Trust me, it takes a lot of balls to move from Brooklyn to Encinitas for the sole purpose of getting more surf time in your life, and I don’t even have balls. Having tried to surf out of Brooklyn for almost 3 years I finally gave up, quit my job, bought a pick up truck and drove west with dreams of surfable waves dancing in my head. I’ve learned alot since I moved here, most notably? West Coast surfing is way different (read: BETTER) than East Coast surfing. I learned most of my East Coast surfing ways from the crazy Jones Beach Lifeguards and all of my West Coast surfing (so, ahem, all of my REAL surfing) from Jorma Beckstrom. If you don’t know who he is? Sh*t, you sure should. So, if you ever wanted to see the comparison side by side?
West Coast Surfing
I bring you East Coast Surfing vs West Coast Surfing, let the sh*t talking BEGIN.
EAST COAST VS WEST COAST
Epic Day Tales at Montauk VS Epic Day Tales at I.B.
Douchebags on the LIRR VS Douchebags at Day Use
Close out, washing machine slop VS Rideable and surfable waves
Drunk Jersey College Girl surfer groupies VS Botoxed O.C. Housewife surfer groupies
Taco Tuesdays in Long Beach VS Any Day at Cap’n Keno’s
Tall Lattes at Dawn Patrol VS Tall Boys at Dawn Patrol
Jellyfish VS Stingrays
ESM VS TransWorld Surf
Ridiculous Surf Vehicle / Escalades VS Ridiculous Surf Vehicle / F-350′s
Bud Light VS Tecate
Smoke on beach from Marlboro Lights VS Smoke on beach from Blueberry Trainwreck
“Monster” VS “Epic”
Fighting Cold Water VS Fighting Longboard Kooks
Everyone Used to Be a Broker VS Everyone Used to Surf Contests
All of the Bronx on the Beach VS Kelp on the Beach
Ironic T-Shirts VS Ironic Moustaches
Read your gossip in the NY Post VS Read your gossip in the Beach Break News
After-surf food is Bagels n’ Lox VS After-surf food is an Acai Bowl
Sex Wax VS Sticky Bumps
Yankees Cap VS Knit Cap
and…the best music to listen to before a shred session?
Biggie VS Biggie
Yeah, that’s right. You can bring me to the West Coast, but I’m not pumpin’ Tupac.
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You’ve got to love Cap’n Keno’s. That place will always be there for you. Also, word to picking up and moving. Definitely a big move.
I’m stoked you’re getting waves out there and I loved the comparisions but I couldn’t disagree more…EAST COAST RULES! Sure we have to work a little harder and wait a bit longer for good waves but we have plenty of decent swell that would make even the most hard-core west coaster froth…come back East to charge some hurricane swell this summer and see if you feel the same way when you’re done….good luck HW
Funny article with some good comparisons (who DOESN’T pump Biggie by the way??) but there’s no way I believe that the West Coast is outright better than the East Coast. Sure, you do get a few more waves than us that don’t ‘close out’ but if you really want to see real East Coast surfing check out Nova Scotia in the winter time. There are hundreds of point breaks, all going unridden, which capture so many S/SE swells that on any given day you can be riding. The only problem is that the water gets down to a ball dropping 1 degree C (though I don’t think [or at least hope] that this will be a problem for you), which is enough to keep most of the kooks away. Best of all, there’s hardly ANY localism here and the surfers are friendly and accommodating. Tom Curren recently stopped by and did a little run through as well, and word on the street is Kelly might be on his way soon (with two bad showings on the tour this year it might be sooner than later). A quick look at this weeks forecast:
Seas:
Seas: SSE 3.9 to 5 meters at 9 sec.
I think that speaks for itself.
But regardless of what coast you surf on, what board you ride, or how many stickers you have on your gear, surfing is, and always has been, about having fun.
Cheers all
Dude, I grew up surfing Florida and finally went to San Diego. Needless to say, F*$* Florida! I’ve been to Costa Rica and Puerto Rico a half dozen times and I’ve caught waves in California in the summer that rivaled either place. I have another year of school and then I’m West Coast bound. So, yes, another person in the lineup!
West Coast surfing totally rocks! So glad to hear you moved down here, SD-way. When your school has a surf team, you know you are in the right place!
Problem: The majority of your east-coast statements refer to the New York area, Which is only a small portion of the East Coast. Don’t forget about the good ‘ol south!
surfers vs surfers
We’re all here because we have this thing we do, we surf…it shouldn’t matter whether you are from the east coast or the west coast. It’s not about what kind of waves you got, but what you make of those waves.
Hahaha. Props to Biggie!!! we love you hot wahine.
“Problem: The majority of your east-coast statements refer to the New York area, Which is only a small portion of the East Coast. Don’t forget about the good ‘ol south!”
Alright Grom, I’ll take the bait. What’s so special about the south?
Surfing: who’s to say how and where to do it. I mean people surf the freakin’ Great Lakes! Surfers surf for that feeling of interacting with some of the more beautiful aspects of our planet. I personally am from the west coast and would never leave it for anything but the universal vibes that we surfers share are so strong that they connect us from all over the world (this site is a testament to that). However and wherever you may be accessing your ocean existence, please do so with the knowledge that you are so extraordinarily lucky.
P.S. For best results, consume 1 Jazzle of blueberry trainwreck after every sesh haha.
Its all a matter of preference. I grew up on the east coast. Long Island to be exact and have surfed L.I. and Florida a bunch. Moved to SoCal about 3 years ago and I’m never going back. I visit in florida from time to time and get some waves but souther california by far is superior, HB is surfcity USA damnit! I do love surfing in Brazil though, although I suppose that is “east coast”
New Park Pizza in Howard Beach Queens versus Do they have real pizza in Cali?
nah thats not east coast at all. thats a northern city surfers point of view. im in nc and its nothin like that. yea we gotta wait for waves. but its well worth the wait when we do get surf. new york gets some sick surf too but its 2 totally differant lifestyles. We got pretty Carolina girls, big ass trucks, no lattes, and sex wax sucks. west coast does get better waves but you gotta give the east coast more credit.
But we have the best pizza and bagels.
Bagels and Lox over Acai ANY DAY
Thassrite. East Coast sucks, especially NY. Don’t come here.
That’s right, please don’t come to NY – we don’t want you! If you want to talk about NY’s quality surf spots… there is only one place to go and I ain’t spilling! I will tell you that it’s not Rockaway and it’s not Jones Beach, Long Beach, Toby, Gilgo, Montauk or, Robert Moses.
There is only one place that is fairly consistent in NY – even with a sandy bottom. High or low tide, it has chest deep water for about 100 yards. It’s got a couple of nice, rock jetties that form a left and a right and it barrels during hurricanes.
NJ has a couple of fantastic spots that barrel as well. You’re going to have to spend a lot on gas to find them cause you won’t here about them from me.
It doesn’t take any balls to move from Brooklyn to CA. It takes balls to move from CA to anywhere else in the world.
Just to clarify… I’ve been to CA a dozen or so times and I wish NY had just one Rincon! Why would anyone want to move away from CA – unless you were moving to Hawaii?
I know you’re stoked and all, but this is a cery boring relocation story. The “east coast moved to west coast” discovery post is pretty well-trodden territory. I know you’re excited and all, but it’s been happening since the 1960s. I did it in 1996, NJ to SF after a childhood spent surfing NJ year-round in bad wetsuits. Nothing special there. Takes no “balls” (really don’t like when women use this expression) whatsoever to leave Brooklyn and move to CA. As long as you have a way to fund your dream, because it takes money, know that thousands have gone before you and done the same exact thing already.
The East Coast / West Coast beef is as old as time. Tupac / Biggie, NYC / LA, etc. I doubt that this dispute will ever end! But there is ONE thing we can all agree on . . . we ALL love hot chicks in skimpy clothes! I’m just gonna watch that new game show on NBC “Minute to Win It”. I hear they’re settling the beef with an East Coast vs. West Coast Girls of Summer Showdown. 8/7c. I vote we just let hot babes answer the question once and for all.