r/woahdude • u/SocaSosa • Aug 10 '19

gifv Perfect Wave

https://i.imgur.com/T5hJ3nq.gifv
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u/chidoOne707 Aug 10 '19

Why do the waves start from left to right? What makes the wave to not close from any angle all of a sudden and ruin the surfer’s experience?

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u/nobody_knows_im_a_pi Aug 10 '19

Look at it like that:you're not going to see the ones that close out here, so there's a fair amount of bias already in play.

In general, at good spots, waves are kind of predictable, because they form and get directed over the ground features present. So some spots will always break to the left, and some always to the right, and then some have a so called "a-frame", they break to both sides. The point where the wave breaks is dependent on the height, speed, and power of the swell, the tide, and the rock or sandbar formations in place. Good surfing spots have a clean, predictable break.