Using Google Maps To Find Surf Spots

Nov 9 2009

Using Google Maps To Find Surf Spots

Posted by Pike at 10:19 am on November 9th, 2009 to Miscellaneous, Technology & Gadgets.

There is around 217,500 miles of coastline in the world. That is a lot of coastline. All that coastline provides for a lot of surf spots that have already been discovered and a lot that are still just pumping surf without anyone in the lineup.

Let me share a story about using Google maps to find a new surfspot. A buddy and I were going to go surf an area that we were hoping was going to be good due to the incoming swell. Well, when we got there the waves were flat. Completely flat. We didn’t want to just head over to the nearby known spot where it would be packed with everyone and their grandma. We thought we would try to find a new place nearby. The swell was big enough that there had to be some kind of reef breaking that was surfable somewhere.

Where did we turn? We turned to my iPhone and opened up the Google Maps application. I searched the coastline nearby and saw a point that looked like it might have some promise. We found some roads that led us to a spot and when we pulled up all we could do was pray for some waves with no one out.

When we got out of the car our wildest dreams came true. The waves were pumping and there wasn’t a soul in the water. There were some guys fishing from the shore a bit down the way but the lineup was empty. We grabbed the boards and rushed the spot. The waves were AMAZING!! The reef was pretty gnarly and the area felt super sharky, but we had a great time with no shark attacks or run-ins with the reef.

We have been back a couple times and still, no one there and great surf. We named the spot Indostries. For me, it was the coolest thing to find a new surf spot, surf it, name it, and all. It opened up the world of surf adventure and we didn’t even have to travel far.

screen-shot-2009-10-13-at-94927-pm So if you get sick of surfing the same waves that are packed with everyone, jump on Google Maps and search some nearby coastline. It isn’t a guarantee that you will score, but it’ll be an adventure. And if you do score, let us know about it. Take a pic or two and upload them to thesurfingsite.com and enter the photo competition.