Good skimboarding comes down to four things: the tide, the size of the shorebreak, how close it breaks to the sand, and the wind. Here is what to look for, whether you ride waves or skim flatland.
It depends on the beach. On steep beaches, waves break right on the sand around mid tide, which is ideal for wave riding. On flat, wide beaches the water runs out too far at mid and high tide, so low tide and the first part of the incoming tide work better. Flatland skimming almost always works best near low tide, when there is a long stretch of wet, smooth sand.
For wave riding, about 1 to 3 ft of shorebreak is the sweet spot on most Florida beaches, and a little bigger in California. Under about half a foot is too small to ride but can be great for flatland. Much over 4 ft, waves tend to close out hard on the sand.
Close. You want to reach the wave in a few steps after dropping your board, usually within 10 to 30 ft of the water's edge. Steep beaches make waves break closer to shore, which is why they are popular for wave riding.
Light wind or wind blowing from the land out to sea (offshore). Offshore wind keeps wave faces clean and glassy. Onshore wind, blowing from the sea onto the beach, makes the shorebreak choppy and messy, even when the waves are a good size.
Yes. Longer-period swell (8 seconds and up) makes cleaner, punchier shorebreak with more shape. Short-period wind chop (under 5 seconds) makes crumbly, messy waves that are hard to ride.
Every daylight hour gets a score out of 10 from shorebreak size, how close the waves break, wind, tide and swell quality, with points taken off for rain and storms. 8 or higher is a W Skim, 6.5 or higher is good, 4.5 or higher is fair. A W Skim needs at least two strong hours in a row, not one lucky hour.
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