One S.B. Surfer’s Christmas Holiday in Florida
Christmas in Florida
I grew up on the Space coast of Florida. My mom was the first female missile scientist at Cape Canaveral. So I make an annual pilgrimage from Santa Barbara, back home every Christmas, to Indialantic, Florida. The Space Coast boasts some of the most well known and consistent surf in Florida, from the Cape North, to Sebastian Inlet south. A series of beach breaks and Coquina reefs create a 30 mile stretch of great surfing spots. After making the annual trek for more than 30 years, it has become apparent that there is a general weather pattern affecting the surf, that shifts from year to year. In El Niño years, which make great Christmas surf in Santa Barbara (like last year), the Florida coast tends to have predominately small, blown out windswell conditions. In La Niña years when Santa Barbara has weak surf (like this year), Florida seems to get slammed with big winter groundswell, from storms sweeping further from the North.
This year was no exception, with Florida surfers reaping the benefits of the current national weather patterns. While Santa Barbara suffered through a cold rainy and relatively flat Christmas season, Florida had some great surf. The best day while I was there was December 23rd. A 4-5 ft. ground swell came in at a steep North angle. Although the waves were a little walled with the direction, perfect offshore winds created good surf all up and down the Space Coast. With an air temperature of 75 and water at 68 degrees, it was a great day for surfing. But the best spot of the day was the fickle outside reef break of Monster Hole, on the South side of Sebastian Inlet. The angle of the swell was perfectly aligned for the reef, creating excellent 4-6 foot long lefts and shorter but more tubing right handers. A crowd of more than 40 surfers braved the sharky paddle out to to take advantage of the epic conditions.
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» wrote on 01.13.11 @ 10:27 PM
why do they wear wet suits when the water is 68 and the air is 75?
» wrote on 01.22.11 @ 09:01 PM
Thats a good question. I wore a long sleeve vest and was plenty warm. They get cold easily there. The water is in the 80’s in the summer.
