Best American Adventures: Bodysurf the Wedge

 

We've just updated our popular America's Best Adventures feature with 50 new trips, bringing our grand total to 100 iconic escapes (see the map, state-by-state list, and photo gallery, too). So no matter what your pleasure—hiking, heli-skiing, surfing, climbing, biking, or paddling—we've got the perfect adventure for you. Check in each day for a new, out-the-backdoor adventure highlighted here on our blog.

By Kate Siber; Photograph by David McNew, Getty Images

Most of the time, when humans mess with nature, they lose. But at the Wedge, a monstrously big and powerful break off Newport Beach, California, they hit the jackpot—for bodysurfers, that is. There, an Army Corps of Engineers jetty relays big swells, forming slow-moving, pyramid-shaped waves that, during South Pacific storm cycles, can top 30 feet (9 meters). They’re too steep for surfers but perfect for the ultimate man-versus-nature contest: bodysurfing.

When the surf goes off, as many as 15 locals brave the indiscriminate spin cycle in hopes of catching a wave’s sweet spot. “The absolute most difficult part of it all is the moment you decide to go,” says Fred Simpson, owner of Viper Surfing Fins and a Wedge veteran. After that, there’s a purgatory of about five seconds, when even the best bodysurfers won’t know whether the wave, like an unbroken mustang, will let them mount or pitch them forward with the force of the South Pacific hurricane that birthed it. If they succeed, the reward is the ultimate rush: a perfect 50-yard (45-meter) glide through water moving as fast as that from a fire hose.

On high-surf days, only the bravest—and most practiced—take to the water, but as many as a thousand spectators come to watch and feel the reverberating rumble of the waves from a 15-foot (5-meter) sand berm that makes a natural stadium. The waves break so close to shore, they offer an opportunity rare in the world of bodysurfing: An onlooker can see the open-mouth, wide-eyed, absolutely-in-the-moment expression on a bodysurfer’s face as he or she takes on Mother Nature.

Need to Know: Locals say that if someone has to explain how to bodysurf the Wedge, you shouldn’t be there. Thus, there are no lessons available, and newcomers must bring fins and demonstrate their skills for the beach’s gantlet of lifeguards. Practice on nearby beaches and low-surf days.

Comments

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I came to your article from another article and am really interested in this learning about this. , I feel strongly about information and love learning more on this.

[Saint christopher necklace]

Hope this dude is wearing his saint christopher necklace ! Haha !

[make your own beats]

Extreme indeed but we all know that extreme games goes two way, it's either you succeed or get hurt.

[elan-credit-card]

Water surfing is so dangerous. You have to be good on balancing.

[Brekkens]

Haha looks fun! don't lose your suit!

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Thanks for sharing! The reason for your blog is always to document your life and give your personal thoughts. A few idea are usually distinct with me but incredibly specific. What you would like to offer to the modern society, I believe I've been recognized that. As long as everyone do good and assume that.yut

[Christina McIntyre]

Advice to the ladies...wear a double suit. Also hand fin gloves (webz) are also a plus...fins are a must. Rock on and Respect the Wave. - Cheers, Christina McIntyre

[Package holidays in New York City]

There are lessons available, and new entrants must be denied, and demonstrate their skills and the gauntlet of beach lifeguards. Practice a bit close to the beaches and in the days surfing.

[Backyard Pond Ideas]

This looks way too extreme for me!

[translation services]

The locals say that if someone has to explain how the Wedge bodysurfing, you should not be there. Therefore, there are no courses available and newcomers should make the fins and demonstrate their skills with the glove of lifeguards at the beach.