Surfing

If you're looking for a choice spot on the East Coast to do a little surfing, you're not going to find a better location than the beaches at Ocean City, New Jersey. With gradually sloped beaches, OCNJ offers consistent water that breaks into optimal surfing waves. The clean waters and shorelines also provide surfers with a safe place to paddle out without the risk of meeting potential hazards. For guarded surfing at OCNJ, we suggest checking out the 7th street beach, the 16th street beach and Waverly beach. Local shops stock rental boards for those without access to their own.

Best Surfing Beaches

There are two ways to go surfing in OCNJ: guarded and unguarded. Guarded beaches provide a bit more protection for the inexperienced surfer, and they are generally a safer option all around. These beaches also tend to draw a larger crowd of surfers, meaning you may need to wait your turn to catch a wave. On the plus side, these beaches are exclusively available to surfers, so you won't need to worry about avoiding swimmers while you're trying to enjoy your wave. Guarded beaches include the 7th street beach, the 16th street beach and Waverly beach.

Unguarded surfing refers to surfing on any of the other OCNJ beaches while a lifeguard is off-duty. This is a bit more dangerous and is not suggested unless you are an experienced surfer and know how to handle yourself in the water. These beaches are more popular for non-surfers so you may have trouble finding an area to surf that is not overrun by swimmers. But, on the plus side, once you find a surfing spot, it's less likely you will have to share it with other surfers.

Rent a Board

Ocean City, NJ surfing is open to both experienced and inexperienced surfers, which is why many of the local shops offer surf board rentals. These shops often offer by-the-hour or all-day rentals, so you have the option to choose how long you want to stay out on the waves. You can even stock up on wax, wax remover or a new leash at these local shops if you have your own board but are running low on the essentials.