What Kind Of Waves Do Surfers Look For?

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What Kind Of Waves Do Surfers Look For?

2 Answers

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Answer 1

Surfers look for waves that are literally big. Surfers believe the bigger the better. Bigger waves give a great control to the surfers and the surfers can surf through the waves much easily. Though, there is a big chance and risk of hurting yourself if you fall down. Big waves often have a tendency of 'Wiping out'. Wiping out is a surfing term which means that the surfer has collapsed from the wave. Big waves are actually more fun and you can stay in the wave for a longer time than a short wave. All beaches do not have big waves all the time. It all depends on the time of the tide.

Some beaches are so big that they have many different kinds of waves at different places at the same time. You will see a lot of surfers going from one place to another in the search of a perfect tide. There are also some waves which are known as 'Killer Waves'. Killer Waves have a tendency to raise more than 100 feet above the ground level.

Answer 2

The kind of waves which surfers look for are known as breaking waves. Breaking waves are defined as those waves whose shape and quality is influenced by different determinants. The factors which influence the shape and quality of breaking waves include the bathymetry of the surf break, the direction of the swell, the size of the swell, the direction of the wind, the strength of the wind, the ebb of the tide and the flow of the tide.

The swell is defined as that which is generated when the wind blows at a consistent speed over a large area of open sea water. This is called the fetch of the wind. The size of a swell is subjective to some factors such as the strength of the wind, the length of the fetch of the wind and the duration of the swell. The local wind conditions also affect the quality of the wind.