What happens when the tide runs out at your local beach?
The water moves out to sea and the shallow sand banks begin to emerge, gutters form and rips become more prominent.
The effect this has on your local surf spot are numerous, and I have attempted to capture them below:
- The primary and secondary (and other additional) swells receive a slight reduction in power and heaviness
- As the water becomes more shallow, the face of the waves as they break increase in steepness, almost becoming a strong prompt plunge
- Rips along open sections of the beach increase in speed and presence
- The sets of waves break in a much more disorderly fashion, where they would normally stay breaking with a smooth face, they break earlier along more exposed sections of the sand bank. This makes it much more difficult to maintain speed and flow down the line, restricting you to taking a little more time to open up carving manoeuvres
- Some point breaks can actually improve dramatically on an outgoing tide as the the shear sand bank or reef (wherever you are surfing) becomes perfectly aligned. Open hollow barrels can be the consequence (a good consequence I may add) but are super critical, one false move and it can be catastrophic to your board or your body.
All of these things contribute together to inhibit a good session or create an unforgettable one.
Next time you’re down checking the conditions ensure you understand the effects of specifically the low tide.
