Best Surf Destinations for Longboarders

Tune in or read the blog version below!

Welcome back to the podcast! This week, I am going to be sharing what I personally think are the best surfing destinations for longboarders.

I started surfing in 2019 and as you guys may know, I have mainly been longboarding. If you listen to my Passion Planner episode, you’ll know that last year I made it my goal to hang 10 on a longboard.

This meant I prioritized visiting longboarding destinations that had the perfect waves to practice cross stepping and nose riding on.

Shortboarding vs. Longboarding

For those of you who aren’t too familiar with the surfing world, there are two different styles of surfing, shortboarding and longboarding, and depending on the wave, you will surf a different board.

if you have a shorter board, you can definitely surf these places too, but I would say the waves themselves are more or less mellower and less barely.

My Ranking System

I will also be ranking the best surf destinations that I’m sharing on three factors, which I think are crucial to longboarding fun:

• Wave consistency: how consistent swells and waves are year round.
• Water temperature: whether or not you need to put on a wetsuit or if you can just surf in a bikini, which is obviously my preference.
• The ease of access: how easy it is to access the surf breaks with a long board.

And because my boards are always very, very long, I prefer not to have to transport them for miles and miles and miles.

I also want to mention I’ve surfed many other spots around the world, but I’m not even going to mention the ones that are too crowded because I don’t think if you are trying to learn or you’re trying to have a good time, I don’t think crowded spots are ever the vibe.

It’s just more people, more stress. And if you have the option to go to a lesser crowded spot. Why not?

I don’t cover internet speed in this episode. So if you want a list of places better suited for digital nomads, check out Episode 124: Top 5 Digital Nomad Destinations for Surfers.

Batukaras, Indonesia | Beach Break, Reef Break

Number one is Batukaras, Indonesia. Batukaras is located in West Java, Indonesia and is one of the most underrated longboarding spots in the world.

The two breaks there are the beach break and the reef break.

If you want to improve your cross step and learn how to hang five or hang ten, this is hands down the best place to be.

I stayed eight months here and my skill level completely transformed. I know yours will too.

I ended up there because one of the professional longboarders that I had met in Bali, he was from there, and he told me if I wanted to improve, I needed to make a trip there.

So I made it happen and I stayed until I was able to achieve my goals.

Wave Consistency: 9

In terms of wave consistency, after the eight months and after meeting lots and lots of people and also you know, seeing how good the locals are, wave consistency is a nine.

There were rarely any periods of time when there wasn’t any swell or where there were no waves. I was able to get in the water most of the time and most of the days when I was there.

Water Temperature: 10

The water is warm. You can surf in a bikini, you can surf without having to put on a thick wetsuit year round.

Ease of Access: 10

Ease of access is a 10 as well. You can leave your board at the beach, you can hop on your scooter, park it right there, grab your board and go into the water without having to change, without having to do any extra steps. It’s just so easy to get into the water.

There is also an amazing surf community there, so you’re really inspired to go surf more. There’s not much else to do there except surf, so that’s also an incentive why you will get better because you’re going to be wanting to join people on surfs every single day.

A combination of so many factors, but this is why Batukaras, Indonesia has landed a number one spot on this list.

Bali, Indonesia | Kuta, Batu Bolong, Baby Reef Sanur

Number two spot also in Indonesia is going to be Bali.

In Bali, the longboarding spots that I recommend are Kuta, Batu Bolong, and Baby Reef Sanur.

Bali is where I first started surfing consistently after staying at Rapture Surf Camp.

Wave Consistency: 9

The wave consistency in Bali is very similar to Batukaras and I’m also going to give it a nine simply because there are two different coasts.

So depending on whether it’s rainy season or dry season, there’s going to be waves somewhere on the island.

Water Temperature: 10

The water temperature is very similar to Batukaras and I’m going to rank it a 10 because you can surf in a bikini year round.

Ease of Access: 10

Ease of access is also a 10 because it’s similar to most places in Indonesia. You show up on a scooter, there are racks for your bike, so you can either leave your board at the beach or just ride with it on the bike and go surfing right away.

If you’re new to Indonesia or new to this side of the world, I would definitely recommend signing up with a surf camp or just stay for a while so you can really ask around what is best, where can you stay, where can you surf, and what is the best kind of workflow for your surf adventures.

Waikiki, Hawaii | Queens, Pops

Number three on this list is Waikiki, Hawaii, United States of America. And my favorite breaks are Queens and Pops.

No surprise, this is one of my favorite places in the world.

I have only surfed on the island of O’ahu, so I can only say from experience that Waikiki is amazing for longboarding.

It makes sense as well because so many professional longboarders are from here, and the skill level in the water is on another level.

I swear I’ve never seen so many children noseriding. They just come out of the womb, they pick up a surfboard and they know how to nose ride the wave.

Wave Consistency: 10

Consistency here is a 10. We stayed six months on the island of O’ahu and there were literally waves the whole time.

If not on the south shore, there were waves on the north shore, and there’s just so many different breaks because it is an island.

Water Temperature: 10

The water temperature is also a 10. I surfed in a bikini the whole time.

Ease of Access: 7.5

The only reason why I’m kind of bumping it down after Indonesia is because of the ease of access, which I’m going to rank either a seven or an eight depending on where you’re trying to go to.

You definitely need a car to access many of the surf spots and it can be very tricky to find parking. So it’s not like in Indonesia where there are so many spots to park your scooter.

We had a really hard time parking our car and a lot of times Ragz had to just drop me off to surf, it wasn’t as easy.

And then there were also other times when we were surfing some breaks and I would have to hike down the side of a cliff with my longboard and that was very, very difficult, especially on hot days when the ground was like burning and the sun was so hot.

Because of the ease of access, I’m going to bump that down a little, but it’s definitely worth going to if you want to improve and be surrounded by other professional longboarders.

Florianópolis, Brazil | Barra da Lagoa

Next on the list we have Florianópolis, Brazil, and the break I recommend is Barra da Lagoa.

I spent nine months in Floripa during COVID and I was definitely able to improve my surfing there

Aside from the surf of all levels, I also fell in love with the food. Brazilian food is so freaking tasty and there’s literally nothing better than a post-surf açai bowl. I just wish I could get my hands on an açai bowl right now!

Wave Consistency: 8

Wave consistency is an eight. It’s not as consistent year round, although it still is pumping most of the time.

Water Temperature: 7

Water temperature is a seven because the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil is located very far south, more south than you would imagine.

It gets very, very chilly during the winters and you need to wear a wetsuit.

During the winter months, which was around like June to August, I had to wear a four three wetsuit.

The other thing to keep in mind is they have fishing seasons, so tainha season where beaches are closed and so there’s a few weeks of the year where you actually can’t surf.

Ease of Access: 8

Lastly, ease of access is going to be an eight. If you’re just staying in one place like Barra da Lagoa, you can totally just walk to the beach with your longboard.

Otherwise on the island in order to surf, you’re definitely going to need a car.

Galicia, Spain | Pantín, Ferrol

Next on the list is where we were just a few months ago in Galicia, Spain. The beaches I recommend there for longboarding are Pantín and Ferrol.

Galicia has so many surf spots because of all its cliffs and bays and rugged coastline.

They also allow you to park overnight for free at most of these spots, so it’s best If you rent or have a camper van in order to explore, and you can just camp overnight and wake up and go surf.

But because Ragz and I needed fast internet and we needed to be connected, and personally I wanted to be in an apartment because we were going to stay for over a month, we were able to rent an apartment right on the beach and I could walk out with my longboard.

We stayed at Las Olas by Pantín, and they offer monthly discounts as well.

Wave Consistency: 6

Wave consistency is a six. We weren’t there for that many months, so I can’t say for year round, but while we were there for a total of five weeks, it was only working half of the time.

I went in the water half of the time and then it was just like pouring rain. It was super windy and there just weren’t any waves. So maybe we got unlucky, but because of that experience, I’m going to rank the wave consistency a six.

Water Temperature: 5

The water temperature a five because it does get very cold in the winter.

Ease of Access: 7

Last but not least, ease of access a seven because depending on where you are and depending on whether or not you have a vehicle, it’s going to be very difficult to access some of those surf spots.

Biarritz, France | Côte des Basques, Saint Jean de Luz

Last on the list of the best places to longboard in the world that I’ve been to so far is Biarritz in France.

The waves I recommend there are Côte des Basques and Saint Jean de Luz. I’m probably butchering these names and I’m so sorry to all of my French listeners, but this is the last destination worthy of a place on this list.

I honestly love the little city itself more than anything. The city of Biarritz is just so charming.

The buildings are so beautiful and if you are a cheese lover like me, you’re honestly going to be in heaven. I love this part of France because personally I find the people there to be a lot less pretentious than in some of the cities, and the energy is just different.

It’s a lot more laid back. People are always smiling and I just have very, very fond memories from there.

Wave Consistency: 6

Back to the waves, the wave consistency is similar to most of what you’ll find in that part of Europe. So the consistency is a six because it depends on the season.

We got lucky and we were able to surf most of the time, but I do know that there are times when it’s flat and then there are times when it’s just massive.

Water Temperature: 5

The water temperature is a five because you’re also going to need a wetsuit for most of the year.

Ease of Access: 5

And the ease of access is also a five. You’re definitely going to need a car.

For surf spots like Côtes des Basques, there are so many steps that you have to walk down.

It has a rugged coastline, so you have to basically scale like this cliff. Not exactly a cliff, but you do have to walk a lot of steps and it definitely can be hard when you are walking up with a longboard after a surf.

But I do love European summers. I love surfing in Europe in the summer. The waves are a lot more mellow, the weather is beautiful, and I just love the energy.

All in all personally, I prefer surfing without a wetsuit and I prefer just staying in one place and going surfing every day because it is a part of my routine. So this is just how I would rank it, but I do encourage you to go out there and explore for yourselves.

I’ll be updating this list as I go to more and more places and If you have any questions, you can always feel free to DM me on Instagram. I’ll see you guys in the next episode. Sending you so much love.

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