like say NJ? I know obx is about 4 hours away but I'd appreciate any information on what the local breaks are like (how often, how good, crowds, etc.) Also any general useful info on the school or Wilmington would be awesome, I'm trying to get a good perspective on what it will be like down there. Thanks.
Only surfed Wrightsville a few times but there are numerous breaks nearby. Solid surfing 10 months out of year. Wilmington a great college town. Big enough to have a lot going on, but small enough to avoid major city B.S. You are thinking there or NJ? Just say that question out loud and you should have your answer. I would go anywhere other then NJ (except Cleveland).
Wrightsville beach for the most part is a pretty weak break with inconsistent sandbars. With that said there are other places to surf nearby that are much better that you will quickly find out about once you get there. Even though the shoreline near Wilmington faces ESE, you will be able to find breaks that can handle a NNE wind to breaks that can handle a SSW wind (so you will have a fairly decent wind window). Also, like you pointed out the OBX is a four hour ride which makes day trips manageable. To sum it up, if you don't plan on searching around all too much for waves you won't be scoring good days all that often, but put in the time and you will be rewarded. The UNCW women do not hurt the situation either, sundresses everywhere.
move here if: 1. you want a worthless degree (no med school or engineering) 2. you love crowds 3. you want to be a waiter till 40 or make like no money in any career 4. you suck at life in your town so you think life will be better by moving love, metard
No doubt son, good looks. You got lavish with the written word, not like you. Didn't know if something was up.
Hey, who's that tailgating me so closely, speeding around and cutting in front of me only to slam on brakes and pull into the next driveway?..... the piece of chitt with the UNCW stickers on their car. Hey, what's up with this pack of 5 douchebags paddling out right on top of me when there's plenty of space for hundreds of yards to my North and South?..... those pieces of chitt who rolled up in a car with UNCW stickers on it. Hey, who's that pr!ck that talks a lot of chitt in the lineup but needs 5 of their friends to get their back when someone calls them out?....... the little pu$$y with the UNCW hat on. Hey, who the phvck is that moron at Mase who cut my buddy off repeatedly, turned into a little beech when I confronted him then asks for a ride back to Wrightsville on our boat a couple hours later?..... y'all get the picture. surf05: You will be very welcome here as long as you don't act like every other self-entitled dormroom "local" who seem to be the majority of the UNCW student body.
WB can get fun but be ready to deal with warm-water crowds most of the year. Anyone and everyone shows up thanks to the 2 or 3 live webcams. If you do your homework and know where to go and when, you can score...anyone who tells you this isn't true just hasn't scouted around enough to know
wb is just awful. some of the worst surf on the east coast, many a kook and many a hipster, many a crowd and many a xanax
LMO erock, thnx...I'm gonna go and try the cold drive down to holden here in a bit. hope everyone scores today somewhere! whew! tomorrow looks epic for my not so secret spot that faces SE
wilmington is a nice college town, not too big or small. there's plenty of stuff to do. the school is nice too. keep in mind that you have to pay to park in wrightsville beach from mar 1 to nov 1, around $2 and hour unless you get to the beach early or go late. it does get crowded and there are swimming only areas. nags head is around 4 hours away with the southern part of the outer banks being 5 to 5 1/2 hours away.
Weak surf most of the year. Outrageous parking fee's most of the year. Crowded when it's bigger than waist high, especially during bro season Swells generally last one day. Any swell over 9 seconds closes out the whole beach. Traffic sucks Worst job market in NC Corrupt local govt Basically, it's a town that thinks its a lot cooler than it really is.
In the EYE! i ride boards with your name on it. .. parking is now $2.50/hr at WB!! the meters start at 8am!! so thats a bug F$ck you to every "working man" surfer out there... now of course if you're a grom from UNCW and daddy bought you that audi and that condo near marfaire you'll have nothing to worry about but you still will be one of the major reasons why the south is going straight to hell, fast.
There's almost always something small to surf but it is usually only that. I don't see how it could be much better in Jersey. It is still the Atlantic and I've traveled most of the east coast and have been overly impressed with anyone apart from the OBX and maybe a few select spots in Florida. The rest all seem to be comparable to WB or worse. One thing I've noticed though is that the outer sand bars of Florida and NC allow for a ride during a small swell at low tide. I found in the mid-atlantic and northern beaches you have to surf the shore break or deal with a crazy crowd at a jetty during the small to mid-size swells. The parking on Wrightsville is a pain but is Jersey free? There is a crowded break that all the college kids with attitude swarm to but there are plenty of other breaks with chill friendly folks. Find someone with a boat and you will really have a ton of choices. Honestly Wrightsville beach mid-day in the summer is probably the worst choice of the area. The upper OBX is about 4 to 5 hours away but the lower outer banks is only 2 hrs plus a short boat ride and the surf there is similar to the upper OBX. You really don't have to deal with crowds in NC if you're will to explore. Not sure if you can say the same thing about Jersey.
Thanks for all the help guys, definitely useful stuff. And don't worry Erock I promise not to kook up your breaks if I decide on UNCW. I am however worried about the overall reputation of the school. I know you can only get a good idea of that from talking to people, and so far the internet doesn't seem to like UNCW. Is it really that full of self entitled d-bags? Is the degree actually worthless? My other options would be to get landlocked and snowboard in Vermont for a few years, or try to transfer to a University of California school (I missed their deadline this year).
Bro, all colleges are full of self-entitled d-bags by default of "kids today" and their parents who raised them without accountability. If you're at a bigger school, and state school for that matter, you'll come across far more down to earth people that are worth more than being just a drinking buddy. You'll have a greater quantity of d-bags around you (but lower percentage) but it's easy to avoid them like rocks in the water. The smaller and more niche type of school you look at, the greater the lemming effect will be and lower incidence of diversity in all forms. UVM is a great place in a great area. However, going to a state school not in your home state is often treated by that student and family as attending a private school and comes at a private school cost. I'd venture an educated wager on the proportion on non-Vermont resident students at UVM being much higher than most state schools. Having spent A LOT of time in VT over two decades, I've seen that the typical Vermonter is either too proud or too ignorant (to see its inherent value) to attend their state's flagship university, as good as it is. All that aside, eating gravy fries after hitting up a party on Church St. that had a keg of Magic Hat and a schitt ton of ski bunnies is a fairly decent Saturday night. One brah's opinion. Btw, if you do go to UVM and want to charge you can carpool with AggroNE for the 3.5hr trek to the coast of NH/ME.
