Newport Offers Surfing for Beginners and Advanced

By: Joe Piekos
Posted In: Entertainment

NEWPORT, RI – While the warm sun falls softly upon the chilly waters of Newport’s Easton Beach, the dozen or so people there are enjoying a rare winter stroll along the snow spotted sand. All except two adventurous, anxious, men, who are in those frigid waters, with what else, their surfboards.

Whether you are looking to learn the sport or you are a seasoned veteran, Aquidneck Island tenders to all skill levels and offers some of the best surfing in the country. And with the warmer months fast approaching, you will undoubtedly soon begin to notice more and more surfers filling the waters.

Middletown’s Sechuest Beach, more commonly referred to as Second Beach, is a popular place for beginner surfers, because the conditions cater so well to them there. Because of the size of beach, there is plenty of room for surfers to enjoy their space, and with no rock obtrusions or other dangerous obstacles in the water, safety is not a problem.

Another reason why Second Beach is a great spot to learn to surf is there are usually other beginners there trying to learn as well. So as a novice, you do not have to worry about an intimidating atmosphere filled with advanced surfers who are making you feel awkward.

Peter Glowac, a senior at Salve Regina University, learned how to surf at Second Beach when he came to Salve four years ago. “I love it there. That’s still the spot on the island I prefer. It’s the best to learn there because you are always with other people who are doing the same thing. You go with one person who knows what they’re doing, and it’s the best way to learn,” said Glowac.

After you learn, if you decide on getting into the sport more seriously, do not expect it will be cheap. Equipment can be very costly, so most beginners start by buying used gear, until they become better and decide on buying new equipment.

When buying a new board, a good rule of thumb is to get one 14 inches taller than you and at least 20 inches wide. A good beginner’s board is a funboard, which is a fairly wide and thick board. For a person around 6 feet tall, good dimensions for the board would be approximately 8 feet in length, 22 inches in width, and 2-3 inches in thickness.

However, to most of the surfers in this area, this is old hat. Rather than concerning themselves with the basics of buying a new board, most of the more advanced surfers are focused on studying complex weather systems, figuring out how the waves will be for a particular day.

There are many websites that surfers use to figure out how the swells will be for an area; the term swell basically refers to the waves and the way they are breaking. A common website to check is nesurf.com; however, this site is not very reliable, because it is more speculation.

So some surfers train themselves to study buoy systems that fisherman use. On the website buoyweather.com, users can go and check the tides. Through an intricate set of numbers and timing patterns, they can get a good idea of how the swells will be.

Despite common belief, the spring and summer months are not the best months to surf on the island, at least not from a more professional point of view. The reason more surfers are out in the spring and summer is obviously because of the warmer weather.

However, the more advanced and serious surfers are in the water all year round. The harsher climate producers stronger winds, which in turn produce better swells. On Aquidneck Island, an ideal day for the surfers is one that produces a strong north wind.

When the island gets those strong winds blowing north, it in turn gets world-class waves, and world-class surfers. Last year, during hurricane Juan, the surfing area located at the end of Ruggles Avenue was filled with a number of professional surfers, including seven time world champion Kelly Slater.

John Maedke, Surf Manager of Island Sports in Middletown and three-year surfer of Aquidneck Island, has experience surfing in those kinds of conditions here.

“Our September season rivals Huntington Beach, the so called Mecca of surf. We’ve had guys come here from Hawaii and said our surf here can be just as good. The only thing that we don’t have here is the consistency that those places have,” Maedke said.

There are however, hidden gems throughout the island that the most advanced and seasoned surfers know about to beat the bad days. Elbow’s ledge is a spot about 2 miles off the coast of Second Beach, which has been known to produce swells breaking at over 40 feet high.

The spot is highly dangerous and only for advanced surfers. Greg Pearson, Manager at Elemental Surf Shop in Middletown, is one of those surfers who are skilled enough to take on the huge swells.

“We have to take jet skis out there. The place has some monster waves though, it’s pretty intense. It’s really dangerous though. You have to be a very good rider to handle it. And you have to go with a couple other people for safety reasons. If you are not safe, you can get seriously hurt or even worse,” Pearson said.

So beginners, when you buy that new board, you might want to wait a few years before you invest in that jet ski.