Guys, I could look at coastline maps all day, and I'm overly curious about lore-level surf breaks. Let's share them. The oddest surfable waves I've seen in FL: Gordon's Pass - looks like it could possibly be a quasi point break with the right swell, although size? Dutchman's Key and Anclote - seen them ridable, quite ridable; inside NSI Inlet; Sebass Kiddie Pool. What're yours, seen or heard of? \m/

The very southern end of the beach at Fort Matanzas National Monument, right at the inlet, used to act kind of like a point break under the right conditions of swell direction, wind direction and tide. It was fun, but it hasn't been the same since hurricanes Matthew and Irma. Since it wasn't impacted by a hurricane this year, my hope the sandbars will eventually settle back to what they were with tide action and flow at the inlet.

Ah yes, now that I'm up surfing St. Aug more than Volusia and Brevard, I've done a few drivebys on Matanzas and have seen this in action. I recall one day two years back, on a north swell, seeing it chest high looking like a quasi point and offshore. Problem was: no one out, I'd never surfed it, and it was breaking really far out. Probably should have done it; however, later that week, I heard a guy got attacked by a bull shark in his kayak out there. Felt better about not going after that.

Aka "give up your favorite secret spot"

My favorite is this pier at the end of 520. Used to break semi-ok back in the day. Hasn't broken ok in 15 years.

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I type on fone 99% of time. Let the typos slyde. Thanks

There used to be a point break just south of Cortez and Anna Maria; beach renourishment killed it. Pet Den, Chernobyls, Shark Pit, Sea Grape, Lums, Mark Reality and the little motel just north of Floridana.

Some are still super poplar under different names and i'm sure some are still good that go unridden.

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I was right.

Oh and large swells the Canaveral Pier used to break at the tip of the structure and not a mile out to sea. Paddle out in the rip, then drop into bomb wedges at the feet of the tourists and catfish fisherpeople.

...and we surfed inside the jetty at the port. Weird wave - imaging surfing up hill, but a fun atmosphere.

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I was right.

Yeah, there're all those jetties up and down Anna Maria that work pretty well and cut down drift a bit. My brother just surfed the two I'll just say, somewhere near AMI/Longboat and said it was fun and barely anyone there. Man, a couple of those passes seem like such good quasi "point break" ops, under very specific conditions. I def miss Chernobyls and all those S. Brevard spots off the road.

Edited: 11/04/2018 at 04:29 PM by AndreaCaloiaro

How did it used to be? I surfed it when the Jetties were about shoulder-head high and it was waist high and running for around 40 yards. Seemed like it had a lot of potential. I've seen cape San blas look similar to Skelton bay. Always wondered about that dog island break near there too, only accessible by boat though. And we can't forget the shoals, I'm pretty sure the Hobgoods surfed out there and the legendary Bob Freeman has a crazy story from out there. I've always wanted to try but by all accounts it's a pretty risky endeavor with all the sharks and shifty waves.

Not sure if it exactly qualifies as "mysto": but the south side of the St John's River Jetty at Mayport. The last time they dredged the rivermouth to make the shipping channel deeper, they dumped the dredged up sand/dirt right on the Navy base's beach and right next to the jetty. At high tide, fortunately there was a fun-sized swell and it produced a sweet left hand point. Peeling, shoulder high lines with long rides. Lasted for about two weeks, with a peak over a weekend. And then just like that, it was gone

Edited: 11/04/2018 at 06:25 PM by seaspray

Over the years 1st Light at Patrick had some pretty nice setups. It's been at least 10 years since the last time it did anything. I can remember a least four different times when it had a perfect setup usually favoring the right. the last couple times it was small scale and good for smaller stuff. A very long time ago there was a period of time with it was almost a "Lowers" lite...very consistent A frame in the same spot. Obviously 1st Peak Inlet....it's long gone. Same thing with Monster Hole ...it's completely different now and IMO not even close to what it use to break like in the 70's, 80's and 90's...there is way to much sand....no focal point. We use to surf "Wells" in Mel beach...that's a distant memory. In St. Augustine Blow Hole use to go off...it's gone. It seems like we've lost a lot of breaks but haven't gained any. Believe it or not some if the cooler setups I've seen in the last ten years have been in south CB usually after a period of big surf a little channel gets carved out and for a couple days there would be a neat little wave peeling along the channel to create an X marks the spot lineup. About 5 years ago one morning I'm on my way to work and did a quick check at 15th street and low an behold there is this insane left working about chest to head double up barrels breaking in the same spot on every set. I went back to the house got my board and surfed a couple hours and had it to myself. It was a weird wave/setup...there would be a 2 foot wave and doubling up right behind it would be a 4 foot wave, you catch the little front wave an by the time you dropped in the bigger rear wave would merge with the little front wave an create a really juicy, thick zippering left...for CB it was special...but that was it ...it was gone by the next time there were waves.

Edited: 11/04/2018 at 07:10 PM by grdsurf

.... and that wasnt even the best wave in the park. They've done several "beach renourishment" projects, but The one year they dumped sand the length of the park (all other times were just in residential areas) it permanently fuct the 2 best waves in N. FL and they've never really returned. Still gets fun, but not much different than anywhere else, as opposed to the swell magnifier Middles once was, and the draining buckets at the 'hole. ........ as far as Matanzas goes, that inlet has become super shallow, so swell won't make inside, on a big swell on the rt tide, the far outside of the mouth of the inlet has a wave.... our monsterhole, with comparable sea creatures

South end of matanzas inlet used to be known as point Elizabetha. Grand setup but beyond finicky.

I'd like to point out a reoccurring theme common to all of our inlets....they have all accumulated sand over the years and lost there original definition. Generally speaking the extra sand has been detrimental to wave quality at the inlets. The first time I surfed NSB in the 1973 shark shallows was much deeper and way more swell made it to the regular surf zone....it held way more size. the problems with SI are well know and to much sand is one of the major factors in poor wave quality....opps I'm a little off topic

Edited: 11/08/2018 at 04:32 PM by grdsurf

It was a difficult spot, because it needed a strong north to work and that is a rarity in the gulf. I caught it fun once in the mid eighties, then they dumped the sand.



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I was right.

Some years back, the beach "renourishment" ended between the Spessards in Mel Beach near where the old tracking station isn't anymore (haha). That spot where the wide beach dropped to the narrow was pretty fun while the sand was trying to even out. And Ocean Ave had some pretty fun dumpy shorepound then too. Back to the normal (nothing special) now.

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Pea Nut Island, Whitney Beach Inlet, ClearWater Pass, "The Reef" Key West, Amazons, Inside SBI, South Jetty SBI, Riomar reef, etc......mostly a list of rare almost novelty waves that seldom break..

Edited: 11/05/2018 at 08:02 AM by SurferMic

I wonder if Amazons will ever be the same after the hurricane..... I did have the fortune of surfing it for Hurricane Katrina

south cove, north cove in Bradenton. was thinking Chernobyls too, got my cassette tapes and slaps ripped out of my car there with thieves hiding and watching where you hide your key. They were nice tho and put the key back.

inside the south jetty ft clinch state park in fernandina can have a very small right hand peel along the inside of the rocks novelty but has been fun on the log. inside monster hole about a half mile south of the inlet had a cool looking sandbar i saw from the south jetty couple suppers on what looked like a little split peak out of no where

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I troll 2L.com to be a better person in real life

This thread is thoroughly intriguing. This could be a complete rumor, but I've heard people mentioning surfing in the Banana River, I think on small islands during passing hurricane or tropical storms? That sounds nuts, but also super cool. Surfing anywhere out in the keys sounds equally nuts. But, I've seen the pics from friends out fishing - weird slab looking waves at times.

I'm a bit surprised to find that no one has mentioned that 200 yard reeling left that comes off the south side of the Cape during big noreasters that only John "Toe Over" Glenn ever really surfed well and now the Air Force will sick the laser sharks on you if you try to get on it. Oh well.

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add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

I hear it's all the rage these days.


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I was right.

For a season back in 2005, Kite Beach north of the Juno Pier was a great spot. (And I've seen a few guys surf some waves inside the Jupiter Inlet--right into the rocks.) Easy come, easy go. All across Palm Beach County, little mysto-spots pop up with the beach erosion and replenishment. We used to do drift sessions from Palm Beach all the way to Boynton Inlet and somewhere along the way, usually miles from a public access point, a peak would be incredible. And we'd stare at these endless condos or mansions and think--"wow, a better peak than Reef Road and nobody's surfing it or even knows it's even here." But then it'd be gone by the next swell. In 2003ish, there were some great little, weird refracto sea-wall waves all over PB, north of Flagpoles. Here's a link to a swell that hit PB in 2016 during a replenishment and made a little point-break.

The Banana River can be surfable but it takes 20+ mph winds straight out of the north to make a ridable swell. There are a few dips in the shoreline that will make it break. It is so rare that you will probably never surf it. More fun are downwinders where you can surf runners for miles. I stopped doing those runs when the water became unbearably polluted.

back in the day at dead high tide a wave would appear just off the beach on the south side of the Boynton inlet. a little perfect left peeler about 25 yards long on a swell of course

Riomar Reef and Peanut Island

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw

Somewhere north of the St Johns River lnlet, is a semi mysto sand bar that with the right conditions turns into a full on, sand sucking, right hand point, barrelfest.

Boat access only and you gotta know what's what, cause the rips are insane!!

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"Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do." - Bertrand Russell


"Morality is doing what is right, regardless of what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, regardless of what is right.


If I do not answer you .... nothing personal, I just have you on ignore.

Way back in 1965, Hurricane Betsy drove a freighter onto the beach in Riviera Beach. With the right swell and wind it was a very clean left.





[S=https://trimoot.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/the-amaryllis/]https://trimoot.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/the-amaryllis/[/S]

[S=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305001617/http://surfhistoryproject.org/...icle_ship_at_beach.pdf

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Dora Hates You

Edited: 11/08/2018 at 12:58 PM by dingpatch

I'm just know reading about that freighter wave on riviera beach in a book by Tim Dorsey called the pope of palm beach. Your picture has me really stoked because I never thought I would see a depiction of that wave. Was darby pope a real person or just a fictional character in the book?

Serge Storm is a fictional character, thank goodness

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw

Pump House reminded me: In the early 80s The Palm Beach "Pump House" was a right... remember the old black film containers for film. I was surfing there and found one floating on the outside and inside was half a joint and matches. Yes, I lit it up... swear to God!

That's one of the coolest 'florida' era surf pic I've ever seen!! Gracias' Howard

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Went down a couple of times but, only caught it "good" once. Waist high and very clean with offshore wind.

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Dora Hates You

Flagpoles should be mentioned - hated scaling the wall, worse "public" beach access ever. Also Lido Beach has a cleanup, novelty, decent wave on strong NW winds, almost redirects waves from the outside into the inside quasi-cove....Captiva's "Blind Pass" has potential but it was always better North of the bridge. i always thought Haulover was a different wave (fun take off right by the rocks and mini cove)...the list goes on and on...Honorable mention Typhoon Lagoon fun to do once but not worth the $$$...I have named dropped many spots that rarely break & are well-known...There are some GEMS that are much better than your standard Fl beachbreak but those I will not mention.

Edited: 11/08/2018 at 01:15 PM by SurferMic

gordan's pass several decades ago before all the dredgings. storm or front swell would wrap from the mini jetty almost parallel to the shore inside the pass. would have to stay in the pocket for about 50 yards until it wrapped around the corner, peel for 50 yards, and run off into the boat channel. outgoing tide you would get a free ride back. used to catch it on skimboard too from sand just inside mini jetty for kicks

Edited: 11/08/2018 at 02:33 PM by RiddleMe

cocoa

Tingo: Pumphouse best wave was also a right in the mid nineties as well. I remember it well as I dropped in on a heavy local and he reminded me not to do that. It was a a great right, i remember like it was yesterday. I was def in the wrong and learned a lesson that day.
These days, it rarely breaks, and when it does, it isn't even really near the pumphouse, unless it gets huge, and that is another story

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw

So there's no more right inside the jetty anymore?!? Prob been 20+ years since I've surfed it, but when I was a grom in Broward, I had friends (who had a drivers license ) who had family close by and we would drive up there to surf fairly often. Used to get that crazy backwash at high tide. Waves would get good, and when it would, definitely a local pack. But that was a long time ago

Here's few I remember, that oddly enough are all about steel. And yes it was better back then. There was a large barge that was grounded in the 70's about a 1/2 mile north of the last parking lot at Playalinda. Eventually it partially submerged and at the right tide created a short powerful bowl section that broke both ways. I only went up there when the surf was too small everywhere else and could always catch some fun rides there. It sucked barnacles when you fell on it though. Like all good things it eventually turned into a zoo on small days Long before they extended the north jetty at Ponce Inlet there were steel sheet piles stretching way out beyond the rock jetty curving SE. Every so often on a south swell and extreme low tide it would throw a first peak like right wedge for 100 yrds or more. One of the best waves I've ever surfed in Florida. Speaking of sheet piles, the St Lucie Nuclear Power Plant used to have some at the intake and discharge channels. Not long after it started operation I was on the south side of the discharge on a very cold winter day surfing consistent 6' lefts in warm water with only me and two others out. The authorities didn't catch us until we got out of the water and boy were they pissed. I went back that summer and scored some big bugs in just a few minutes without getting caught.

There's so much to discuss here, and ponder over, but for the time being, wow, that vintage pic is excellent - nod to Dorsey too. Common themes seem to be the malleability of coastlines and inlets, and the delicate balance of nature's dynamics and human intervention.

Perfect topic to post this clip I recently found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdNBnkpp8sw Like wtf is that thing!? Maybe there's a few waves still out there...

"Secret inlet" SBI! Haven't seen it break in a long time though.

Yesterday's Knee high LB Novelty wave on the West Coast, across the way it was much bigger and shortboardable .

Edited: 11/28/2018 at 08:39 AM by SurferMic

Nice. I have recurrent dreams of surfing weird spots like this.

I come from a skate background so I look at waves a bit different, like some see a curved brick planter outside a building....I see a quarter pipe-wedge...the king of novelty waves is Ben Gravy he been around for a while..here is his 2017 compilation..........................................https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGbX1Bf15J4

Edited: 11/29/2018 at 02:37 PM by SurferMic