Ponquogue Bowl / New York / United States

There aren’t very many big wave spots in New York, but this is one of them.   It breaks consistently and has a good atmosphere too, as long as you are obviously capable of handling surfing a big wave.  It’s also used by windsurfers who have the ability.

The beach is pretty big, a few hundred metres long, and it’s clean and sandy.  It is also pretty quiet most of the time, which is a bonus.  To get here you are heading right to the west end of Beach Road, by the Shinnecock Inlet.

There are limited choices for the wind and swell directions, if it’s doing anything else it just won’t go off as well it should.  The wind needs to come from the northwest and the swell from the southeast, and the tide makes a difference – you should be here when the tide is rising towards high tide.  When all this comes together, you’ll be rewarded with waves that start at about 1m – 1.5m and hold up to over 5m.  It is a beach break, only on the left, and the waves are hollow and powerful, sometimes ledgey.  Length isn’t quite as quite as good as you’d expect from nearby spots, but it’s still a pretty decent 100m – 150m – it just never goes beyond that, even on a good day.

There is plenty of parking within a couple of minute’s walk of the beach, and it’s easy to find.  Lifeguards also patrol here.

The currents can be strong here if you get too far out, but it’s a relatively safe place generally.