SUP/prone foiling spots near NYC

Prone Surf Foiling
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I just moved to NYC (Manhattan) from the Bay Area. I’m looking for beginner SUP/prone foiling spots for the summer:

  • 1-2 ft waves close to the shore

  • No crowds or other hazards

I’ve seen NJ shore (e.g Belmar, Bradley Beach) mentioned online. Anything closer to Manhattan? Is Rockaway feasible?

I’m planning on starting with SUP foiling (I have some basic gear and past summer’s experience) but interested in exploring prone.

(note to mods: this is similar to a post that got stuck with pending status)

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I’ve surfed a lot of that area. Less foiling. It depends on the season. Summer is crowded with surfers and swimmers and no chance you can foil the rockaways. Long Beach/Lido Beach is a little more spread out but still probably not happening in the summer. Off season (when the waves are better anyways) the beach clears out and I’m sure you can make it work if you get away from the “surf spots”. Farther out on Long Island spreads out more. I don’t know NJ as well but I’d expect the seasonality applies in most places. The Greenhat crew will know NJ.

I’ve always wanted to get to Democrat Point to foil. Looks like a perfect wave but harder to get to.

Robert Moses Park usually doesn’t have great surf waves but could work for foiling.

Gilgo Beach is also a spot that would definitely work. I’ve foiled and kited there and it’s not an issue.

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@thefoilgarage seems to be located in that area and may have some thoughts here too.

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Hit up @Bido11561 he might be able to steer you in a decent direction for prone spots up there. If you want in the NJ whatsapp pm me your number and I’ll throw you in there. Depending where you are in Manhattan the ferry to Jersey might make more sense

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PS couple Green Hat events coming up, a swap meet at the shop which might be a little bit of a hike for you, then Wind And Waves which is a bigger event, place to meet some guys around here

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You can foil Rockaway outside of lifeguard hours I’d imagine. Will obviously be more crowded in summer but you can find some space out there. Avoid low tide. Same for Long Beach in the summer.

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I added the link below for the event in Jersey. Everyone is welcome and it’s going to be great. Swap at the shop on the 9th of May too.

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Thanks everyone, very useful tips!

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Thanks! I’m in Lower Manhattan. Curious about the ferry, which spots would be accessible?

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There’s a terminal in Highlands, that puts you 5 minute uber from sandy hook / seabright. It’s all sand bottom beach break along the coast so generally pick a spot and go surf. best bet for no crowd is riding a bike or something over the bridge, there’s some public access points with no parking so generally no one out for the larger portion of the stretch of road from the bridge to highlands. the hook gets mobbed with people and lifeguards give us a hard time in the summer

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The hard part about Rockaway is that there is no deep spot after it breaks. You have to get on foil right away, and turn you before your foil bottoms. The exception I know about is Beach 32. Up until January it was breaking pretty far out. I went there recently, and it was a little weird, it might’ve just been a bad day.

I park at the beach 30th playground, but I think it’s really beach 32nd. When you go to the Boardwalk, look out to your right about 100 yards for a break.

Beach 110 might be worth checking as well. It’s usually a more mellow break, but it doesn’t break way off shore like B32.

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b32 is very sharky and close to boat channel. be very mindful if you venture out here. lots of hazards. both in and out of the water.

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Yikes , I knew about the boats, but I pretend nothing swims beneath us.

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I mainly surf NY/NJ area when waves are good and foil when conditions are subpar/windy and/or small. First of all waves in NY are mainly lefthanders, NJ righthanders.

NY

For foil, Rockaway - from the 110s to the 60s -sucks for the most part bc as mentioned above, there is no offshore wave breaking, it can be pretty dumpy/hollow and waves tend to break along jetties, and there are now all year round crowd and surf school. So not a great combo. I had success before they dredged sand toward Jacob Riis park which is quieter/not crowded bc waves are not great for surfing. Unfortunately sand replenishment killed the break.

From the 60s to the 30s, it is more open and there might be something, haven’t checked in a long time. The 40s are usually a shelter spot when waves are big/too big . Around the 30s and offshore you have the Rockaway shoal that few pros surf by boat. As mentioned above, A LOT of wildlife under the surface.

Further East, you have Long Beach/in town area. Pretty much the same deal, although that at high tide you might find better waves for foiling. Since the new jetties extensions, it changed spots a lot, and you now have these sandbars by the jetties tip, then a deep pocket of water that fills in quickly with the tide. If you look at LB cams on Surfline, the birdview one at low tide, you will see what I am talking about.

Then you have Lido area, usually lot of surfers but a bit quieter by Pacific beach. I had success foiling there in the past during the off season; need to be checked as sandbars come and go.

But overall, Lido is shallow with hollow waves. During Summer, pay parking, lifeguards, crowd…forget about it.

The next 2 break, you will need a 4x4 and permit that is not sold during peak season, permit deadline was April 30th.

Gilgo beach can be a great option for foiling, depending of sandbars ( haven’t checked since December ) because it is very wide and if you drive further than the entrance you can find waves with no crowd/no surfers. Best breaks for surfing tend to be by the entrance so just avoid these.

Then even further, you will have Robert Mose/Democrat Point. Demo is my favorite, it is a long lefthanders point break breaking on sand. It can break for hundred of yards when good, and packed with surfers. But at high tide when waves are sectiony/too fat it is a lot of fun.

NJ

Similar to Demo, you might want to check Sandy Hook, same, waves can break for hundred of yards there, and when swell is maxing out, you can find smaller waves the further North you go.

Then from Sandy Hook to Manasquan, there are miles of beaches. Problem is that you don’t really have offshore sandbars/waves breaking but of course along the coast you can find something. NJ tends to have pretty punchy and hollow waves, so not exactly foil friendly. Near Belmar area, some guys foil and you have Green Hat shop in NJ that might be a good source of intel. They are organizing a foil event on May 15th at Monmouth Beach.

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I can point ya in the right direction. Jersey is tough because in the summer there are a lot of surf designated beaches where they group all the surfers and limits the spots for foilers. Sandy Hook has some great spots. Just be super mindful of the surfers. Some are cool. Some think they are Warchild from point break

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