Surf Spot Statistics from RipCurl’s Search GPS Watch

I’m an early adopter and pretty techy person so I had to get RipCurl’s Search GPS watch when it first came out.  I always wanted to be able to track my surfs like the runners and bikers can track their activities and I was so excited when it first came out.

If there is talk of Kelly’s Wave Pool (now the WSL Wave Company) changing the face of surfing, I think a watch like this and trackers like Trace Up will also change it.  These trackers can provide a more objective way of judging a different kind of surf contest, track current conditions at surf spots, and what we’re most stoked about is how they can also collect historical information about the surf breaks !

I did months and months of data collection on various websites, guides, apps, to compile all of the info for da Surf Engine app and organize it in a structured way so surfers can find the exact type of surf spot they are looking for that has their perfect waves.  These trackers can also provide another source to cross check and back up a lot of the surf spot data in the app and they can provide a great way to keep the app updated as surf spots evolve amidst environmental changes and weather patterns through the years.

Below are the highlights of a nerdy study I did on 16 active surfers using RipCurl’s Search GPS watch/app during the month of May, with a total number of 144 surf sessions tracked at over 41 surf spots!

Surfer Stats

Surf Spot Stats

My favorite San Diego County (yes it’s in San Diego County) surf spot of San Onofre State Beach was in the top list of surf spots for several categories: Longest (max) ride (over 200 yards), fewest minutes waited per ride (only 3), & average of most of waves caught per session (53 – someone had a big day!!)

Below were all of the top surf spots for all the surf criteria I analyzed & tracked for the month of May with the 16 active surfers analyzed:

• Longest (max) ride per session: Point Dume, Winkipop, Bells Beach, Batu Bolong, Zippers, San Onofre, Balangin, Fiji somewhere (that spot in Fiji was a secret spot logged by Tyler Wright)
  • All 200+ yards, that’s more than 2 football fields in length
• Fewest minutes waited per ride: Hermosa Beach, La Fortuna, San Onofre, Newland
  • Only 3 minutes
• Average of most # of waves caught per session: San Onofre (53), Fiji somewhere (30), Newland (27), Batu Balong (25), Fortuna (24)
• Highest # of sessions: Venice Beach (11), Mission Beach (10), Beacons (9), Winkipop (8) & 54th Street Newport (8)
• Spots with the fastest waves: Bells Beach, Fiji secret spot, Winkipop
  • All over 20mph

Oh and if you are a super surfing nerd/geek like me, below is an infographic of some of the stats RipCurl Search GPS reported themselves in June of 2015 regarding all of their data.  Oh boy would I be in surfer geek heaven if I could get access to all of their data via an API and analyze that info, ha!

How do you compare with the surfer stats?  Do you wish you could go out and surf more often, catch more waves and wait less time between waves?  I think we all would if we could.  Hopefully these stats can give you an idea of where you might want to check out surfing next, and  get out of your surfing rut and explore new surf breaks.  da Surf Engine app is a perfect app for you to save all of these surf spots in your sand bucket list and find your ideal surf spot based on a lot of stats!  We hope that can fuel your stoke!!!