Are folks on the US East Coast finding good spots for wing surfing waves? I'm near NYC, and it seems like when we get good ground swell, we have offshore wind. When it is on-shore, or side, w a 4 ft swell, we have pounding surf break to get through. I've seen other wing surfers exactly zero times on the Atlantic side, and I've seen kite surfers (in waves) maybe twice.

Are my hopes too high and I should just concentrate on getting good on what I have and traveling to places that are better for wing surfing (Puerto Rico maybe)? Or maybe I don't know what to look for.
Been winging for 3 years and I feel like I've only had a 10 or so sessions where actual wing surfing made sense. So, I'm hoping for some advice.

search out inlets with rock jetties to knock down the shore pound and clean up the surf.

Similar situation here in North Carolina, particularly the Outer Banks. No Jetties or peninsula's or decent outer reefs to create an easy way to deal with pounding shore break. I've ridden side off in the ocean here with a more subdued shorebreak but there is always that occasional queasy feeling of something breaking far enough off shore and having to paddle back against the wind. Some of my winging friends here are way better at picking just the right ocean conditions, and more willing to deal with the risks.

So traveling to more wing foil friendly wave/swell locations is my preferred option. Jetties like Ft Pierce or St Andrew's State Park in Florida are way easier but you still need the right wind directions, and it's a long drive. In our case both daughters live in Australia so that is the perfect destination for us, especially with the opposite seasons (Melbourne home base). Much more swell/wave friendly!

Side note: I know for the vast majority of wing foilers it's a "waves/swell exciting, flat water boring" mindset. I get it, but water can still be fun and challenging even for us old timer strapless riders. There's an endless number of pretty cool tricks to learn

i live in your area too.. Rhode Island, cape cod and the outer islands (Nantucket). So much more wind and swell energy than Long Island/NJ.

If you can find a big intracoastal area (ie. the sound in hatteras) there are fun waves to ride even in the bays as long as the wind is strong enough.

Otherwise you can try and time getting out but it can be treacherous in those NE beachbreaks.

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Icebergmansion said..
If you can find a big intracoastal area (ie. the sound in hatteras) there are fun waves to ride even in the bays as long as the wind is strong enough.

Not sure what you mean with "fun waves" in the sound in Hatteras. It's too shallow there for fun waves. That keeps wave size down, even in 30 knots. The chop you get is not even much fun on a foil.
The only place for waves in the Hatteras sound is at the reef, about 4 km from shore, where the water depths suddenly drops from > 3 m to 30 cm.

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boardsurfr said..

Icebergmansion said..
If you can find a big intracoastal area (ie. the sound in hatteras) there are fun waves to ride even in the bays as long as the wind is strong enough.

Not sure what you mean with "fun waves" in the sound in Hatteras. It's too shallow there for fun waves. That keeps wave size down, even in 30 knots. The chop you get is not even much fun on a foil.
The only place for waves in the Hatteras sound is at the reef, about 4 km from shore, where the water depths suddenly drops from > 3 m to 30 cm.

Exactly. Shallow near shore water depth results in these small short period waves. Rideable but hard to even turn on being so tight

I remember these amazing long period chest high fast moving rollers one session on the Callala Bay side of Jervis Bay (NSW) that were far better (cleaner) than any east coast US ocean swell I've ever ridden in , let alone the shallow near shore sound waters of Hatteras. Even Port Phillip Bay provides far better swell than Hatteras soundside (to give some perspective)

we rode waves in the intracoastal in Florida last week that were waist high, I'm shocked you're not getting anything good in the sound

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Icebergmansion said..
we rode waves in the intracoastal in Florida last week that were waist high, I'm shocked you're not getting anything good in the sound

Maybe just a difference in perception. I've ridden the Indian River (at least what I call FL intercostal) fully powered on a 3m in 30+ knots, around Cocoa Beach and Sebastian Inlet, and imho it's the same as soundside in the Outerbanks. It's still a fun downwinder ride but just bunched up short period swell. Not even sure I would call it waist high. Maybe there are other FL intercostal locations that are much deeper providing larger swell. Im definitely not a FL expert.

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crashflow said..
Are folks on the US East Coast finding good spots for wing surfing waves? I'm near NYC, and it seems like when we get good ground swell, we have offshore wind. When it is on-shore, or side, w a 4 ft swell, we have pounding surf break to get through. I've seen other wing surfers exactly zero times on the Atlantic side, and I've seen kite surfers (in waves) maybe twice.

Are my hopes too high and I should just concentrate on getting good on what I have and traveling to places that are better for wing surfing (Puerto Rico maybe)? Or maybe I don't know what to look for.
Been winging for 3 years and I feel like I've only had a 10 or so sessions where actual wing surfing made sense. So, I'm hoping for some advice.

By wing surfing you mean wing foiling, right? There are good crews in Maine, NH, Mass and Rhode Island that I know of, as well as down south, that ride in the ocean when it's good. It definitely helps to have rivermouths and jetties to help getting out when it's raging

Don't sleep on the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. We have a TON of spots that work on all wind directions, in around the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. After 3 or 4 years of winging, I've finally dialed in most spots to know what ebb/flood current works with what winds to set up the best swell and I'm regularly winging in organized chest high bumps as a result. Great local crew that is helpful to all rider abilities too.
DM me if driving through headed south!