Wave Height - Wales Surfing - BBC

Some surfers use 'waist high', 'head high', 'shoulder high' and 'over head' as a wave height indicatior which can be confusing if you're used to measuring wave faces in feet.

Others measure from the back of the wave 'Hawaiian Style' which seems a bit odd for UK waters when we rarely have big enough swells to measure from the back!

The most common and simplest method would be measuring the wave face from peak to trough i.e. from the bottom to the top of the breaking wave.

With waves constantly moving, it can be tricky to the uninitiated to judge their actual height. Lying down whilst paddling out can also put a whole new perspective on the height of wave as it smashes onto your head.

Most surfers will call an average height rather than basing a session on rogue set waves/ the biggest of the day.

Rather than calling it 4ft we'd say it was 3-4ft or 5-6ft and so on...

As a general rule, if it's only 1ft, it's pretty difficult to surf on, unless you longboard or are a lightweight grom/ shredding machine!

Check out this useful article by Neal Miyake, although again, this is taken from a Hawaiian perspective.www.hawaii.rr.com

Read some recent message board comments on this age old debate!

theoctagon :

I always thought that you went on the size of the face just before the wave breaks and that you judge that size in feet. I realise that wave data that comes from buoys is different to what you will actually see breaking on the beach for various reasons.

I was chatting to a guy the other day though about it and asked what he considered to be a 1ft wave. He held out his hands to indicate the size. If you measured the distance between his hands with a ruler it would probably be about 2.5ft!

Walker Texas Ranger:

1ft in surfing is not 1ft, ask anyone who has surfed for more than 4 years (before the kook influx) and they will tell you the same.

1ft = 2ft, 2ft = 3/4ft, 3ft = 5/6ft, 4ft = 6/7ft, 5ft = 8ft, 6ft = 9/10ft, 8ft = 12ft

bigfeller1:

I take it as being a measure of the part of the wave which is steep enough to get going on.

how long is a piece of string?

I also find that whatever size is given for a break on any given day,there will be the odd set which is bigger, and obviously many which are a lot smaller. I work on the assumption that peope are generally talking about the size of an average SET wave.

Wounded Gull:

When did a 1 foot wave become 2ft? I've never heard such nonsense. Maybe a sweeping generalisation but...from my experience, Pembs surfers tell it, how it is!

I've never had this conversation before tbh until I moved to Cardiff and began surfing Porthcawl and Gower spots. We have a standard measurement - feet.

1FT = 1FT...it's not rocket science

If we all USE IT, the problem quickly evaporates.

Adie:

Look, if you wanna argue about wave size, why not challenge Brad Gerlach as to whether the wave he rode was really 68 feet? I got my calipers out, and I reckon it was more like 67.