Understand the Different Types of Ocean Waves & Breaks

Video Transcript

"Hi! This is Pat Weber with the San Diego Surfing Academy for expertvillage.com. In this clip we are talking about different types of waves: basically, beach type waves, reef type waves and point breaks. So when you have a beach break, you've got a sand bar that has developed, and that sand bar might have been aided by currents; maybe a jetty was trapping the sand bar; maybe there's a pier which helps trap the sand and create a sand bar—and the waves are crashing on that sand bar pretty much consistently in the same spot. Beach breaks are known to break a little harder than say a garden variety of reef wave. For that reason, they are not as desirable for a beginner, more challenging. A reef wave can certainly be a challenging wave—it can certainly be a barrel—but generally it is breaking further out and offering a longer softer ride than a beach break. Then there's the point break, and at a point break the waves are sweeping away along the shore creating a ride of great distances. You could go for hundreds of yards at a point break where all the elements come together, where the waves if they are big enough wrapping around the coast and you get a nice long ride. "