First approach to surfing
Surfing is “the act or sport of riding the surf, as on a surfboard by to float[ing] on the crest of a wave toward shore” (Dictionary Reference about Surfing). According to the online dictionary (Dictionary Reference about Sport) a sport is an “athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature”. In addition to its competitive nature, a sport such as surfing is also defined as a “diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime” (Dictionary Reference about Sport).
For most surfers, surfing goes beyond the practice of a sport. As described by Jay DiMartino, a surfing expert, surfing is “an outlet for anxiety and stress, an inlet for nature and satisfaction, a connection between [the surfer] and the ocean, [the] board acting as some semi-conductor of magnetic and gravitational forces pulsing from the center the sprawling expanse of nature itself”. However, for the purpose of the research, this thesis focuses on surfing as a sport.
Basics for surfing
The sport of surfing requires a minimum of conditions allowing its practice. Surfing simply requires a rider, a board, and an uneven fluid (DiMartino, 2015).
Surfing is mainly possible in oceans and seas where waves are produced by a swell meeting a shallower surface. Swell is generated by wind blowing over a large surface of open water called the fetch. The strength and duration of wind in addition to the size fetch determines the size of a swell. The larger the open water area and the longer and stronger the wind blows will tend to create better swell for surfers. Therefore, coastlines exposed to large open water areas tends to receive more consistent swell according to the “Meteorology and Oceanography”
section from the book The World Stormrider Guide.
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Local wind, in comparison to wind blowing in the middle of the oceans, has an effect of wave quality. When the wind is blowing “onshore”, from the ocean in the direction of land, it can create choppy or smaller waves condition. However, a local wind blowing in an “offshore”
direction, from land to ocean, tends to generate ideal conditions. “Offshore” wind blows directly into the face of waves creating a barrel wave. According to the glossary of waves terms from the online article “Wave Terms Explained” by surfing-waves.com, “The barrel is the hollow part of a breaking wave where there is a gap between the face of the wave and the lip of the wave as it curls over. One of the highlights for any surfer is catching a tube ride.”
On this illustration, the creation process of waves is explained. It shows that waves are generated by a swell meeting an increasing shallower surface. The swell is then pushed upwards and creates waves suitable for surfing. (Wilson, 2005)
Figure 1 Breaking waves
The shape of waves in the oceans and seas are defined by the surfaces over which they break. There are three main types of surfaces: reef breaks, beach breaks, with waves breaking over sand, and point breaks, with waves breaking on rocks. Besides, waves break starting from left to right, or vice and versa depending on the formation of seabed. Therefore, the main influencer on the shape of waves is the topography of the surface behind and underneath a wave over which they break. Point breaks and reef breaks produce consistent and predictable waves compared to a beach break as sandbanks are evolving from week to week. Therefore, each seabed is unique making each surf location unique.
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In addition to waves, another essential aspect of the sport is the need of a board to ride the waves with. The surfboard used by surfers can be of different shapes, lengths and weights.
Each particular type of board defines a specific sport such as the short board, the longboard, the stand-up paddle, body-boarding and even wave-windsurfing, kayaking or wave-kiteboarding.
Each one of these sports have separate competitions and training methods. Besides, the art of body surfing a wave, “to ride a cresting wave toward the shore by lying face down in the water with the arms stretched forward in the direction of the wave” (Dictionary Reference about Body Surfing) is also considered to be a part of surfing as a sport. However, for the purpose of the research, this paper focuses on the primary definition of surfing which utilizes a surfboard: a short board or a long board.
Top surfing nations
For surfing as for every sports, practice is the key to performance. Nations such as Australia or Hawaii, offering top quality waves and a strong surf culture, have been producing surf champions since the very beginning of official surf competitions. Similarly, the United States can be considered as one of the top surfing nations concerning its West coast. More recently, according to the top world surfer’s ranking from the WSL, Brazil is raising a top surf nation with 7 Brazilian surfers in the top 20. Besides, the excellent seabed quality of Australian, Brazilian and Hawaiian coastlines offering a great variety of waves seems to be a key factor explaining the high level of their surf athletes (Finney and Houston, 1996).
Furthermore, there is link between the top surf nation and sport culture. In Hawaii and Australia, surf champions are seen as celebrities as the sport culture around surfing is very strong. Brazil being a raising surf nation is better known for its beach culture which facilitates the integration of a surf culture as a water sport.
Surfing climate of Taiwan
Great surfing conditions are not only influenced by the weather but also by the typology of the ocean bed. Therefore, it is necessary to have an understanding of the possibilities of Taiwan speaking about the quality of the surf.
Taiwan has a subtropical climate which means that it is all year around warm, in particular in the South. In the North, the temperature can drop down to 15 degrees Celsius
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influenced by north winds from Japan. As North winds do not reach all the way to the South, the temperature is there warmer all year around. In summer, the temperature can rise up to 40 degrees Celsius and with the humidity it can be suffocating.
The water temperature is between 13 and 31 degrees Celsius depending on the season and the location. (See below, the water temperature depending on the month of the year from Magic Seaweed.)
Table 1 Water temperatures
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 13 - 23°C 17 - 27°C 22 - 30°C 23 - 31°C 21 - 30°C 15 - 26°C
The island of Taiwan gets the most swells from the North, East and South. The West of the island hardly gets any good swells as there is no large area of open water. This part of the island only receives good waves when there is a typhoon in the South China sea. Furthermore, waves on the West coast, can also come from the North in winter. However, because of the its northern direction, the swell does not always find good breaks on the West, but is more likely to create good surf spots on the North and East coast of the island. The East and South coast are also exposed to the Pacific Ocean and its swell comes from further away. This is the most consistent swell.
In summer, in the North and East coast, the typhoons generate massive swells which only lasts a couple of days. The typhoons season starts around May and last until October.
However, it is hard to predict the best spots to surf during typhoon season as it depends the path of the typhoon.
The eastern Taiwanese high mountains were created by tectonic movements. These mountains came straight up from the ocean. Therefore, the East coast is mainly made from cliffs and rocky beaches with some rare sand beaches. The North and South of the island are similar
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to the East coast. However, the West coast consists of plains mainly used for agriculture. There the beaches are made from black sand and a lot of coastal protection structures can be found.
The following table gives an overview of the main Taiwanese surf spots. Most of these surf sports are beach breaks are they are easily accessible for beginners. However, with more than 1000 km of coast line, there are many unknown spots which are hardly surfed. By discovering new surf spots, the surfing Industry in Taiwan might grow and increase the surfing tourism of the island.
Table 2 Surf breaks
Spot name Location Break type
Baishawan North Beach break
Jinshan North Beach break
Fulong North Beach break
Dashi East Rocky beach break
Wushi East Beach break
Hualien East Beach and reef breaks
Jici beach East Beach break
Cheng Gong East Reef break
Donge East Rocky beach break
Taitung East Reef breaks
Jialeshui East Sandy beach and reef breaks
Nanwan South Sandy beach breaks and a reef break