Here are our favorite NYC beaches

nyc beaches

We were in Kentucky last weekend climbing in the Red River Gorge and when the weather turned hot and humid, as it did almost every afternoon we were there, we couldn’t help but think about the beaches back home.

Our own haunt is out in the Rockaways where we can surf or spend a day on the boardwalk. We can’t leave without grabbing a bite to eat at the grill at the Playland Motel (especially after an early morning surf sesh) and there are plenty of places to grab a bite just a few feet from the breaking waves. If the thought of spending part of your weekend on the subway is unappealing, consider grabbing a spot on the NYC Beach Bus because it’s fun and quick (get to the beach in 30 minutes!) and probably departs a few blocks from your apartment. Continue reading Here are our favorite NYC beaches

Keep your head up and other surf tips we learned last weekend

surf tips

We were back in the water last weekend giving surfing another try. This was our surf third lesson and we finally felt like we had a good enough handle on how to manage ourselves on the board to start to focus on finessing the fundamentals. Here are a few tips we picked up:

Continue reading Keep your head up and other surf tips we learned last weekend

Surf: Catch a winter wave in Queens

Winter Surfing in Queens
Photo courtesy Outdoorfest

We did something recently that was so awesome we can’t believe we hadn’t done it already. What we did was take the A train out almost as far as it goes to Beach 67 early one morning to surf. We were heading to our first surf lesson and as the train rolled past Broad Channel, we looked out at the water and questioned starting such a hobby in the middle of winter. Continue reading Surf: Catch a winter wave in Queens

Tip: Here’s how to stay warm when you’re surfing in the winter

The key to enjoying winter surfing at the Rockaways is all in what you wear and what you should wear is a good wetsuit. We wore a 5/4/3 mm suit that fit like a glove which is also key. Loose suits will keep you from getting warm and suits that are too tight will restrict your movement and make paddling out against the waves harder than it already is. Continue reading Tip: Here’s how to stay warm when you’re surfing in the winter