Surfing in New Hampshire

Surprisingly, New Hampshire is a hot-spot for surfers. Joseph Monninger, writer for TheBostonGlobe, let’s us in on the great surfing New Hampshire has to offer in his article; Surfing at Hampton and Seabrook, and other N.H. beaches.

” From Seabrook to Rye, surf’s up in New Hampshire. And it has been for years.
Surfing is everywhere riding a new wave of popularity, fueled at least in part by the crossover from snow- and skateboarders looking to extend and enhance their seasons.

“The technology for wet suits has just boomed,” Rafferty said. “It opened up the sport to families and to year- round surfing. On a blustery winter day, with 2 feet of snow on the beach, you may see a hundred surfers riding 10-foot waves in good old New Hampshire.”

“Once you buy your board and a wet suit, it’s free. The waves don’t cost anything,” Nowakowski said. “And besides, it’s not like any other sport. It’s a source. It’s not just about catching a wave. You can sit on your board for hours and not catch a decent wave and it’s still a good day.”

Waves are a mirror image of the ocean’s floor’s topography, which makes New Hampshire’s rocky shoreline “mechanical,” or predictable. A wave always begins breaking at its shallowest point, which can cause sifting sand beaches to change from year to year. But a rocky shoreline has the advantage of remaining constant for decades. It doesn’t matter if the surf is 10 feet or 2 feet high, the wave breaks in the same pattern.”